Audi’s C5 allroad wasn’t the first tall all-wheel drive wagon to hit the market; AMC claimed that crown with the Eagle well before Audi’s Quattro even hit the market. But it somehow defined the luxury do-anything segment and was unique in the German marques; Audi brought massive amounts of computational power, height-adjustable air suspension, a wide-body flare kit, twin-turbocharged power and even a manual gearbox. It was awesome. It was popular. But, it broke so much that even MacGyver was left stranded.
Still, find a nice one and these offer a lot for relatively short money. They’re quick, comfortable, and capable. As long as you’re willing to do some wrenching and order lifetime warranty parts from FCP Euro, they can be made reasonably reliable. And there is still a pretty avid community of supporters, though truth told nice examples are dwindling in number.