1995 90 paid $1860 for car. have only had to put in a set of spark plugs and wheel bearing. total cost about $45. I change the oil at about 5k miles. the air works, the stereo cranks, and she holds the road like no other. can a driver ask for much more? know what its like to be driving that car in the florida keys with the roof open and looking out on the ocean and gulf and knowing you're from jersey. all i can tell ya is, just do it. aquiring character doesnt always cost so much.

 

Amen....I am glad that someone feels the same as I...

 

I was hesitant to even post in this, but couldnt resist. Buying a used 10+ year old German car as a daily commuter is just plain dumb if you are in a financial bind. There are more practical solutions. That being said, I have been driving my 26 year old UR for three months now as a daily driver and had no problems, and it has been great!

I bought a '98 jetta K2 (the first and last new car ever) in Nov '97. I put 55k of the hardest miles imaginable on it. When I say Hardest, I mean it. I took it off roading, rally racing and generally beat the hell out of it for 4 years. I changed the oil only 3 times. Seriously. My friends and I actually put dirt )the equivilant of around 5 full cups) into the oil filling/valve cover on the third year of ownership and the car still ran great. To this day it was the best purchase ever, but I will say this: the check engine light came on in the first 6 months. I took it to the dealer about three times and they could never get it to shut off. It was a mass air sensor fault. In the end I could have cared less!

I also own a 98' M3. It only has 35k on it, but has had no problems, ever. The body, seals, everything have still held up over ten years and I (unfortunately) park it outside (note: I have never driven it in winter and it is garaged in the winter) love it.

Basically if I was on a tight budget and needed a commuter car, I would buya Honda, but that means that my life had encountered hell, I was completely screwed, had multiple kids, and bought into the whole hybrid bs thing. Practicality is great for some people, just not for most German car o philes......there is more to the drive to work than just the time. Its the DRIVE to work where we relieve our stress and can have some enjoyment.

 

why can't we all just get along? i have a 2000 A4 1.8T (FWD) it's a lemon, but i still love it and i don't think i'll get rid of it unless i have to. when audi gives you a lemon, you have a nice looking lemon! :-) i had a 2000 celica GT before this. i made it into a show car, but that was a lemon i was willing to part with. i love the lemon audi gave me :-D

 

I have a 1982 Scirocco, that was given to me, 8 tears ago that runs great my son drives it now it has just turned over 200,000, My present daily driver is an 1986 5000 CS Turbo Quattro Wagon I paid $100.00 for that has 188,000 miles on it, I have two Porsche 914s that have well over 100,000 miles on them and they really run well I have had other vehicles from Japan, and the US but I really love my German cars and it goes with out saying you will need to do some work on them at times.

Turbo Rhatt

 

Dont think the Germans lost the war due to technology, it was pure numbers and, it took virtually the whole world to subdue them. Does not say much that it took 100's ofmikkions 5 years to beat up 60million. Also the only war America has ever won, or claim to have won, forgetting their allies who were in the fight as well.
American cars do suck though, but at least you do get the rattles for free

 

Why would you go on an Audi forum if you hate/dont like them?

Seems kind of like you enjoy drama. Maybe its just me, but thats how it sounds.

 

