[V8] meandering thoughts on a mild Saturday

[Dave Saad]

Well...
I just bought a allroad 2.7t. I got it for 3k with 115k miles on it. The interior is in fantastic shape, and the body is also very nice. The previous owners daughter did a little "art work" on the paint, but it will all buff out. Kinda cute actually - kids do funny stuff. It also has a rebuilt transmission and came with an extra set of wheels/snow tires. It had a leaky front suspension and weak air pump. Also had a bad dash display and the stereo display has dead pixels. Basically this is how I wanted to buy it. All fixable stuff.
So far I have rebuilt the front end with new lifetime air springs, new upper control arms and re-bushed lower control arms. The air pump is rebuildable for $30. The dash lcd panel was $120 and easy to replace. I also put new tires on. The whole mess cost about $2k (including the vag-com I just bought and the service manual) so I am in this car for slightly north of 5k and it certainly feels like it will go another 100k miles with little trouble. 

So far I love it which surprises me since it is a tip tronic but I like that too. It is very easy to drive like a manual transmission.

So- rather than spend top dollar for a perfect specimen, look for one that can be brought back to life. This way you get to control the quality and cost of your repairs.

I also hear the 2.7t is near bullet  proof. There will be lots of rubber hose issues for me for the next year but this is expected and planed for.

Dave
Btw does this mean I have to leave the v8 list?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 11, 2015, at 4:38 AM, Roger M. Woodbury <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net> wrote:
> 
> I have made the decision to put the V8 back on the road.  It has been in its garage on a battery minder since September 2013 because we had no need to run two cars. Only one of us drives regularly in this house and the 100CS Avant Quattro is the more practical of the two vehicles to drive on a daily basis. The V8 simply will NOT carry have a dozen 2X4's no matter how hard I try to convince it.
> 
> The 100 has just passed 200,000 miles. Although it runs perfectly there are the continual nagging issues of an older, high mileage German car.  I just took it to the wrench because I noted a coolant leak from in front of the engine.  Not a heavy leak, but a leak there is a concern because of the presence of a whole lot of stuff that should NOT be leaking now. The timing belt and water pump are only 20K old, so I was quite sure the issue wasn't there. At 200,000 miles it could well be time for the radiator to go south. I wanted to be sure.
> 
> Yes!  It is the radiator that has a slightly leaking seam.  I'll have the radiator replaced when the car goes back for its oil change, mandatory inspection and to have winter tires put back on later in the fall.  Meanwhile, I'll just watch coolant levels. We'll likely drive around 2000 miles between now and November, so I',m not worrying.
> 
> But while we were "in there", with the belly pan off, we looked up at the underside of the engine.  The big issue really is with the oil leaks that are there and actually getting some worse.  I am growing more and more concerned about this, as sooner or later there will need to be something done about the leaks.  They are not going to go away and are numerous enough to that once they get really severe, it will not be possible to "chase them down":  at that point the choice will be to completely reseal the engine or do something else entirely.
> 
> So, I've begun to think about "alternatives" to the station wagon, and perhaps when the BIG decision time comes....roughly when the timing belt job looms its head once again...the question will be what?  I watched a couple of eBay auctions for Audi allroads go by, and the price on the '04-'05 all road is certainly coming down.  So I did a bunch more reading about that particular car and have learned a LOT.  I also had a discussion with my wrench and the other guys in his shop about the allroad.  The concensus is that the allroad is a very nice car, but the 2.7 twin turbo is to be shunned like the plague because of specific issues with the turbocharging system in terms of cost and complexity.  Well and good because the only allroad I was interested in was the 4.2 cars anyway.
> 
> That was until I read a bit further.  The 4.2 litre engine in the allroad is a timing chain engine. The engine is largely the same as in the S4, with the chain located at the rear of the engine. Audi intended for the timing chain system to last a long time, and apparently the chain itself is not a wear or failure item, and in point of fact, the entire motor is very robust.  All except for the chain guides and tensioners.  They can become a wear item at around 100,000 miles and R&R requires the pulling of the engine.  Then, too once the engine is out, not only do all the plastic guides and tenesioners need to be replaced, but  so also the cam adjusters and those suckers are EXPENSIVE, so I gather.
> 
> So, on the allroad you have the air suspension AND the potential for a big bucks engine servicing although the Audi "timing belt" legacy is stopped prior to the 4.2 litre motor.
> 
> Well, quite obviously, the only reasonable way to even think about an allroad is to find one with a perfectly documented service history (figure the odds!), and find one with around 100,000 miles or so on it tha thas already had the timing chain guides and assorted stuff replaced recently.  Probably one like that will also have had the airbags, compressor and other stuff also redone. Perhaps buying one used from a dealer and then buying an aftermarket warranty is the best way to proceed....assuming there IS such a thing as an after market warranty, of course.
> 
> I am really beginning to wonder if all auto manufacturers are really building cars to last ONLY 100,000 miles and not one step further. In looking at relatively new cars running around here in Maine, I see almost anything built after 2005 to be on the way out.  While the cars themselves may well run on and on, the bodies are already showing signs of rusting and I see few exceptions to that in recent cars.  I would be crazy wild if the 2010 Ford F150 that I had bought new was sitting in my driveway corroding it's $30,000 price away after only five years use!
> 
> The cost of resealing the 2.8 V6 in the Audi 100 appears very reasonable at less than two grand. The car beneath is not rusty, although  there is an ugly place ont he tailgate and the car will need to have paint in another year. So the question may well be whether or not to keep the 100, putting three or four grand into refurbishment....I have available to me a '97 A6 Avant that is a parts car with 90,000 miles on that engine, so a complete engine swap is a possibility...but probably not what I would do.
> 
> Meanwhile we have a V8 Quattro that is pretty young in terms of miles at around 85K.  That's a known quantity and since we drive only around twelve thousand miles per year, right now, we watching the 100 Avant and contemplating the V8 to await developments.
> 
> Roger
> 
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