Checklist for Reliability of Older Audis

[Jeremiah Curry]

As an owner of a 2001 allroad and previously a 1991 200 20v, I have to agree, the older car was more reliable, and in some ways nicer (more solidly built, more comfortable seats).

I am curious what caused the 02 allroad to need a new engine.  I thought the 2.7t was almost as bulletproof as the I5

Jeremiah

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Hoffman <auditony at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 6:48 AM
To: Marc Boucher <mboucher70 at hotmail.com>
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: Checklist for Reliability of Older Audis

On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 11:04 PM, Marc Boucher <mboucher70 at hotmail.com>wrote:

> Huw I respect your tremendous knowledge, and all the assistance that you
> give to everyone on this list.  But isn't there a list of generally known
> weak-points to the I5 / NF engine that are worth changing out?
>
> Your argument, "A 20 year old transistor died.  It happens.", seems to
> offer full support to those that say, get a new car so you have something
> reliable.  My belief had always been that a well maintained 20 year old car
> can be as reliable as a new car, its just a question of adequate maintenance
> being done.  Major airlines still fly DC-10's or even older, alongside
> 777's, and they achieve comparable reliability by doing more maintenance on
> the older members of the fleet.
>
A newer car is more reliable? Not necessarily. I have plenty of newer Audi's
come in here on a flatbead, some needing major repairs (an 02 Allroad with
115k that needs an engine, for instance). I much prefer the failures of an
older Audi to a newer one, but the newer ones sure are nice!!..........Nice
has a big price, though.

I've seen two of those transistors fail over the years, so it doesn't happen
that often. I have replaced the entire coil unit as a whole with a new one
from the dealer when that did happen. That way, there is no wondering the
quality of the new part. If there is something aftermarket that is generally
cheap, I buy that part from the dealer. I treat my customers cars the same
way. If someone complains about the price, I have a statement for them. "You
do not drive a Wal-Mart car, I won't put Wal-Mart parts on it". I look at it
this way, my daily driver has covered about 230k in it's 25 years since it
was built. It didn't cover those miles with cheap chinese parts on it,
therefore I'm not putting them on it now.

I think Cody pretty well covered what to keep handy for spares. Sometimes
it's just luck as to what is going to fail. Even a Toyota will do that from
time to time. My sister lost the hall sender in the dizzy of her 91 toyota
on a trip to see me (this was about three years ago). And her car is five
years newer than mine, with 150k on it at the time.

Tony
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