Okay, so here's my piece. I've got an '89 200QT. Older car than the one the thread starter had...and I LOVE it. Sure, it's got it's issues. It's not the best on gas (though I may be able to remedy that particular problem), it takes a few tries (usually 5) to start it (fixable, I know), the brake line is busted (that one is my fault), so I don't have my hydraulic brakes (and the e-brake cable is broken, easy fix). It lags a bit pulling away from a light (I think that may be connected to the issue with gas mileage and starting, dunno), so it's not the fastest right now, but it's still easily one of the most fun cars I've driven. And once I hit about 30 mph (or 3rd gear), the car just GOES...no tire spin, no flash, just POWER. Going from 30 to 60+ takes me just a few seconds...how many daily driven (year round, not summer cars) cars owned by 18 year old high school kids (that don't have Mommy and Daddy to pay for everything) can say the same? Just last night, I did a near-perfect Scandinavian Flick, which I would NOT have been able to do in any of the Fords I've driven. I've driven a lot of Fords--Tauruses out the wazoo, a '98 Mercury Mystique (technically a Ford) with a V6 and a 5spd manual, and my mom's Windstar. The car that was the most fun to drive out of all of them was the Mystique, but shortly before I was supposed to get it, the whole car pretty much died. It needed new ball joints (which would have required new tires also, since the old ones were bald), there was a problem with the engine that caused it to leak oil badly. It would have cost at least $2400 to fix, even at a discount, which was STILL more than the car was even worth. I paid $2000 solid for my car. It's only got 116k on the odometer, and I hope to get about 300k out of it. If you're going to buy a German car, DO YOUR RESEARCH! Like I said, mine's got issues, which will be cheap (ish) to get fixed, since I plan to do most of the work myself. I've driven Civics, along with some other American cars (Chevys), and the Audi is by far my favorite of them all. The Civics were exactly what they were designed to be. Little econoboxes. Going over a set of train tracks in the back of a '93 Civic hatch doesn't exactly leave you feeling safe. Going 30+ over the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic in the back of the aforementioned Civic, scary as hell. However, I would feel perfectly safe speeding like that in my Audi. I was pushing 90+ on the highway on the way home the other day. My Audi felt just as responsive, quiet, solid, and comfortable as it does at 15mph. Yeah, you might be able to do that in a Civic and have the car feel responsive and comfortable...but how about quiet or solid? Maybe a brand new Civic, but I was in a 20 year old car. How many 20 year old cars do you know that could still feel solid, and be quiet? Not too many, I would imagine. The point that others have made is that every car has issues. You will have to repair any car someday. But on the opposite side, with preventative maintenance and a little care, you can get close to 300k on most cars. It's just a matter of how much money you have to dump into a car. Me personally, an 18 year old high school kid with a very limited budget, I would rather have my Audi than any other car in it's class. Mine is the only Audi in town that is 20 years old. Plus, Audi sold maybe 2000 200QT's in America in 89....how many Jap cars, or even old muscle cars, are that rare? I guess it all comes down to a matter of opinion, and experience. My car, even with all of it's issues, in my opinion is better than any Civic or other car I could have right now. That's just me...

 

I bought myself a '91 200 Turbo this last summer, only a few issues, but nothing I haven't been able to fix. That's the fun of it. I enjoy fixing my car, so it makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

 

Drive a German vehicle in Germany and you will understand why the Germans build their bikes and cars the way they do. I found this out by shipping my BMW K-100RS motorcycle from LA to Frankfurt for a one month European road trip. It only took a couple of minutes on a German Autobahn at German speeds to understand this. We may for a minute or two experience these speeds in the US, but in Germany the overtaking car has the right of way, speeds of 110-120mph are routine and even my flagship BMW motorcycle at 146 mph had to yield to faster cars.
I rented cars two days straight and discovered that unlike the US you will use every bit of braking and acelleration the car has to merge and to exit the Autobahn. The Germans have a word that roughly translates into "speedfeel" that their cars have at such speeds and US and Japanese cars completely lack. What is a two minute experience we sneak in somewhere isolated with hopefully no cops looking is just another freeway slog, at 120mph, for Joe Average German. They spend hours at such speeds with the wife snoozing in the right seat and the kids playing in back ( I still smile thinking about this scene in the 120 mph Opel Senator in the next lane to me ). German road etiquette and their use of lights and signals dictates the control layout they use, the big clear guages and complete lack of cupholders. Despite speed limits the rest of Europe also drives at intimidating speeds.
A Japanese and especially an American car doesn't hack it driving in Europe. They lack control at those speeds, and if you think your Audi is unreliable here, see how long an American or Japanese car lasts under daily hard Autobahn running.
Drive an Audi in Germany sometime.