[V8] High-milage V8

[Jeremy Ward]

My 1990 just turned 170k the other night after 35k and 4.5 years of
ownership.  This means I will be doing the t-belt in the fall of 2008.

If I make the $1200 (?) investment, I am good to go until 240k, right?
Problem free, right?  ;-)

Sometimes I wonder about finding a low-mile example, doing a 4.2 transplant,
or finding something different.  Unka Bart is enjoying his R32 more than the
GE; I am intrigued by this as much as I am intrigued by the VW itself.  The
A3 might become appealing as soon as the resale value "pulls an Audi".  I
also wonder about buying a 2001 S4 that needs its 60k turbo job and
replacing them with an Eaton Supercharger and 034 EFI. >:-)  There are a lot
more A4/S4s in the world, which means more options in terms of aftermarket
parts (not to mention the availability of non-obsolete dealership parts!)

As much as I like to dream, I keep going back to the fact that my TCO is
about $125 per month for maintenance (excluding gas, oil, and depreciation).
This includes that $4000 transmission overhaul I had to do shortly after
buying the car.

Brian, I don't have to tell you that $4000 transmission repair bill would
sink a college student.  Ownership can be kind of like a crapshoot; you know
the odds, but the dice don't always behave as you might expect. ;-)

Or as Forest would say, Audi reliability is like a box of chocolates; you
never know what you's gonna get.

Cheers,

- Jeremy

-----Original Message-----
From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of
Coleman, David
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 6:44 AM
To: Kent McLean; Brian P.
Cc: v8 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [V8] High-milage V8

Since most of us didn't own our car (or at least the engine) from new, I
doubt many will see more than 175k miles before rings and such wear to
the point of burning oil faster than what most would tolerate (operative
word being "many").  Show me a 200k V8 with nothing starting to wear to
the point of rebuild, and I'll show you a car that has a downhill
commute both ways...

Just my thoughts.  I'm SURE to hear about everyone's car or buddy's car
who went 250k and it ran as good as ever.   In fact, a friend of mine's
'91 5-speed has about 220k when he sold it, and it didn't burn a drop
and ran at least as good as mine.  However, he's a fanatic, owned it
from new, and was always and without exception serviced by the same
single person, who was the lead porsche/audi tech at the dealer.

Lastly, there's a difference between needing rings and blowing a rod
through the block.  If that's the yardstick, these things can go 250k no
sweat!

-dc-


> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Kent McLean
> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 6:10 AM
> To: Brian P.
> Cc: v8 at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V8] High-milage V8
> 
> Brian P. wrote:
> > Hello. Well I'm about to put about $1500 into my V8 and it got me 
> > thinking will it be worthwhile. A few fellow Audi fans told 
> me the V8 
> > engine wasn't like the 5 cyl. that could go well over 250k. I'm 
> > wondering, if taken care of and such, how long will this 
> engine last me?
> 
> I don't have an answer to the engine longevity question, but 
> I'm with Scott on "value".  If you sell your V8 for what, 
> $3K? and add in your $1.5K, what are you going to get for 
> $4.5K to replace it?  Something that needs $1500 of work.
> 
> If you were to go out and lease a new car, that $1500 gets 
> you about 6 months of new car.
> 
> Take a 2-year view -- even if you put 25K miles/year on the 
> V8, that gets you to 250K miles, college graduation, a new 
> job, new income, and a new car.  And a V8 beats the crap out 
> of the '65 VW Bug I drove for my last 2 years of college.
> 
> --
> Kent McLean
> '94 100S Avant, "Moody"
> '89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" up in smoke