My 1997 A6 Avant with 258,000 miles has finally pissed me off enough for me to say goodbye.

Last Friday evening it dumped all its water on rt495 with a big whoosh and a bunch of steam. My friends at AAA towed it to my house and Sat morning I started looking for a blown radiator hose. All the hoses were OK so I added some water and it just pissed it out by the firewall. I couldn’t see anything from underneath so I began pulling things off the back of the motor. Everything looked OK. I added more water and could see that it was leaking further back.

Finally I removed the cover next to the windshield and saw that a heater control valve was leaking. It had come apart - like in two pieces. At least the drain worked! After screwing around with the damn thing I finally got it and the air bleed out. Since it was Saturday and I needed the car for work on Monday I jury-rigged a replacement section with a restriction so I would not cook with the heater full on.

Once I got it together and refilled the radiator I found that I could still turn the heat on and off –up and down. When I looked at my Bentley I found that the damn valve just shut off the water to the heater when the AC was working so I removed the restriction and figured that I would be OK till spring.

Now comes the fun part – On the way to work the low water light came on. This was about 5 miles from my house so I figured that it burped some air and I added some water. Then about 25 miles later the low water light came on again, so I stopped and added water. When I got to work (about 20 miles more) everything was OK until I stopped to back into a parking space and it dumped more water on the ground.

I’ve got to drive another 50 miles tonight to get home and I’m pissed. I have had enough of this Audi bleeding me to death a little at a time.

It is time to look for another vehicle!!!
It will most likely not be an Audi because the newer ones are cheap.
My 1989 200QT went over 350,000 and never had the trouble this thing has had.
This A6 1997 pig only went 258,000 miles.
The way things are going - if I get a 2002-5 it will only be good for 150,000 miles.
And from what I hear the new ones are only good for 50,000.
Crap talk about a downhill slope!

 

Sorry to hear. I had a similar experience with my heater core explosion on a freeway. Anyways, wasn't as bad as yours though...

Unfortunately, we live in a type of society where objects are no longer designed to last. Engineers design new products with planned obsolescence built in. I really doubt that you will have better luck with any other newer vehicle. You have to admit though... 258K miles on a 1997 was good. Yes, not as good as 350K, but still pretty damn good.

Another way is to drive that model T of yours around. See how often you have to deal with that leaky water pump packing

Oh, if I had to do it again, I would look for a 1995 and 1996 S6 Avant. It was the last of the 20V I5 turbo, which was pretty bullet proof with 5 speed manual and AWD. Can't beat that.

 

It's hard to blame a car when thing break after 13 years and 250k miles. My 00 has 170k on it and I plan to keep it until 1 of 2 things happen, it needs and engine or a transmission. Until then, I will just fix what goes wrong. But Since the 150k mark I understand that **** breaks, my car is 10 years old and...**** breaks. I do sympathize as it sucks to feel like you are always fixing something. Images of my 88 Saab 9000T comes to mind and that car still throws me into a tizzy when I think too much about it. I hope it cried when it met the crusher, I hope it confessed all it's sins to the car gods and they said **** off, you're going to hell, you were a naughty boy.

Now, I reserve the right to deny my wisdom posted here in the future when I'm bitching about things breaking on my own car. Because, at that time, my situation will be different

 

Sorry to hear it man. I felt that the only way to keep things from breaking is to get something designed to break. My audi sits in the garage now, my honda soaks up the miles. Cheap car motoring at its best. I agree about modern cars... complete junk. I miss engineers taking pride in building things that last... but unfortunately there isn't any money in that.

 

I had a couple cars back in the good old days -- the 60s -- and whether they were European or American, they were designed for less than 100k miles. You needed to change plugs every 10-15k, oil every 3k, tires lasted 20k, etc. Jaguars, MGBs, and Triumphs were fun cars but the electrics sucked. Downdraft and regular carbs were a pain to work on, there was one big coil, and you had to dink with points and condensors.

I'll take a modern car and 258k miles any time. Nothing is built to run forever no matter how good care you take. Even over-the-road diesels go in for rebuilds at 400-500k. I think you got good value from your Audi, just like I feel I did from mine at 176k and still going strong. No sympathy here.

 

You'll never guess what happened on the way home!

I made sure it was full of water and headed for home. I was on the outlook for the low water sign and watched the temperature gage as I motored down the highway.
About half way home it decided to tell me to screw myself.

The water level and temp looked normal when I began to hear a bit of knocking from the motor. I looked at all the gages and saw that the oil temp was over 170 C so I pulled to the side of the road and turnd it off. When I stopped a bit of smoke and steam came from around the edges of the hood and I could smell hot oil.

Me and AAA had our second meeting in two consecutive work days and the Audi is now in my driveway waiting for me to remove my stuff before I call Force Five.

Looks like I'll be selling the spare Bose radio and the other Audi stuff real soon.
I'll have to make a list!
Watch the classifieds. LOL
I wonder if I can sell the Bentley CD and license!


PS - The 1919 T dosen't have a waterpump, or starter, or battery, or generator, or fuel pump, or brakes, or anything -
But it is like the energizer bunny -It just keeps going and going and going.

 

From the sound of it, the car is not the fault, driving 50 miles knowing the car is losing coolant is. I've had a few cars like this, they just start nickel and diming..I called it the "three week syndrome"...every three weeks something else turned on the check engine light. These cars tended to be the high end European ones, not the Buicks. I just always thougth that this was the penalty for driving a car that looked and drove so nicely. I have always been willing to pay that penalty. Life is too short to drive a blah car through it.

 

oldmots You need to listen more carefully.

Driving 50 or 250 miles is not the problem if the driver watches for low coolant levels or high water temperatures and adds water when the light comes on or the gage inches up.

If neither warning happens IT IS THE AUDI"S FAULT, and in this case the Avant is going to be punished for being a bad girl by being sent to Force Five for displinary action.

I'll need to change my signature -
Remove the Audi and add the 1999 Mercury Sable Wagon with 48,000 miles that cost under $2,000 and I registered this AM.
Everything works - cruise, air, CD-tape player, outside temp, remote mirrors, etc.
And it won't need a $1,500 timing belt or $500 brake job in the next few months. LOL

 

You'll like the Sable, they are good cars. I've had many family members own that body style Sable/Taurus and they were good cars to them. Although it won't need a 1500 timing belt, it will need a tranny. They're famous for their transmission failures buts that's it. Not like some of the Audi models that are known for many expensive things.

Best of luck. It will be sad to see you go.

 

The thing that happens when the coolant drops dramatically is that the temp sensor is in air, not liquid and reads wrong...so many cars have been blown watching the temp guage. This happens when the coolant level gets below the water pump, it's over then. I listen very well, not the cars fault.