RE: V-8 Q, what am I missing?

["Dupree, Jim" <dupree@alldata.com>]

I just spent a week driving a 1990 V8 w/auto while I was fixing the
headlight switch and wiring in a relay. It was hard to fit in time to work
on it between work and my Explorer dying and sons football game etc... but
she did not mind my keeping the car until I was done. A wonderful car to
drive. I use to think it was under powered but not anymore. Certainly it
does not zip like a turbo but it has plenty of power for daily driving and
it loves the open road. She has owned this car for about 6 or 7 years now
and other than regular maintenance the operating cost has been very
reasonable. It has had a coolant expansion tank, PS pump, bomb, brake
accumulator hose and a couple of other minor repairs. Her husband would like
her to sell it but she won't. It is often her car of choice and it is almost
the oldest in their fleet of cars (9). The car has 127K miles and the trans
still works fine, the motor has a couple of oil leaks and the drivers seat
heater and arm rest need some attention but over all it has been a great car
for her. If she wanted she could write a check for a new A8 or BMW or
whatever she wanted but won't part with the V8. She said the other day "I
don't like cars" so it not the enthusiast in her that keeps the V8 around.
Since the micro fiche was the only readily available source of repair
information a lot of shop/technicians are working on these cars more blind
than most Audi's the repair and maintenance quality is lower than average. I
think the key is buy a well maintained car and maintain it well your self or
find a qualified shop.
My kids both asked if we could buy a car like hers, maybe someday....

Jim Dupree


		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Buchholz, Steven
[mailto:Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com]
		Sent:	Wednesday, October 27, 1999 4:14 PM
		To:	'qlist'
		Subject:	RE: V-8 Q, what am I missing?

		>      Now, let me turn that around and get some 
		> information. It has been a point on the list, several
times, 
		> that the 5 speed V-8s are much more desirable 
		> than the automatic cars. Based on reliability. That also 
		> matches up with reports from other sources 
		> (such as dealerships in Nashville, TN and Denver, CO). Why
is 
		> that? The reports are that the auto trannies 
		> do not hold up and are more expensive to repair than 
		> even the 3-speed slushbox. 

		I don't know necessarily that the reason the 5-speeds are
more desireable is
		that they are more reliable.  In my case, the 5-speed was
the car of choice
		because it was better aligned with the sporty nature I
prefer in a car.  One
		of the things that is interesting about the Audi V8Q
transaxle is that the
		guts are standard ZF as used by other manufacturers such as
BMW.  It is also
		my understanding that because of this fact, repair parts are
not as
		expensive as one might expect based on the relative rarity
of the car.  I'm
		sure that if you went to Audi for parts it would be
outrageously expensive,
		but there are alternatives.  For those of you poor souls
saddled with V8
		quattro automatics, :) you may want to save the following
info for
		reference:

			http://www.jie.com/auditrans.htm

		I've heard that it is possible to get parts from these guys
for a pretty
		reasonable price.  I have never dealt with them, but I have
heard more than
		one story where an expensive situation was made at least a
bit more
		palatable.  

		If anything you're in a tougher boat if you've got a
5-speed.  I do know of
		one person who has had to have a 5-speed tranny from a V8
rebuilt ... and
		I'm sure it was well over 10 times more than the $185 that
someone was
		asking for an opening bid for a factory remanned 5000Q
Tranny on eBay (that
		went by without a bid I might add!).  

		I guess my point is that I find it odd that people on this
list who are
		probably used to hearing people ask them why they own their
5000 or 200
		because they are so expensive to repair, go and say the same
things about
		the V8 without firsthand knowledge.  No, you should not
expect that you are
		getting a "never needs any work, ever" Honda, but it may not
be that much
		worse than a 5kQ ... given that you do your own work.  While
it may be true
		that you won't be able to use some of the special tools you
have for the
		I-5, there are vendors like Blau who offer to send you the
special tools
		when you buy a timing belt from them so you can do it
yourself ...

		Steve Buchholz
		San Jose, CA (USA)