Hello. I am in the process of buying a used car and am looking at a few Audis. My main concern is that an older Audi (1988-1992) with a fair amount of miles (125000-200000) would break down frequently and/or would have many problems. I have heard that this happens to many Audis and I know for a fact that my Uncle's 1983 Audi had these problems. I am looking at a 1989 Audi 200 Turbo specifically. It is manual transmission and has 160000 miles on it. If bought, will this car have many problems, or are the horror stories I hear from pre-1985 Audi's??? PLEASE respond truthfully if you know anything about this subject. THANKS!!!

Speaking GENERALLY and without much specific experience with this particular model, but having owned a 1980 4000, 1984 Coupe, and now a 1993 S4 I have realized that an older high-mileage Audi CAN be a harsh mistress. Yes, the initial price is low and while you're driving it home, it sems like you got a LOT of car for the money, over time you will find that there are many little things that go wrong. Audi's (and most european cars) can last a long time, but will need a lot of maintenance. You should budget at least $2000 per year for normal repairs, and even more if you are not particularly esperienced in the diagnosis and repair of Audis. These cars are not like Hondas that you never need to do anything with, wspecially the turbo models.
One of the most important thigs is to find out the history of the car. If this car doesn't have a huge stack of receipts, run away from it. Only buy from a private party and try to see what kind of person they are. I they haven't had the car very long, there's a reason. If the car hasn't had frequent continuing maintenance it will be a total nightmare. With that said, just about any early 80's European marque will have some horror stories associated with it. Your uncle's car may have been a bad one, but I am sure others simialr to it were fine. (Just don't buy his). Again, keep in mind that I am speaking very generally, just trying to give some advice.
Jim