In Local Audi News: Car goes up in flames in downtown street

[Mike Arman]

On 1/7/2015 6:02 PM, Kent McLean wrote:
>
>> Mike Arman wrote:
>>
>> Do other makes/models have the same incidences of fires, or are we something special? I wonder
>> what the percentages are, same for everyone, or higher for specific makes due to the suppliers
>> of fuel system components? Is Bosch the problem? Fuel lines? Connections?
>
> Do you read all the other lists out there for comparison?  :)
>
> My guess: Audis (with galvanized bodies) last a lot longer than other makes. The chances of fuel
> lines lasting 10 years are good. 15 years? Not as good. 20 years? Not good at all. And Audis are
> one of the few cars to last that long as daily drivers.  But I could be wrong.
>
> — Kent McLean ’02 VW Beetle TDI and lots of ex-Audis, including Bad Puppy
>

Kent,

At first blush, I liked this idea a lot, being a hopeless Audi-holic. Yeah, our cars develop obscure 
problems because other cars don't last long enough to . . . sounds good to me!


Alas, the average age of a car in the US is 14 years (darn statistics again), so we still need to 
compare the incidence of car fires across other makes and models for similar age groups.

(Another good theory shot to heck. Drat.)


I also think that the retirement rate for older Audis may be higher than other makes because these 
cars become insanely maintenance intensive as they get old, and most people just trade 'em in on 
something reliable or park them in the back yard when they discover there's simply no trade-in 
value. Car owners who are willing to actually get their hands dirty are an endangered species.

Anecdotal evidence, yes, but I think possibly worth a further look.

Best,

Mike