'88 5000S Auto FS; Any Buyer Beware?

[Grant Lenahan]

I generally find that most of my cars go 60-70k more of less trouble 
free (or the trouble is Audi's problem ...).
After that, on average, they seem to consume ~$800/year in true repairs 
and upkeep, aside from normal maintenance (tires, oil, etc).

This involves some work done by trusted mechanics and some doe by me, 
as well as a bunch of investigative work (by me) that often results in 
significant savings. e.g.; Audi: replace ETC sender for $1000 plus 
labor. Me: clean butterfly with gummout and run the sender through its 
range of motion a few times.

This year the '95 A6q is running over its quota.  Did a complete timing 
belt service (~$900k, I dont mess with that), and this week it gets 
front pads and a left front axel.  Oh, and an ignition switch, but I 
think I now change those with oil.

Grant

On Aug 5, 2006, at 7:01 PM, DeWitt Harrison wrote:

> I think you must be going about this in a much smarter way than I have.
> But that's ok. I like the car and it keeps me out of the pool hall. 
> Plus
> it's lookin' mighty fine these days - except that the interior is torn
> out for restoration at the moment; I actually took it in for smog 
> inspection
> with only the driver's seat and driver's door trim panel installed. I
> figured they would need a handle to close the door. The testers
> chuckled a little but passed it anyway, flying colors and all.
>
> DeWitt
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Alex Kowalski
>   To: DeWitt Harrison
>   Cc: Quattro List
>   Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 3:54 PM
>   Subject: Re: '88 5000S Auto FS; Any Buyer Beware?
>
>
>   Well, I won't split hairs over the costs.  We've owned 7 (or was it 
> 8?)
> Audis of various types and vintages and we've saved money because 
> we've been
> fortunate enough to pick some good ones along the way.  In the right 
> place
> at the right time with our eyes open, and all that.  On a dollars/mile 
> basis
> we've managed to come out in pretty fair shape versus buying other 
> new/used
> cars.  I guesstimate that we've driven over a half a million miles 
> over the
> years, and the total cost of ownership has been less than $35,000 (not
> including gas, insurance, etc.)  That was mainly due to the depressed 
> value
> of the cars after The Fiasco, so in the words of mutual-fund managers, 
> past
> performance is no guarantee of future results.
>
>   But yes indeed, love goes a long way when you try to explain to 
> someone
> why you are sitting in your driveway when you could be kayaking, 
> replacing
> the rear brakes on an 18 year old car.
>
>
>   On 8/5/06, DeWitt Harrison <six-rs at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> I can say with confidence that my Audi Experience has saved my family
> tens
>> of thousands of dollars over the years.  [ ... ]
>
>     The Audi 5000CS experience has cost my family tens of thousands of
> dollars
>     over the years. Why would I allow this? Because I feel it's such a 
> cool
> car
>     that
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