[200q20v] Re: radio

[C1J1Miller at aol.com]

Hmmm.  My radio head unit is original (no rebuild sticker, etc.), and has 
worked fine for the last 150k miles, used a lot.
Chris


In a message dated 10/9/01 12:01:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
200q20v-request at audifans.com writes:

> >The radio no longer works on my wife's 200/20v avant.  I've looked at the
>  >previous owner's paperwork and it appears that he replaced this twice.  
The
>  >car has only 120,000 miles on it.  Is this a systemic problem for 200's 
and
>  >if so, is Audi doing anything about it (like replacing them for free with 
a
>  >radio that will continue working?)
>  
>  Hah! Audi took a couple of years to even consider replacing their '91 
>  model Bose rear speakers with ones that don't attempt to turn the car 
>  and its contents into a smoking pile of ash! But at least you have no 
>  worries about _that_ possibility in your Avant, which has no rear 
>  Bose speakers.
>  
>  Anyway, Bruce, to answer your question: Yes, relatively short 
>  lifetime is a "systemic problem" with Audi radios of that era and not 
>  just for 200 models--the Audi (Blaupunkt) radios are often 'hors de 
>  combat' sometime after a few years of operation. Usually the problem 
>  is a malfunction of the station (preset) buttons. But these radios 
>  don't typically just fail to work entirely--you may simply have a 
>  wiring or antenna problem.  Unless the radios were replaced for the 
>  previous owner under his original new-car warranty, the usual 
>  procedure was to replace with a factory rebuild. When these were 
>  available from Audi (and I recall hearing that they no longer are) 
>  the rebuilt radios cost about $100 (with exchange).
>  
>  So,  systemic problem or not, don't expect the company to replace it 
>  for free beyond its stated warranty period (which is what...90 days 
>  for a rebuilt radio?)
>