92 CSQ Avant

[Roger M. Woodbury]

I have a 94, which has just passed 50,000 miles.  Here in rural Maine, it is
THE perfect vehicle.  It is my wife's car, and it is used for all the wifely
stuff plus about half the time we take it when we go almost anywhere.  I
love my V8 Quattro, but given the option, I would want to have another
100CSQ for myself.

Now, having said that, we took the car on a long trip last Thanksgiving, and
drove to Florida.  On the trip down, the car was wonderful, and as a long
distance tourer, it is outstanding.  Fuel mileage in the low twenties.  I
used a quart of oil on the entire trip.  I bought my car in August, and it
used a quart of oil every 1500 miles for the first month, and since the long
trip to Florida, the oil consumtion has dropped to what seems a quart in
5000 miles.  I just checked the oil after reading your post, and found it
down one half...and I am half way to an manufacturer's spec oil change.

Now from what I have read from others, the earlier V6 cars were apt to use
some oil, so if this car you are looking at is using oil at the rate of a
quart in 1500 miles, I would say that sounds excellent....from what I have
read.

I have also read that these engines and cars are a tad sluggish (they are!),
but will run a long time without major difficulty.  I would want to know
precisely what service the car has had with 117,000 miles, and by whom....I
would want to see work orders for at least the last 50,000 miles, I think.
And if the price was really attractive, it sounds like it might be a good
car...good for another hundred thousand.

One thing I found while I was driving in southeast and west coast Florida
traffic, is that the car requires a different style than I am used to using.
In heavy Florida traffic, the car IS down on low end torque, so full
throttle acceleration in traffic, away from stop lights, through
intersections and such, is normal.  The resultant fuel economy in such
driving is disappointing.  My fuel economy in Florida averaged around15 with
short range trips.  Here in Maine, we average around 18 overall, unless we
go more than 50 miles, when it is around 20.

As far as safety is concerned, I believe that while Volvos were always made
with a serious eye to safety, I doubt that there is anything much safer or
more rugged than an Audi....unless of course, it is a Mercedes, which has
been doing crash testing of its cars for safety purposes, since the early
1930s.

I will be very interested in how you find this car, but I would recommend
that your wife drive it in traffic before making a decision.

Roger