[200q20v] RUST!?!?!

[Kneale Brownson]

At 02:40 AM 07/02/2001 -0400, Tomsaudi200 at aol.com wrote:

>I must be legally blind, stupid, or both. At home I have a narrow driveway,
>so I rarely get a really good side profile look at my 20V.
>
>This past week I was in Cape Cod, staying at a house with a very wide
>driveway. Since I was able to, I gave my car a good look, admiring her fine
>lines, when my eyes cast down just aft the the driver's side front fender,
>when I noticed the black paint on the undersill was flaking off. As you know,
>on the front fender this is maybe 3 or 4" long before it meets the driver's
>door. It is restricted only to this area.
>
>What the hell is this all about? I know my Porsche had a 10 year rust
>warranty, so I assume my Audi does as well. Well, the 200 20V is officially
>10 years old, and given my experience with Audi dealers, it isn't even worth
>my time and inevitable frustration.
>
>Is this something other owners have encountered? Granted, I live in New
>England, and we get our share of salt on the roads, but I am shocked
>nonetheless. I do have a vehicle history on the car. Bought at the Audi
>dealer in Manhatten, she spent some time in Houston, before eventually
>returning to Connecticut.


If that's the only rust you can see on a '91 200q20v, your car's probably 
been repainted by a PO.  Virtually every Type 44 I've ever looked at that's 
been in the road-salted Rust Belt shows rust above the chromed trim piece 
atop the rear bumper where they used a different metal fastener to attach 
the trim to the body, setting up electrolysis.   The black topping on my 
200  in that area also is flaking off, but the metal beneath is not showing 
rust (yet).  The black is some sort of gravel guard, isn't it?

Regarding the Audi rust guarantee, I believe that's rust-through, as in a 
hole that can be shown to have begun failing from the inside out.