I used the former for quite a while, works great against your average docile e4-player. The Nimzowitsch line (4. ... Nd7) is no danger to white. The 'usual' will do. Good principled chess, you don't have to be Alekhine to figure out how to handle the knight moves on move 4.

Most people have two or more distinct pet lines against the Caro-Kann (and Pirc) which says something about the possibilities. So long as you don't become a woodpusher and use the Advance variation you're doing fine. As black, I had a crushing score against the Advance, which popped up in about half my CKD games! I wanted to see the Advance.

I agree that a Caro player probably loves to see the Advance Variation, (although I used to play it in the old Short version with 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 h4 and c2-c4).

Now I play the main line, mostly because the 4...Nd7 lines are just +/= for nothing (even the non critical lines for White are like a Rubenstein French where Black has played c7-c6 early), while I have very good results with 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Bf5 5 Ng3 Bg6 6 Nh3!?. It's just equal if Black knows what to do, but its equal with a bishop pair, so it isn't obviously drawn.

I nearly always play the Caro-Kann against 1 e4. Even though I am not rated very high, I have studied the Advanced quite a bit because that is what I face the most. I would agree that seeing white play the Advance Var makes me smile since I get to pull out my pet variation against it. I have much more trouble against the normal main lines - having to play defence the whole game and hoping for a draw unless my opponent makes a mistake.