[urq] The revolt is on!

[djdawson2 at aol.com]

Interesting little discussion... and I'll throw in my .02 for the hell of it.

I bought my first Audi in '94.? It was an 87.5 Coupe GT.? It was missing one of the black metal trim pieces around the rear quarter window.? Called Audi and could not order the part.? This was on a vehicle that was 7 years old at the time.? The writing was on the wall, long before I ever got into urq's.

The key to successful maintenance of these cars in the long run will be resourcefulness.? You may not be able to buy the part new from Audi, but that doesn't end the story.? ANY suspension part can be replaced with SOMETHING available in the market.? There may be fabrication involved, but that's part of the equation.? A rear tie rod assembly, for example, is nothing more than a threaded tube with tie rod ends on each end.? If owners are not capable of overcoming the challenge of replacing a part like that with a suitable alternative, they are not the right?owners for this type of car.

Take stock of what you have, and what you see needing in the future life of the car.? Do you currently have it?? If the answer is "no" you better start working on getting it.? There are MANY used cars out there... for sale and in junkyards... that are parts "warehouses" just waiting to be tapped.? Are you tapping them?? If not, you might think about it... the clock is ticking.

In the past few years I bought 2 coupes for my kids.? Yeah... they needed cars... but my underlying agenda was that I was purchasing 2 full cars worth of parts for the future of my urq's.? Clips... trim... interior bits... all that stuff I knew I wouldn't ever be able to get.

There are good ways to keep cars on the road for the rest of our lifetimes... question is will you tap those resources?? There will never be a suspension part that could not be replaced with some creativity and fabrication... that's just fact.? Drivetrain, there are thousands of spares... diffs, transmissions...? and they last many miles.? Do you have a spare?

There are some tough ones... windshields have been brought up.? I was informed by a friend of the upcoming shortage, and as a result, I?bought the last 3 windshields and gaskets that he could lay his hands on.? Considering the current situation, I'm glad I did.? But ones ability to be creative when it comes to glass is greatly limited... so that one has me thinking.? At some point I imagine a significant sized group will have to approach one of the aftermarket glass companies and make an appeal for a short run.? Those companies would likely entertain such an appeal, if the numbers were reasonable.

I think my opinion is more along the lines that if you can't visualize yourself being able to deal with these challenges, you're probably not going to be the type of person that can be a long term owner.? If you can see yourself "diving in" when presented with a parts challenge, then you probably could be.

Look at Bob Pastore's recent stuff... fenders, quarter panels, grills, and even the elusive door pockets.? They can be reproduced, and he's doing it.? Look at the various aftermarket guys (that Scott mentioned) who may be willing to put a little R&D time into some of this for promise of reasonably sized purchases.

Bottom line... short of a vehicle destroyed in an accident... it should be achievable.

Anyway... I guess that's all I've got.

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: QSHIPQ at aol.com
To: Michael at siliconoptix.com; martin at quattro.ca; urq at audifans.com
Sent: Fri, 16 May 2008 1:03 pm
Subject: Re: [urq] The revolt is on!



 
Mike
All parts are available, to think they are all *used* up is not resourceful  
thinking.  To think they are all somewhere is resourceful thinking.   Finding 
where they went is resourceful action.  The question is only how  bad do you 
want it.  Even Audi would respond to that...
 
This list doesn't appear to be there yet.  I like my urq's, and could  care 
less what Audi does to support the parts for it.  I'm amused by the  thought 
that prior to the 'fire sale' Audi supported our cars fully.  Some  of the best 
discussions I had were with the master techs that used to work on  the urq's.  
Buy Beckius some beers, he tells great stories that indicate  the urq was a 
bastard child when it was *new*.  
 
Scott J
In a message dated 5/16/2008 1:51:28 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
Michael at siliconoptix.com writes:

And yet  you make a blanket statement that all parts 
are available with nothing  other than your opinion to
back it up. 


 



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