Japanese vs german, reliability

Tue May 8 10:20:05 EDT 2001

Older, but new and newer car comparison:

Fiance, now wife, bought a new Acura Integra Special Edition in '87.  I had
bought my '83 urq with 11.5k on it months before I met her in '85.  In '90,
after being married in '88, she comments that the Audi is SO EXPENSIVE to
maintain.  She, the comptroller, at my insistence, does a review of the
service records over three years for both cars.  The Audi won, by less than
$100; over a new car with partially paid for maintenance.

We still have the amazingly dependable  urq.  The Integra was replaced by a
'93 90S which served us well until she got bit by the minivan bug.  The
present '99 Honda Odyssey is absolutely superior to the '96 Dodge Grand
Caravan POS it replaced, but the Audi wins hands down.  The Odyssey has had
three recalls; one time the problem had never occurred, but did AFTER she
took it in and they replaced the possibly defective part.  The Dodge had so
many recalls and failures that I can't even remember them all  (but I
remember the one fire).  I took a $19k bath on that vehicle with 26k miles
on it just to be rid of it.

Despite my present problems with the '95 S6 avant, which I expect to be
resolved satisfactorily, I'm not unsatisfied.  The only marques I feel
provide better dependability and service treatment combined are the Lexus
and Infinity brands...which is why I steered my 80 year old Dad into an
Infinity after his Alfa.

Of course, I had an ultra dependable Alfa, before a drunk totaled it while
it was parked in front of my house.  And my '72 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe only
let me down once (fuel pump diaphragm) in 170k plus miles and had "new"
compression when sold.  So I might be a outlier in your data set.

Run 'em fast.  Run 'em smooth.  Change the oil every 3,000 miles.  Blast the
bottom of the car every time you wash it.  Dry out your door/trunkl/hatch
jams.  Treat your seals.  Keep the insides (relatively) clean.  Seems to
work.

Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "josh Wyte" <josh_wyte at yahoo.com>
To: "nwloves" <dloves at myhome.net>; <mx at snet.net>
Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Japanese vs german, reliability

> New car comparisons only.  You have no idea what kinda
> crap a used car went thru, particularly one over 10
> years old...
>
> -josh
>
>
> --- nwloves <dloves at myhome.net> wrote:
> > 90 Accord vs  20V?
> > Let's go back 2 years in the used car market.
> > 1990 Accord-135k one owner in real nice shape
> > costing 5k and acceptable (?)
> > problems include the distributor housing, throttle
> > positioner, clutch, oil
> > seals after 15k, speed sensor, upper radiator. etc
> > etc.
> > 1990 20V-150k one owner in real nice shape costing
> > 5k and no real problems
> > yet?
> > The Honda has been a financial nightmare with the
> > only advantage being the
> > fuel consumption.
> > Do the math
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "josh Wyte" <josh_wyte at yahoo.com>
> > To: <mx at snet.net>
> > Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
> > Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 2:42 PM
> > Subject: Japanese vs german, reliability
> >
> >
> > > Well to be really fair you ought to compare cars
> > in a
> > > similar price point.  Not really fair to put a 91
> > > Honda Accord up vs a 91 90q20v or a 91 200tq.
> > More
> > > like a Lexus ES300 or 400 or Infiniti Q45 vs the
> > Audi.
> > >  I think the Infiniti and Lexus will come out on
> > top
> > > reliability wise.
> > >
> > > My Dad has gotten 150k miles out of a 85 Toyota
> > Supra,
> > > 89 Acura Legend coupe and a 93 Mitsu 3000GT Vr4
> > with
> > > nothing but normal maintenance.  ie brakes, tires,
> > > oil, clutch here and there.  That pales in
> > comparison
> > > to the stacks of receipts I've compiled on my '91
> > GTI
> > > 16v, '99.5 GTI VR6, '93 Corrado VR6 and my '97
> > Audi
> > > A4.
> > >
> > > I'm curious to see how the WRX fares reliability
> > wise
> > > over the next few years.  It looks like a fun car
> > and
> > > sure goes like stink.  If it holds together well
> > it
> > > may be my next car.  Parked next to my '92 Acura
> > NSX.
> > > (I can dream, right?)
> > >
> > > -josh
> > >
> > > =====
> > > Josh Wyte
> > > Momentum Motorsports
> > > 508-833-3024 After 5 pm EST
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great
> > prices
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> >
>
>
> =====
> Josh Wyte
> Momentum Motorsports
> 508-833-3024 After 5 pm EST
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
> http://auctions.yahoo.com/