Faults:

What has gone wrong?

Well here we go:

1. After circa 6 months of ownership, track control arm is gone (cost circa 250€ for 2 new Febi Bilsteins and for the hands of my mechanic).

2. After another 6 months, the master clutch cylinder is gone (cost 170€ for a new one + work).

3. Then in January 2012, another fault - cooler of the heating system. I saw one day that my coolant is missing; I had no idea where or why after a bit aggressive driving I saw smoke (?!) under my hood, and I realized what went wrong. Cost - almost 300€ and three weeks long without a car. I live outside Zagreb, circa 15 km from the city centre and I cannot live without a car, but it was three weeks; a little bit with the city bus, and a little bit on foot... I was desperate and very nervous.

4. Then in February 2012 another fault (grrrr): my steering wheel rail had gone. And - another 350€ gone from my wallet, because it was only repaired. A new one costs about 1500€.

5. "Big service" (engine oil, brake oil, antifreeze, gearbox oil, filters (all), timing belt and tensioners, water pump etc). Cost, using my local mechanic, was almost 600€ ?! and it's pretty expensive.

6. From then I have had no more major problems, but the spare parts of this German piece of crap are so expensive, that you sometimes think you drive a Ferrari or Bentley or Maserati, and not a 20 year old German piece of crap. For example:

Complete clutch set + flywheel, which you must (MUST!) change with the clutch set; costs with a work of my local mechanic were circa 1500€.

One ignition coil is (in Croatia) almost 200€, and a car has three :(

An alternator costs 350€.

A battery is 70-80A and it costs circa 100-150€.

A complete set of wheel suspension, all 4, = 400€ with work.

A complete set of brake discs, pads, wheel hubs and bearings. I don't know how much; I'd guess at least 700-800€.

An oil change, oil, air and a fuel filters change costs me about 180€ :(

And all this, only because this car is nothing special when seen from a quality side; it's old, and all such cars are old, dull, crappy and a pain in the ass.

I have also many problems with my instrument panel; it won't show how much fuel I have, the coolant temperature etc.

My central locking doesn't work. I have changed the batteries in the key, but nothing happens?!

My seat heating doesn't work at all, and I have all 4 seat heaters; that makes me so angry :(

General Comments:

The car is very big and comfortable. The engine and the gearbox are the only really good things about this car, and its speed and comfort.

With almost 400,000 km, it goes today with no problem about 235 km/h, it has no major oil leaks, and it works just fine, but spare parts are extremely expensive and the car is not reliable. I can almost say that the only bright points on this car are the engine, gearbox and its comfort; nothing more.

Faults:

Gone wrong since I've owned it? Nothing. Bought a fixer-upper. When I bought it, the car needed a few things:

Valve cover gasket (included in purchase of car)

Shocks front and rear.

Strut bushings front.

Alignment.

Tires.

Tune up.

Transmission service (due to scheduled interval).

Front brakes and rotors.

Rear brakes and rotors.

So I went to fix them and I'm still in that process.

Front brakes (with sensors) $100 (just pads).

Front rotors, $70 for two.

Rear brakes, $28 for both sides.

Rear rotors, $50 for two.

Full suspension kit, $325 (whole car KYB).

Plugs, wires, filters etc, $100 (est. bought over time).

Transmission service, $275 (Audi dealer).

15" V8 rims with new snow tires $400 (eeeebaaayyy).

The airbag light stays on for 90 seconds after start up. Consistently. And the CHECK ENGINE light has a mind of its own. The gear selector light on the dash doesn't work, and neither does the outside temp reading, or the seat heaters, or the cigar lighter, and the blower motor squeaks until I smack the glovebox lid then it stops.

General Comments:

Haven't done the suspension kit or trans service yet, as I only make $15K a year (no I'm not a teenager, the WV job market is not so good, at least I have a job!), but the car starts runs and drives beautifully, even with 4 worn to hell bouncy shocks, and snow tires on dry pavement, this thing really holds the road. Albeit with understeer.

This is my first premium luxury German car, and it really surprises me. I don't care that the seat heaters don't work and the stereo is wonky, it is just a good driver and a torqueless wonder (doesn't come into its own till about 3500 revs, redlines at 6800 :D). It seems to be a bit pricey to fix, but it's totally worth it. Even though it only gets 15 C, 21 HWY.

Oh and BTW, rear-facing third rows ROCK!