Re: Considering an '86-'88 5kcsq

[Brett Dikeman <brett@pdikeman.ne.medaone.net>]

>I'm a relatively new lister and soon-to-be college graduate, thinking
>about buying a 5kcsq. I've always loved those cars and I'm pretty happy
>that their resale values are so low (sorry to those who bought them new).
>I finally got to test drive one recently--with 212k miles and going
>strong--and I look forward to owning one.
213k miles, even for an Audi, is a _lot_.  You're really getting into
physical wear and tear of the entire car...

>I've been looking at '86-'88 cars, since I like their prices, but I've
>also considered the '89-'91s.  Other than the obvious cosmetic changes and
>the 20V/UFO in '91, were there many improvements to those cars? I'm a
>little worried about maintenance costs; would you expect an '89-'91 to be
>any better in that regard?
Supposedly, Audi's "reliability" went straight through the roof after the
91 year(note: when they discontinued the type 44.)  Any way you look at it,
the type 44's were not terriffic as far as reliability, though I suspect a
great deal was due to the fact that Audi ceased production of a
"mainstream"(I don't consider the S line mainstream) turbocharged car in
1991, and few S cars made it into the US to be involved in reliability
surveys.

  With older Audis, you have to be able to do lots of things on your own.
A set of repair manuals(Bentlys) is invaluable and they have saved my ass
many times over.


>I've seen some '86s with 5-spoke wheels, which I also remember in the Car
>& Driver review way back then. Were these part of an option package, and
>how many years were they available?
I believe it was standard on all turbos; I have never seen the 5 spokes on
a non-turbo car.  They're a pain to clean right where the spoke meets the
rim; there is a channel there that just _loves_ to accumulate brake dust,
tar, etc...and it's where the paint job on the wheel goes first.

Thd 5-spokes were definately discontinued after the 1991 model year if not
before that.


>P.S. I have an AutoCAD drawing (and DXF) of an UrQ that I did a long time
>ago. All 3D surfaces, not a 2D drawing, so you can take it into 3DStudio
>and such. It's not perfect, but I was in ninth grade at the time! Let me
>know if anyone's interested or if there's a web site where someone would
>consider making it available.

Sure!  I'll make it available...I've been dying for a really detailed model
of an Audi car, preferably a 5000/200, but a Urq will do :)  How detailed
is the model?  Does it include trim etc, or just body panels and the like?

Commercial models are available for just about any car, but they're usually
prohibitively expensive.

If you're willing to consider a non-q car, my '87 5000CST is now for sale.
Alpine white, grey cloth interior, 5-speed; 136k miles or so on the clock.
It is being sold because of my pending(tomorrow evening) purchase of a 91
200q.  Speaking of which, this car was sold in December of 1991, which I
found kind of odd...being sold that late in the year means it had to be
"clearanced" so to speak; it would also explain why the window sticker from
the original owner is significantly lower than another 200 I looked at with
_exactly_ the same options(well, this one has sport seats.)

Brett

------
Brett Dikeman
brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net
~)-|
Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt.  Qui annus est?
Te audire non possum.  Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
Ita, scio hunc 'sig file' veterem fieri.
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