RE: urq (or any audi) costs per year

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> very happy with the way the Audi Gods have treated me.  I love my Ur-q and
> I
> don't think I will ever get rid of it.  Since I have owned it I have not
> pass
> one other one on the road and I like that, I also love the way it drives.
> What is better then driving a Ur-q in the rain and getting to pretend you
> are
> Walter Rohrl, I LOVE IT. Good luck to all you Ur-q owners, now and in the
> future.
> 
... thank you for the counterpoint Jim!  I can certainly quote some owners
who have horror stories to tell ... but I do know of others who have
experiences like Jim and I have.  While my car is no longer a daily driver,
I know of at least two local cars that are.  

My recommendation to anyone who is contemplating the purchase of a Quattro
Turbo Coupe is to enter the door with your eyes open.  The newest of the
cars in the US is already 14 model years old!  Perhaps the best way to
approach the purchase is to assume that all of the rubber parts need to be
renewed (coolant lines, vacuum hoses, fuel lines, motor & tranny mounts,
suspension bits, etc.).  Evaluate the state of things like seals, clutch,
turbo and engine internals to see if this is likely to be needed as well.
Once you have completely gone through the car it is fairly likely to give
you even more years of keeping the fluids and tires fresh and that's it.
That is certainly my experience to date.  I guess my second recommendation
is that anyone who is contemplating the purchase of a QTC should not be
afraid of understanding how all the parts of the car work.  It is not likely
that you will be able to find a mechanic that is even passably qualified to
work on the car.  

My personal opinion on some of the more niggling problems is that once
you've dealt with the problem once and do what you can to stay on top of
things you won't have to take the car down and throw big $$ at it again for
a number of years.  I had the warped exhaust manifold problem when I first
got the car ... and the turbo needed to be rebuilt.  I bought the car when
it was only 4 years old, so that might seem a bit much.  IME once you have
the manifold resurfaced it should not warp again ... and proper cool down of
the turbo has allowed to to be trouble free since then.  The next problem is
the electrical system.  Once the recalls are done on the car the only issue
that remains is that of the grounds.  By cleaning up the grounds and sealing
them with dielectric grease you shouldn't have much more in the way of
problems.  The old style fuse box is still available ... and is actually
quite inexpensive if you need to replace it.  The other thing that turns out
to be a maintenance item is the hydraulic pressure accumulator (AKA bomb).
These things leak down by nature and need to be replaced every now and
again.  The nice thing about the unit on the ur-quattro is that it is a
separate unit from the valve body, costs $50-$80 and can be replaced without
having to get dirty.  

My experience with the QTC is that since the car is fairly simple overall,
once you get the car sorted out it isn't too likely to surprise you.  I
think many people tend to fix things only when they break, which may be why
it seems to be a constant battle.  While I paid too much for the car when I
bought it ... and then had to pour a bit more into it to get it sorted out
(good thing I was single at the time ... :), my experience with COO on the
ur-q has been quite acceptable.  I'll put it up against the COO on a 5kCSQ
any day ... at least from my experience.  

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)