Was: What do I look for on a 5000CS quattro?Now:quality rant

[james accordino]

--- Stephen Bigelow <sbigelow at sprint.ca> wrote:
> >
> > How about these problems:
> >
> > Cracked exhaust manifold
> > worn valve stem seals
> > bad fuel injectors
> > bad fuel pump
> > Plenty of leaks, from hydraulic lines, diff seals,
> engine seals,
> > valve cover gaskets, oil cooler lines, master
> cylinder grommits,
> > clutch master and slave cylinders, etc.
> > Heater blower fan
> > worn suspension bushings, strut inserts, rear tie
> rods, etc.
> > broken electrical doo-dads (radio, power seats,
> dash lights, etc)
> > coolant recirc pump
> > braking system rebuild
> 
> Except for the exhaust manifold, and the resirc
> pump, those sounds like
> "Olde Car with High Mileage" problems, not 5kcsq
> problems.
> 
You spoke my mind, except on MOST other cars, you're
looking at 80-120k miles, not 150-200K.  Anyone tried
to get more than say 40k miles out of the stock shocks
on a Merican car?  Who cares to name ANY other car
that when the clutch is removed at 184k miles, could
be cleaned and REINSTALLED for another 20-30K?  How
about exhaust systems?  Still got the original
184k/11+ yr old. sys. on the car.  How come your
Hyndaui/Scooberdoo/Toyota rusted out sooner than my
exhaust system?  These cars become a problem when:

-you go to the dealer for parts/service
-you go to an incompetent/ignorant mech. and he ruins 
 things/charges you a fortune without fixing things
-you/PO decide not to repair or replace small nagging 
 problems which become large/expensive problems

If you are handy/have some tools and are REALISTIC
about what you are doing, these cars can be great. 
Even a good automotive value.  I don't buy that part
about not driving it out of sight of the garage
either.  Phil posted before-"fix the leaks" and "get
it back to stock baseline".  If you do these things,
the cars become quite reliable.  Most original owners
just ran them for the first 100-150k miles, sometimes
W/O doing anything.  BTDTx2.  That didn't happen by
accident.
P/O maintanence schedule:

every 5k-change oil
40k change tires/air filter
65k change front brake pads
100k change tires again/air filter/spark plugs
115k change front pads/rotors,rear pads

High maintanence, huh?  Real expensive?  Need further
explanation as to why the other systems need repair? 
Anyone who thinks these cars are such a pain probably
should be driving a "disposable" car.  There are many
of them out there.  Use them for 80-100k and throw
them away.  If they get wrecked/damaged, they get
thrown away.  Please don't anyone take this
personally!  Few things piss me off, but this is one
of them. 

Jim Accordino