Investing in a 200TQW

[superba]

Hi All,

I apologize in advance for returning all of Brett's email, but I want to be
sure a potential reader knows what I'm referring to.

I can't help but chime in on this one, for in my recent forays into the cars
for sale was a 90 - 200 TQ.  Didn't buy it because its pedigree was highly
suspect.

Brett's litany is the testimony of someone who should be an Audi owner;
hard to pinpoint exactly but the things an Audi owner will do.  Maybe
they'll bitch about them but they'll do them.  Audi owners _not_ would bitch
and get an Oldsmobile Aurora or a Camry.

To remove the time pressure of getting a newer car I took the silver bullet
to a reputable workshop for valve stem seals, valve lash, tb, wp, frt main
seal, tranny service, master cylinder, etc.  BTW, the brakes partially
failed a week before but I kept driving it anyway in some of the worst
freeway and surface street traffic.  So, I really needed a master cylinder.
At the end of the day, I got hosed on everything; e.g. I put Gates drive
belts on less than 7K miles before, but they were duly replaced by $40 worth
of Continentals.  All the consumables were really dear to say the least.

When I picked it up, the tranny shifted slowly and splined hard on a quick
stop and go.  Apparently there wasn't enough of the Mobil 1 ATF to fill
it...

The total of the bill including 2 days car rental was at least twice as much
as my car is worth according to the Blue Book, that is if my car is still in
it.

Some of us are meant to be Audi owners and tolerate a lot of crap to do it.
Others shouldn't even think of it.

Some day I'll get a 90 to 95 something Audi, but I don't want to be
pressured into a deal just because my car needs servicing.

My .0175 worth.

Cheers!

Jim Jordan
81 5KT > 310K miles (still)


> Message: 19
> Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 11:06:07 -0400
> To: George Tur <gtur at lucent.com>, Barry Lampke <BLampke at veic.org>
> From: Brett Dikeman <quattro at pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net>
> Subject: Re: Investing in a 200TQW
> Cc: quattro at audifans.com
>
> At 10:16 AM -0400 9/5/00, George Tur wrote:
>
> >Based on personal experience it comes down to when the repair cash
> >flow gets to be greater than paying for a new car loan and the
> >driving pleasure has degenerated to that of a toyota corolla or
> >whatever other econo box you like. This is a very subjective
> >judgment. I think what pushes you over the edge is the
> >unpredictability of the repairs. The break downs
> >always occur at the worst moments. Like hard starting when trying to
> >make that fast getaway after the bank heist. (Forced to do the bank
> >heist because of the car repair bills)
>
>     My car, around the IT department here at work, has become a joke;
> one person flat out told me, when I mentioned something about my
> mother's Volvo, that it(the Volvo) was a "REAL car."  Despite the
> fact that it will dust all their cars, I keep getting jokes and
> comments.  Not like it isn't deserved:
>
>     First, the starter stops working at a gas station half-way from
> MA->NY.  After calling about half a dozen people, AAA, and Neil
> @Continental(nearby, but not nearby enough), the car magically
> starts.  Get home, starter is fried.  Find a replacement, install
> Sunday afternoon.
>    Then, the shifter linkage pops off the tranny, stranding me in the
> middle of a road in Framingham, MA...I manage to get the car into 2nd
> gear and that's it.
>     Then a caliper seizes and leaves me stuck in MA for 3 week-days
> while I hunt around for a caliper, then install it until about 10pm
> and drive 3.5 hours back down to NY.
>     Then, the driver's side speaker starts dropping out.  This
> weekend, the right rear drops out, leaving me with -one- working
> speaker.
>     Progressively worsening is a problem with the A/C compressor.
> Despite tension adjustment, above 3-3.5k rpms, the belt -massively-
> slips; I was right in my prediction that the compressor was on the
> way out.
>
> Now, the replacement caliper is acting up; half the rotor is worn,
> half isn't...or the rotor was unevenly worn.  That and the bearing is
> probably toast from the intense heat of the seized caliper.  Oh, and
> the shift linkage is loose again.
>
> Most of the above listed items have occurred in the past 2 months.
>
> Oh, and a recent $2k bill,half of the stuff worked on didn't do
> anything(the tranny still leaks, the rear caliper problem had nothing
> to do with the brake cables, and the O2 sensor didn't fix the bad
> running, among the many things the mechanic worked on.)  Dan and I
> have had similar problems...he's the only mechanic we trust for miles
> around, but getting up to him takes almost 2 hours and for me,
> requires renting a car.
>
> I can't do work on the car except for very minor items; I have little
> in the way of tools.  Various 200q20v listers assured me, "oh, you're
> getting into the stage where the the car will start to quiet
> down"(ie, the "gauntlet" theory.)  So far, nothing of the sort; the
> car is continuing to thrown curve balls faster than Pedro Martinez.
>
> I paid $13.2k for my car 3 years ago, and it's been nothing but
> repair bills, several in the $2k range.  I sat down once and figured
> out that, monthly, between parts, mechanics bills, etc I was paying
> more than the payments on a -new- S4.
>
> Showing up at an Audi dealership with an older Audi(mostly
> functioning) should be enough of a credit check in and of itself,
> proof that you can afford the payments on a new one...
>
> Brett
> --
> ----
> Brett Dikeman				Systems Engineer
> CFN(formerly iClick, Inc)			914-872-8043
> 120 Bloomingdale Rd.			914-872-8100(fax)
> White Plains, NY 10605			http://www.iclick.com
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