1987 Audi 5000 CD from North America - Comments

Both rear shocks needed replacing.

Rear wheel bearing needed replacing.

This car is worlds ahead of the American car industry. I have owned a 2001 Chevy Venture with all the options and Audi still had more, and they all worked. I drove the car harder than some people and never failed me. Anti-lock brakes made a springy sound and had a fail-safe feature. The car feels very mechanical and responsive. You could feel the g's around tight corners with no body roll. Winter driving is another story as the rear tires, I guess were the primary drive wheels with the front being secondary. When my wife got stuck in deep snow, a twist of a dial and it went into 4 wheel mode, locking both axels. Walked right out of the snow as if it was on concrete. Heated seats and a sunroof, best for both climates. This car seems to be one of a kind which makes me wonder why galvinized body panels aren't standard on all vehicles.

You're comparing a sports/sedan car to a van? Seems very fair to me... lol.

He was comparing an older European sport sedan with newer American crap. Despite it being a mini van, you would think after ten plus years American car makers would have caught up.

And even in the Great Lakes rust belt, the Audi 5000 will be solid and virtually rust free, unlike the American or Japanese crap rust buckets.

Audi had a bad reputation in the seventies for premature rusting, so they dipped the whole car into the zinc plating tank so every bit of metal (even hidden seams) were galvanized.

And the run away cars turned out to be the driver putting their foot on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Because of the driveshaft tunnel, the pedals were offset to the left. And you will notice all new cars have the brake shift interlock now because this wasn't just an Audi problem. I still hear idiots blaming the cruise control system, even after engineers proved that cruise control couldn't cause the throttle to open up, and even if the cruise control came on during fast idle speeds, the brakes would have stopped the car.

And while ignorant grease monkeys couldn't repair these cars in the eighties, anyone can fix them now. Even owners that have never worked on cars can do a lot of servicing if they get advice from other more knowledgeable owners online. You can find how to videos or pics and instructions so you know what to do. Like repairing starters and alternators instead of buying new ones for no reason, rebuilding the turbocharger. Fixing some transmission problems instead of falling for the "You need a rebuilt transmission" line.