But do those Audi tires need to be changed every 15k miles? Does Costco carry that size? If the answer to either of these is yes, then the tires are going to be cheaper. 
My apologies to the OP. I’m not trying to push the Porsche, but it’s more of an intellectual exercise. 
Lol, I see your P-passion oozing!
Ya, I feel bad. And now I feel worse, since you pointed it out. :))
^ Love it! That’s always my first question!
Costco carries tires for my P-car. I have no idea if they carry them for the cars in question. Now I buy my tires from Tire Rack, so they carry everything. Most car enthusiasts do.
The A4 tires are a soft compound (“max performance summer”, Treadwear 280), so if not 15,000 miles, they’ll be changed very quickly. The treadwear rating of the Macan is actually better at 440.
Edit: Sorry, I’ll move off from this tangent.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership/ suggests that not surprising tendency of expensive brands to have expensive maintenance.
However, maintenance costs can vary by brand, even for brands made by the same company, due to different dealers for each brand. For example, Toyota and Lexus dealers may charge different amounts for maintenance, and Chevrolet and Cadillac dealers may charge different amounts for maintenance.
Not sure on how “quiet” it is but Subaru makes a small AWD as does Mini.
Yes, and they can vary by region too. But I’m not sure, specifically for the Audi A4 and Porsche Macan or Cayenne, whether the maintenance costs would be significantly different.
BTW, at least in terms of the Lexus versus Toyota question, I see plenty of Lexus cars/trucks at my local Toyota dealer being serviced for that very reason. And they’re pretty close to each other in terms of location.
Perhaps a closer comparison for maintenance costs would be the Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, and Volkswagen Touareg. The Audi A4 is a different-enough car that the maintenance costs may differ for reasons other than the brand.
Why don’t we get back to the A4 and just focus there? We’re WAY off on a tangent. Being a P-car fan, I’ve derailed the thread enough. 
Is the A4 in OPs budget?
Honda Civic. Enough said.
I think the suggestion of the Mazda CX-5 by @hebegebe is an excellent alternative too. The Mazda enthusiast’s site seems to love them a lot.
We test drove a Civic recently. It’s very noisy…and not comfortable…compared to many of the other cars mentioned on here.
It was quieter than a VW golf…or similar. But had a lot of road noise.
OP said she wants a trunk, not a hatchback, so assume that means a sedan.
What about the following?
Kia Forte
Toyota Prius (hatchback, but with cover over the cargo area)
Chevrolet Cruze
@milee30 assume your edit was regarding my comment about sales person. At all the dealers I have purchased vehicles from aside from the Honda dealer the sales person handled the entire transaction until the point of giving the check. My Mercedes sales person negotiated price, negotiabled trade in amount. He also searched the inventory and worked on getting me a car in a color I wanted. We only met with someone else once we were actually buying the car and that person handled the check, DMV paperwork etc. the sales person called me when he had the car in his possession and walked me thorough the car.
Audi, Mercedes, Lexus and BMW are popular lease vehicles in our area so one would suspect they would have a decent used inventory, but I haven’t found that to be the case. The local dealer only keeps a handful of used cars on their lots. If I had went used I would have had to travel to a larger metro area to find a car.
I’ll be interested in what Oregon drives and her opinions.
“Honda Civic. Enough said”
Ever since I dropped my oldest son off at college last week, I’ve been driving the 2015 Accord we had let him use. It’s a fantastic car in every way (gets double the gas mileage of my SUV, handles well and is comfy) and I really like it, but it is noticeably noisy. Road noise is high, especially if you’re used to a quieter ride.
I’ve had Civics years ago and although fantastic cars, they were also not quiet. Haven’t been in the new Civics, though so maybe they’re quieter?