[V8] dealers

[Roger Woodbury]

I have absolutely NO faith in the dealer network for any of the German cars,
and precious little for ANY car being sold in the US.

Here, everything is based on advertising and selling of the newest models.
There really is very, very little "dealer loyalty" to the customer, and
therefore very, very little loyalty from the maker to the buyer.  

I don't care.  I am in all likelihood never going to darken the door of a
dealer again with an eye to buying a car.  Almost as little chance that I
might darken the doorway to buy parts.  

Here in rural Maine, there is one "old line" Audi dealer that knows
everything there is to know about the Type 44 and newer Audis. The service
manager, parts manager and at least one mechanic were there when the first
Type 44 cars came out, and the one mechanic (to my knowledge) is the ONLY
Audi "factory trained" mechanic who was actually type trained on the V8 in
New England.  

Now, having said that, would I take my V8 to the dealer for service?  The
simple answer is "no" for a couple of reasons.  First of all, my independent
mechanic is as good as anyone I have ever known who works on cars for a
living.  Secondly, he actually "likes" Audis.  Thirdly, I know that the Audi
Dealer will do exactly what the Audi manual says to do.  That means if the
headlight rheostat goes bad, the "fix" will be to replace the entire
instrument cluster to which the rheostat is affixed..been there, almost done
that (although when I darkend said dealer's door carrying a rheostat that I
got from a recycler through the mail, the mechanic had no trouble excising
the instrument cluster and soldering the "new" rheostat into the appropriate
place....for $35!).  Finally, the dealer that I would go to is just about an
even hundred miles from here, and the days when I want to go to a dealer
badly enough to drive three hours over two lane roads are DONE.  My
independent guy is a mere 15 miles from here.

So, I am really struggling with the whole Audi thing.  I don't WANT a new
one.  Gizzie and neat though they may well be, they just do not appeal to me
in the same way that the Type 44 cars do.  I have tried to convince myself
that a "nice" A6 3.0 Avant would be just the ticket.  I have tried and tried
and tried to convince myself that an S6 Avant...ANY S6 Avant...would work.
But the answer is still, NO.  I just don't like the way they look.

But another 200 20V Avant...well:  IF one appeared that wasn't all beaten to
death....maybe.  I might even be able to stand listening to my wife scream
about the clutch....

And then, there is the eternal musings about another V8...a '93 or '94, but
they all will need their purchase price in overhaul, and I wonder if a V8 is
really ethical in this time of diminishing oil resources and skyrocketing
prices...

When Type 44 parts are so hard to find as to approach unobtainable, I think
I will probably be reduced to walking because I don't want a new one, and I
don't want a Camry.

R



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