Should you buy one?

The Audi A5 Avant continues the brand’s tradition of offering a stable, sure-footed estate car that feels well-built. So while it’s not the most exciting thing to drive it should represent an excellent buy. This generation has introduced a lot of new design elements and cutting-edge technology to keep the car competitive, too. But it’s not the most roomy car in the world – which isn’t brilliant for an estate car.

Overall, it’s a more flawed package than the BMW 3 Series Touring and Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate, and yet it’s still highly desirable. It’s also still available as a diesel.

What we like

How well built the interior is, and how smooth and easy to drive the A5 Avant is on any road. The ride comfort is well balanced and the diesel engines – usually known for sounding loud and rough – are kept impressively quiet.

What we don’t like

The fact that the boot is smaller than its closest competition. Rear space also isn’t great, leading us to wonder why you’d bother getting an estate at all. While some of the interior is smart and impressively put together, technological details such as the driver’s control panel in the door and the haptic steering wheels add unnecessary complication.