1987 Audi 5000 CD Turbo from North America - Comments

All components of the cooling/heating system have been replaced.

Alternator exposed to all possible forms of road crud. It had to be replaced.

Starter motor was replaces twice.

CV joints were replaced.

Bearings (front and rear) were replaced.

Heating seat connections broke.

Master cylinder was replaced. (Pressure accumulator is still dead)

Important alingment problems wasted two sets of tires.

Hydraulic lifters are noisy once a while at start-up.

Trunk lock broke, forcing me to cut through the rear seat (sheet-metal) to open it from inside.

Those dreaded door handles broke or seized one after the other.

Cruise control does not like cold weather since it works by vacuum.

Had to modify electronics to get dash lites to work.

Speed-meter connections had to be repaired.

Windshield washer tank is rediculously small.

Turbo inter-cooler hose was replaced.

Paint is chipping on front fenders (due to galvanized steel).

...etc.

This car is of an incomparable comfort and has great handling; especially for its size. It has every imaginable gadget, and, contrarily to what was said in other reviews, I find it to have quite the acceleration for a vehicle of this size; especially from 120km/h and up.

Another amazing aspect of this cars shape is the fact that it has absolutely no rust anywhere after years of harsh winter conditions.

On the other hand, Audi made things much to complicated for no reason. A good example of that is the design of the trunk opening mechanism. Looking at it, it is clear it will not stand many cold winters... and it didn't.

The biggest beef I have with the car is the fact that, reading info about it, every basic feature seemed to be expected to fail after ridiculously short intervals. Is it normal for major parts to fail after 50 000 or even 10 000 km??

I guess I'll have to live with the embarassing noises for the rest of the cars life.

Did your fuel gauge malfunction? If so, please e-mail mrott@hr-o.com.

I don't know about your mechanical background, but, it seems to me that you just say the Audi sitting there and decided that it would be a cool looking car to have. It sounds like you should have taken more time to actually inspect it before purchasing it. I am on my second Audi now. An 1987 Audi 5000 s, I love it! it has a few minor problems, but nothing that I wouldn't expect from a used car. The power windows need the switches replaced because the previous owner thought he was an electrician and screwed them up. I had to replace the fuse in back of the factory radio as it had blown and that's pretty much it for the interior. As for the mechanics of it I have just had to replace the O2 sensor, Idle solenoid bypass hose (from rot), The right side Tie rod and the brakes (normal wear and tear). But what do you expect from a $900.00 car?

My 87' Audi 5000CS TQ has been a real joy, despite a few items that had to be replaced or repaired. I bought it 1 and 1/2 years ago with 103K on it. The headliner was starting to delaminate, no surprise for a 16 year old car. I had that replaced for $450 even though there are DIY kits out there, I didn't want to mess with it. This brought the interior back to like-new. 3 of the fuel injectors started to fail at the same time, causing a cloud of blue smoke on start up and very hard starting. Audi had sent out a memo regarding the injectors back in 1990, so I would have to say I was lucky to have gotten so many miles out of them. New ones were $45 each and brought performance and mileage back up to 21 city/26 highway. Also had to replace front end ball joints/stabilizers when the front end started to vibrate dangerously at high speeds. Otherwise, most repairs have been for regular maintenance items and my $2700 investment is now a reliable and stylish ride. Just drove it back and forth Denver to Phoenix with no trouble at all and have enjoyed putting over 15K on the car since I bought it. I did add the original equipment option of Fuchs wheels, which really dress up the look. ($650 online). These wheels aren't easy to find, but there are some out there. If you can find an 87' with a nearly flawless body like mine has, it can be a real find. The funky 5 cylinder, with the added Turbo, can definitely get the job done, although acceleration at low RPM's will always suck. This car was decidedly built for the road and high speed. I will drive it until I can't find parts anymore.

I use to own a 4000S and my wife and I loved that car a lot, but we had a bad accident with it and rolled it 4.5 times after someone sideswiped us. If it wouldn't have been for the rigid construction, my son, my wife and myself might have not been here today, but it has the same 5 cylinder engine in it like your 5000 and after I bought it I changed the oil and put 10w30 in it and had bad lifter noise after startup. After some searching and talking to my favorite mechanic I found out that you are suppose to put in 20w50 yes its twenty w fifty in the summer and 10w40 in the winter. You talk about some difference. it makes the engine sound like a brand new one, very smooth running, I couldn't believe my ears. I wish I still had that car, we miss it very much.

K the car has 270,000kms on it and your complaining that it breaks down too much. that's probably has to do with the way it was maintained by the previous owners (s). I just bought a 82 GMC S - 15 with 280,000kms. I've had it 2 weeks and my heater core sprung a leak. you gotta expect that to happen. car parts don't last forever.