Faults:

Brake piston locked on right rear wheel.

Front brake discs bent due to heat.

Fuel pump failure.

Wheel bearing broke 3 times in one year on left rear wheel.

Bad clutch.

CV joint failed on right forward wheel.

Heater fan broke.

General Comments:

Drove this car for about a year until I wrecked it last weekend.

Quite a fun car to drive, in particular on snow. The acceleration is good from 0-180ish (km/h); after that the rate of change in speed decreases quite a bit.

The handling is OK I guess. I never pushed it very hard on tarmac. Think the car weighs 1560 or something kg? Very average nimbleness; not terrible, but not very inspiring.

The quattro system is very nice and rewarding; to feel the torque being distributed (alternating) between the front and back wheels, and managing the car going from over to understeer during drifts in the snow was great.

The brakes felt like they gave up very quickly due to heat.

A lot of stuff failed on the car while I owned it, but that was due to neglect rather than poor quality. It would have needed repairs and new parts for about 2000 - 2500 € to get up to shape.

Fuel economy was terrible. 1.1 L/10km average (mostly highway). 0.9 L/10km on highway at 120 km/h. Also took a lot of oil.

Faults:

Fuel pump and filter replaced.

Strut bushes and nuts replaced.

Wishbone bushes and ball joint replaced.

Seized front disc pulled off.

Brake hose replaced.

Control arm bushes replaced.

Heater spigot broke, heater by-passed.

Front discs worn beyond limits.

Leaky valve guide seal.

General Comments:

Feels quite different to the earlier 90, even though the engine is the same. Bigger, heavier, better insulated, more refined, better riding, much more practical with the folding rear seats, but not as much fun.

Once the front end was sorted, it steers and handles really well. The steering is nicely weighted, geared, doesn't load up, good feel, useful lock. Pity the wheel doesn't adjust for height (blame the Procon Ten?).

Seats are perfect, the car is unbelievably quiet when cruising, feels solid and safe. Interior is gloomy, but beautifully made and finished.

I thought the 4 speed auto would be a big improvement, but while it is more relaxed at speed, the box itself is not as good, even the selector doesn't have the same precise feel. Upchanges under power are slurred, which is worrying for the future.

Trans aside, nothing else you could get for the money can match the build quality, ageless style, refinement, and spec of the Audi. Nothing fancy, but has rear discs, 15 inch alloys, excellent air con, ABS (works!), and key-off window operation.

Parts prices, from specialists Qualitat in Auckland, NZ, are very reasonable. Even new wishbones are just over $100 each, which, given the difficulty of replacing the bushes, would be a better option.

Easy car for DIY, but really annoyed that Haynes never updated the manual for the facelifted cars. The entire rear end is completely different, and, from 1993 on, so are the engines. Not good enough.

Overall, if it was a 5 speed manual, I'd have nothing to moan about.

Faults:

Engine oil leaks.

Breather pipes disintegrated.

Catalytic converter needed renewing.

New fuel lines needed.

New front pads and disks needed.

Power steering pump total failure, power steering rack replacement needed.

Power steering leaked from a pipe and a pin.

New radiator required.

General Comments:

This car is the second Audi I've owned, and to be fair to it it's a fairly decent vehicle. If I'd known the amount of work and money needed to get the car up to a decent standard, I think I would have sold it right on the spot.

The 2.8 engine is very good and has excellent low down acceleration; 0-30mph especially. A great cruiser which will comfortably take you on long journeys. A large boot with plenty of space for shopping, although the back seats are surprisingly cramped for passengers.

This car came with an automatic gearbox and I often wondered why someone would spec this car with an automatic box instead of with a manual box and the quattro option. The automatic box is a pig, which holds onto gears for too long, spins the front wheels awfully in anything but dry conditions, and spoils the overall fuel economy of the car.

The economy from the box is quite bad, and you can expect 20-24 in town and 30-33 on the motorway if you're careful. I don't mind low economy, but only if I'm driving a car that makes you feel it's worth it. I'm sure the newer generation of autos nowadays are fantastic, but the 4 speed box in this car was/is dreadful.

In short, if you're looking for one of these cars, don't be tempted to buy an auto thinking you might enjoy it; if you're used to a manual then you won't. Well worth seeking out a quattro manual version which is brilliant in comparison to the car I had.

The things that I've listed as going wrong with the car are worth bearing in mind when buying this model of car. Definitely worth checking the car has had the cam-belt and water-pump changed, these should have been done at the same time. Check for a leaky PAS system as this can be expensive to fix; a groaning steering rack can be a sign of bad things to come.

I can't say I've enjoyed owning this car very much. If you can find a well sorted model with FSH, then you'll doubtless have years of happy motoring ahead of you.