reliability of coupe GT

[Fisher, Scott]

Jay,

What he said. :-)  The CGT is an anvil in pretty much all important ways.
The main things you have to look for are the usual things on any older car:
deteriorating rubber hoses/lines, oxidized and/or loose electrical
connections, and (the only really expensive stuff to repair) deteriorated
gaskets and engine seals leading to oil leaks/consumption.  Timing belts, as
Wolff says, are critical items, especially on the later cars (can't remember
the cutoff date: my '83 is "early," an '86 is "late," I'm not sure about
cars in the middle).  Why it's critical: my '83's timing belt slipped off
the cam (my own damn fault after a water pump change) and I spent a fair
amount of time trying to start the car while I was diagnosing it.  Because
the '83 engine is non-interference, the valves and pistons never met and
therefore I didn't have to buy a new head.  If I'd had a later engine, the
valves and pistons would have met, with disastrous results.

The 2.3L NG engine is noticeably quicker than the 2.1L in my '83 (140 bhp to
100 bhp, if memory serves); conversely, I like the crisp, hard-edged
Giugiaro styling of the early cars better than the later ones which had the
rounded-under bumpers, but I warmed up to the round-bumper cars a LOT after
driving lister Tony Lum's 87.5 a while back.  If I were getting one today,
I'd look for an 87.5 without question.  Even the '83, however, is a
decent-performing car once you get everything right; mine came with the
wrong fuel pump relay, badly timed cam, gummed-up injectors and a wonky
cooling system.  It's been reasonably inexpensive to get it into much better
shape, and while I have more to do (what? on a 17-year-old car? :-), it's
still the car I pick to hop into for most purposes.  Worst feature is
off-the-line performance; best feature is everything else.  

I'd only quibble with one thing from Wolff's comment, and it's exclusively
IMHO: the Coupe GT isn't merely one of the most beautiful Audis, to my eye
it's the second best looking car that Audi ever produced, with only the
ur-Quattro eliciting more sighs from me than does the Coupe.  I own a pair
of very nicely kept Alfa Romeos, including what I consider Giugiaro's best
design, the 105-series Alfa coupe from the mid-Sixties (think "GTV"), and
I'm driving the CGT today because, while I *love* my Alfas... I like driving
the Audi better.  If the CGT had two more driven wheels and another 70 bhp
it'd be the perfect car. :-)

Best,

--Scott Fisher
  1983 CGT / 1993 100CSQ

-----Original message-----
Hello Jay,
The fwd coupes are very reliable as far as the early Audi's go. In the US it
is not a quattro. No turbo and associated parts to give you trouble. No ABS,
so no hydraulic accumulator. Standard transmission and I5 motor are bullet
proof. You need to find out when the valve timing belt was last changed.
Should be done every 5 years or 50k miles. If you have it done, also get the
water pump and idler pulley changed at the same time. Find a shop in your
area recommended by people on this list to check the car out and you won't
go wrong. Interesting factoid: For a short time in late 1987 a few coupes
were produced with the 1988 2.3 liter NG high compression motor. I had one
of them, it was a lot of fun. These have big valve heads and rear disk
brakes (an easy identifier) and are noticeably quicker than the "standard"
2.2 liter models.
HTH,
Wolff
P.S. One other thing, they are one of the most beatiful looking automobiles
Audi has ever produced.