"Loving that Audi, are you going to spring For it?"
No, I'll stick with the "05 Jeep CRD. It's got a real 4x4 drive system, not the AWD of the Audi. Looking for opinions at Clubtouareg about the Q7 the above comment was greeted with howls of laughter and derision from the converted.
The Audi is a fancy luxury SUV that has all the status and bling, but I'll take the options and control for real offroad conditions that the Jeep is capable of. Same kind of reasons you're seriously considering the Golf over the BMW, cost and availability of parts and service. The 2.8l VM TDI diesel that's in the Jeep has its quirks, and problems, but all the running gear and body parts are readily available. Brakes/rotors all round with new tires was less than a $1k. We ran into problems with one of the calipers, my guru checked with his local parts guy and they had one in stock, IIRC (if I recall correctly) it was mebbe $50. Rebuilt auto tranny with upgraded torque converter was close to $3k. Drives great on the highway, and was a revelation after a recent 8" snowfall. No problem! It's a little truck/tractor that suits me and my purposes. Lol, Idparts even has a lot of the bits and pieces for the motor, what's not to like about that.
lostjeeps.com is a forum that has good information and resources, not as good as Fred's here for the VWs, but well worthwhile. Driving old vehicles, you need all the help you can get.
Even with a rebuild of the motor, it'll still be less than the Audi. Don't get me wrong, the Q7 is a really nice vehicle,
if you can afford the freight. I'm surprised Oilhammer hasn't chimed in here, his low opinion of the Audi/touareg platform played large in my decision to avoid the vehicle.