Re: 200 qw front pads update

["Linus D. Toy" <linust@interramp.com>]

Changing to the conventional brakes is going to do nothing about the price
of the pads--in fact, it might be worse--in 12/95, a Seattle dealer quoted
me $233 for the front pads for my '91 200q with conventional brakes.  But we
all know the dealer prices are ridiculous--the trick is to find the pads
elsewhere.  I expect high prices (don't like it) -- we're talking about low
volume cars--not a 300,000 unit/year Accord --btw, it's in the shop today  8(

I don't see this as lawsuit material--don't we have enough of those out
there?  sorry Bruce  ;^)   While there may be problems with the brakes,
where does it say Audi is obliged to provide you with a perfect vehicle?
Safe, yes, functional, yes, and maybe a few other qualities, yes, but not
necessarily perfect.  The design isn't unsafe, it does what it was supposed
to do, and that's that.  Audi didn't replace the UFO brakes under warranty
anywhere but in the U.S. (N. America?).  Elsewhere, they used a pad that
didn't heat the rotor as much, but squealed like a stuck pig (fix one market
problem, create another).  

This is probably more a marketplace issue than a legal one--if Audi doesn't
fix their problem, they'll lose their market.  They fixed the problem for
the later cars.  I don't see the legal system as the appropriate substitute
for the market here, especially where you didn't buy the car new from Audi
in the first place (you, me, and many others on this list--are you kidding?
did it once;  once too many.)

my 2 pennies.
--linus

At 07:18 PM 7/29/96 -0800, gregsj@mail.imm.com wrote:
>Fellow Audians and more specifically, UFO brake sufferers -- Peter 
>writes "$218.65 for the pair of front pads for UFO brakes. That's 
>nothing short of ridiculous." Amen brother Pete. I know what I'm about 
>to write is heresy for this list, but maybe it's time to discuss a 
>class action law suit. I realize the UFO brakes looked good on paper, 
>but the uncontested reality is they turned out to be a complete 
>disaster (pass the warped rotors please). So much so, in fact, that 
>for a time, Audi was replacing the whole UFO system under warranty 
>with "regular" Audi brakes. For those of us who missed the warranty 
>period, or bought our cars second hand (an our previous owners missed 
>the warranty period) they now have the unmitigated gall to charge us 
>triple the market price for new pads (the rotors are over priced as 
>well) to replace our warped systems with new soon to be warped 
>systems. Given the circumstances, Audi should be giving us replacement 
>parts at a third of the market price to make up for the warping 
>problem, as opposed to charging us three times as much as the market 
>price for "regular" Audi brakes. Should we press the issue? 
>
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* linus toy           email:  linust@interramp.com                   *
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