Since many of you are long-time Audi owners, I wanted to know what people thought of the 5000CS TQ and the 200TQ. What are common problems with the cars, etc. Maintenance costs would be nice as well. If there is an FAQ for this stuff, please point me to it.

I'm so impressed with the A4 that I'm thinking of getting a 5000CS TQ or 200TQ to replace the SUV. I always liked the 4k and 5ks.

TM
99.5 A4 Avant 1.8TQMS
Nissan Pathfinder

Having owned one of each in the series you have mentioned, I can tell of all the perils and joys. First there are great riding and driving cars. The late '80s cars are subject to failing power window motors/regulators/switches, Auto A/C head units failing, high pressure hoses leaking for power steering, steering racks, water pumps, wheel bearings, and door handles. I experienced all of these on a babied and fanatically maintained car. But after 230K the engine had perfect compression, and the car never left me stranded. From 89-91, many of these problems were addressed and improved upon, at least to the point that these components would fail after 75K miles rather than 30K. I like the somewhat cleaner looks of the later series, and the much improved interiors. All in all, if you can plan and can handle the maintenence, these are great cars, that can be found cheap, unfortunately it is very easy to find ones that have been cleaned up to look good but have been neglected, check the car out and do your homework. (also invest in a Bently's (or Hayes ) service manual).

I've just seen a bunch of 5ktqs for sale on the Quattro list marketplace page, for something like $2000-4500. What kind of mileage is too high? I don't think I'd want a 300k mile car, but is 150k too high? Many of these cars list lots of replaced/upgraded parts. Are there any red flag type items that can arouse suspicion in the informed buyer?

I'm not going to just run out and buy one of these cars- they are immensely complex cars, so I'd want to do a lot of homework before even thinking of buying one.

It seems as though 86-88 cars are not too hard to find, but I don't see many 89 or 90 cars. The 91s are the "rare and desirable" 20v cars, so they are just too expensive for me. This is a car that I'd like to find at least in either excellent mechanical shape and fix the cosmetics, or excellent cosmetic shape and acceptable mechanical shape (no big problems). Unfortunately, you don't find 5ktqs from Texas or Arizona or even California that often. I'd like to avoid the tinworm if at all possible.

Thanks again,
TM

Find the lowest mileage best kept car with records you can afford. These cars are over a decade old, even with low miles (<10K/yr) you are still looking at cars with some miles. Most owners drove these cars. I would not be scared of a 100K to 150K car if all of the records are with it, and the car is not in need of anything at the time of sale. I have seen many of these cars (I drove my 87 5000 to 230K and still sold it for $2500-it looked like a 30K car and was fanatically maintained) with close to 300K running strong. Nice cars are out there, take your time. Look for the hydraulic leaks (high pressure hoses, steering rack, acumulator etc.), make sure the A/C works, no leaks from water pump (starts with a few drops then lets go completely), no whining from drivetrain, and even at 200K the car should be rattle free.

the cars are double side galvanized, and they don't tend to rust. I had the paint come off of one just behind the wheel arch, it was down low where I didn't see it, must of been bare for months and it didn't rust.

a leaking booster acts just like a bad bomb, no boost for the first 15 seconds or so. The way you tell if the booster is gone is to pull that return hose to the top of the tank. If there is fluid coming out without the brakes being applied then the booster is gone. It is also very expensive (like all the hydralic parts). Other problems are window switchs (you can take them apart and clean them), dash lights flickering (bad connections in the lamp regulator, above the glove box), wiring harness in the drivers door and trunk lid (a pain to fix), noisy fuel pump. I also had the rack, power steering pump, window regulator, and clutch, but I drove this car for a long time.

yes I replace a couple of fuel pumps, as well as the interior temp. sensor module, located behind the glove box under the upper dash pad. 6.5 hrs of labor to get to the damn thing. Well I'll check back if I remember more

what year was yours? Mine was an '87TQ. The motor which adjusts the temperature wasn't working, turns out the magnets had demagnetized. Found a motor at Radio Shack that had the same diameter for a couple of bucks. Pulled the magnets out of it and had the Audi motor running again. I also found out after the second fuel pump got noisy that it wasn't the pump that was bad, but the damper on top of the pump. We have that "wonder" gas here, and it seems to cause the damper to fill up. Every time they switched the fuel (each fall) the pump would get noisy, and then I would just swap the damper. It would dry out and I'd just put it back about midway though the next winter. BWMs seem to share this problem; I've been next to several hammering away. The other thing I remember going out was heater hoses, the hot water valve for the heater, and the water pump that mounts on top of the ABS that runs coolent though the turbo after the car is shut off.