Prospective Audi 100 quattro buyer in Oz

[Robert Thorne]

Greetings Listers,

My local European second hand car dealer currently has a 1994 Audi 100 Avant
Quattro for sale. I have never owned an Audi and I trying to find out what I
can about them. The car has the 2.8 V6 and automatic transmission and has
travelled 110,000km (60,000 miles). It is supposedly one owner and looks to
be in very good condition. There is a stack of invoices for maintenance work
which indicates a) that maintenance wasn't ignored and b) that the owner was
fastidious enough to keep the receipts in an organised sort of way. These
are both good signs. These were expensive cars when new and consequently
very few were sold. They didn't achieve the sales success that Audi hoped. I
wouldn't be surprised if there were only a handful of these Avant's sold in
Australia.

I want to know if these cars have any common problems - particularly with
engines and transmissions because these are the big ticket items to sort
out.

What sort of mileage's are these cars capable of if properly maintained.

What are spare part prices like (relative to other cars you have owned - I
know that this may not be directly applicable over here).

I have owned a variety of Renaults, Peugeots and VW's but I am most partial
to Citroen's. I currently have a pretty good CX, but it is 20 years old now
and is getting to the stage where it's reliability as an everyday driver
must be questioned. I do all my own maintenance work. I don't actually
consider the Citroen to be a complex car. It is poorly laid out and some
things are very hard to get at but essentially it has large number of
relatively simple systems that make up the whole.

The Audi appeals to me because it is engineered by Germans (who find it
difficult to cut corners when designing) and because it was built to a
standard - not a price. I am hoping that you will tell me that I can expect
a long and trouble free life from this car. I'm confident that I can handle
most of the routine maintenance and sorting out any minor problems. I don't
want to be up for a rebuilt trans or engine within 10 years or another
200,000 km.

TIA for your responses.
Greetings from Brisbane, Australia

Robert Thorne