team doorhandle

[Dave Eaton]

ahh, it is good to see that the qlist as the same ratio of curmudgeons as it
used to have....

btw, I looked up the wiki on "fear of ownership" for an '80's audi, and it
said that it diminishes over the time you have owned the car because you
have already replaced everything at least once - and the door handles 5
times over!

for new newish audi's "fear of ownership" is covered by a warranty.  nifty
things those....

times, they are a changing - or is it that all the curmudgeons are getting
older?  now where is my old, solid & reliable motorola microtac - maybe one
of you guys would like to buy it??

dave  (dusting off a beta tape of mad max)
'03 rs6 (darn new fangled audi)
'04 allroad tdi (another one dammit)

-----Original Messages-----
As much as I love the allroad, black on black and all, it's certainly not
without a certain "fear of ownership" factor, for the reasons you describe,
not to mention the torque converter failures that i've heard about. Having
owned a B5 A4 Avant, a V8q, two B3 90s, and now an UrS4, I have to say I
like driving the Ur, in completely stock form, the best. I just love the
boost when it comes on. The smaller turbos on the 2.7T just don't match it,
even though on paper according to Audi they have the same amount of torque.
I've had just as many issues with the newer cars as we ever had with the
older ones. If I could get my wife out of the allroad and into an ?rS6 Avant
I'd  do it tomorrow.  Alas, she wants a Q7, and I must admit I really like
everything about them except the payment.......

[snip]
>> Also, I, along with Cody and probably several others on this list, 
>> work on these cars (professionally) every day. I'll second the "No 
>> thank you". Ever done a TB on a 30V? How about the cam chain 
>> tensioner seals? I could damn near rebuild a 4000Q in the time it 
>> takes to replace an automatic trans in an A4 Quattro. OK, not quite, 
>> but you get the point. And the $$ to maintain one is rediculous also!
>>
[snip]
>I own an A4, and am not so quick to agree. While having the more modern car

>is nice in a lot of ways, it certainly doesn't have the same feel as the 
>older cars -- my 1990 100 and 1995 90 Quattro had their issues, but they 
>had that old German indestructible feel. My wife often suggests we sell the

>A4 and find another 90; it's tempting.

[snip]

So, it's not just me, but most of the modern iron I've driven has a sort of
sameness (blandness) no matter what the ilk, what the car scribes praise, or
whatever. I'm glad that the newest car in my stable (the 2005 Saabaru) is
really rather "old tech", so it still has some personality. I'm really just
not taken too much with the newer stuff out there. 

[snip]
>
> I've driven just about every newer Audi out there, aside from maybe an
> S8, the few Teutonic beasts which still have the feel of the old Audi's
> have a 3 pointed star on the hood or triple digit sticker prices.  Some
> call it progress.
>

[snip]
>>
>>guys.. 2 words..
>>
>>"A"
>>
>>"FOUR"
>>
>>at this rate a nice used a4 is the same price as about 500 doorhandles.
>>seriously.. as great a car is it is [was], it's time for the 44's to go to
>>the big, golden boneyard in the sky. bt, dt, stm, btt.
>>
>>[been there, done that, saw the movie, bought the t-shirt =]