When we first bought the car the water light would flash on, this was due to the amount of water it regularly lost.
We replaced the radiator, Main radiator hose (expensive $200 + NZD + labour) and most of the other hoses too.
The power steering sprang a leak and wasn't cheap to fix (a small hose costing over $100 NZD + labour in a very awkward position). Once repaired it took several months before the steering whine would disappear.
Air conditioning has gone, probably due to lack of use.
We had it serviced at the beginning of the year, hoping that the service would cure the stalling-while-stationary problem that had developed. It didn't. After several failed attempts at getting it resolved the temperature sensor was replaced (curing cold starting problems) two small hoses into the fuel injection unit were fixed (made no improvement) then the fuel injection manifold was replaced as the old one had cracked - no more stalling.
Just after fixing the fuel injection system we had to have the head gasket replaced as it had blown ($1600 NZD +). This took a couple of attempts leaving us without a vehicle for three weeks.
Thermostat was also replaced along with plastic water outlet (that houses the water sensors) when head gasket was replaced.
We bought the car after my wife and children were involved in a three car pile-up. She was driving a Suzuki Swift which was written-off. It put her off 'Japanese cars'. Our main car was a Nissan bluebird 2.0 diesel which had performed almost flawlessly for us over 200000Kms, despite its unnerving ability to involve itself in minor accidents - horrible handling as very nose heavy.
We really like the feeling of safety and robustness of the Audi. It handles way better than any of the other cars I owned (Bluebird, Swift, Honda Accord, AMC Rambler 660, Skoda??, Daihatsu Max)
The ride is solid and the car is very comfortable. Acceleration feels sluggish (I'm sure the diesel could have kept pace with this one, well almost!).
The things you've just said sound like the Model 80.
It handles nicely, is built solidly and has a nice
interior. It can also have lots of aggravating problems.
All the Model 80s are difficult to repair and the
parts are expensive. The 5 cylinder engine is a trade-off
between power and gas mileage; it has more power than
the 4 cylinder, but the Model 80 isn't a car to take to
a racetrack, however it does get decent gas mileage.
There is a fellow in the United States who modifies
the Model 80 5 cylinder engine, converting the CIS
fuel injection into EFI; the engine then gets over
300 horses (this coversion is a lot of work.)
-- Adrien Lamothe
www.adriensweb.com.
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