Don't give up the ship!

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

Preston Brown relates an expensive tale of woe . . . 

Don't give up the ship! The whole world is mechanical and very little of it
works. What's left is electrical, and NONE of that works!

OK, the evil stars were in alignment against you on this one. I have the
impression that you are 20-30 years old (just impression), and still
learning how to deal with this car thing. (No flame intended - please read on.)

One. Try very hard NEVER to let anyone else work on your cars. Even more
important, NEVER EVER allow any national company (franchise or branch) to
work on your cars. How many anguished digital screams have we seen on this
list about Sears/AAmco/Midas/etc. and their ignorance and poor, sometimes
dangerous work that comes out of them. Most of them seem to be barely
qualifed to work on Pintos . . . They don't have a clue on Audi. I see that
you have already done quite a bit of work on your car - you should be able
to do all this stuff, too, time permitting.

Find a good, local, small-time mechanic - shade tree type - check his work
on other customer's cars, ask around. Let HIM do the heavy work, you
continue with what you're doing now. These guys can be difficult to find,
but well worthwhile. Remember, if the guy is working in a great big fancy
shiny building, you're going to get to help pay for it! See if any of the
local VW/Audi mechanics are willing to do a little discrete moonlighting.

Two. You have a not-new car. Why do you need brand new parts? The rear
calipers could come from a parts yard for a tiny fraction of what Audi wants
for new ones. You can get the discs turned, new pads, replacement calipers,
etc., and the whole job shouldn't exceed $200. Wear items should be replaced
with new (brake pads, seals, etc.), but not castings, sheet metal, plastic
trim parts, etc. - this can save you big bucks!

Three. Read this list!!!!! There's a company in here which rebuilds steering
racks for (I think) $159, guaranteed for life, plus two year third-party
labor warranty covering three hours labor to R&R if their part goes bad -
your choice of mechanic - now THAT'S standing behind your work! The power
steering pump rebuild kit costs about $20, and it takes maybe two hours or so.

Four. If you know your car is going to be down for a few days, rent
something to drive while you fix your baby. There are places that will rent
you a brand new car for $15 a day - you get to drive a new car for a few
days, no pressure to get yours done NOW or you're gonna walk to work, and if
my experiences are any indication, you'll appreciate your Audi SO MUCH MORE
after you give back the sh*tbox rental car!

Five. Nothing lasts forever. Darn. Cars wear out, and will cost you money.
Things break. At least with an Audi, when you fix it, you HAVE something! (I
once had an 83 K-car - day before I offered it for sale at $500, brakes went
out. Put $150 and two days running around into a FULL brake job - M/C,
rotors, pads, shoes, wheel cyls, turn drums - just so I COULD sell it - and
was SO glad to see it go . . . When I sold it, it was STILL a $500 car, but
had new brakes.)

Six. Hang in there. We've all BTDT, things invariably break when you can
least afford it and when its least convenient. (I once needed a root canal
one day before I had to leave for a European business trip!) But spring is
almost here, and everything is better in the sunshine.

Don't sell it.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman