What do I look for on a 5000CS quattro?

[DeWitt Harrison]

On Tue, 16 Jan 2001 13:21:44 -0500, Stephen Bigelow wrote:
 >
 > > [snip Joshua Van Tol's list of a dozen, if you count "electrical
 > > doodads" as one, maintenance items]
 >
 > Except for the exhaust manifold, and the recirc pump, those sounds like
 > "Olde Car with High Mileage" problems, not 5kcsq problems.

I think "Olde, Extremely Complex German Car with High Mileage"
problems would convey the situation better. (That reminds me, I forgot
CV boots, CV joints, fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump check valve,
fuel tank liner failure, differential lock servos, Bose amplifier fires,
blower motor, help me out here, in my previous list of 40 odd
minor items.) When a collection of bells and whistles this extensive
begins to age you basically either have to let it go, hold on
to a fading POS or shell out big bucks and time. Nuttin's free.

Mike Veglia's point is well taken.

 > The real key you have to ask yourself, and this applies to *any* high
 > end European car with 100k+ miles from the 80s/early 90s), is are you
 > willing to take on the "issues" as they crop up or not? [ ... ]

Perhaps it's a personal philosophy thing.  There is no way to
justify 5000t/200 ownership on economic grounds. As Mike
points out, this applies to other fancy, Euro '80s cars too, e.g.
wmb 735, ovlov whatever. You need to have a lot of Love to
withstand the pain.

DeWitt Harrison
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq