liTT v

First of all I just bought a TTR, so I'm not trying to bash Audi or anything.

I am curious, though, as to what happened in the mid-80's? I'll see vague references made to problems with the 4000/5000 series, and Audi nearly pulling out of the North American market, and how it was probably undeserved, etc. I did a forum search and just came up with sales numbers that showed a serious decline in '85 to '87. That seems about the same time our local dealer packed up shop.

I don't want anyone to bother wth a detailed history, but if you could direct me to some information I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

ncstteve

A number of Audi 5000 crashed into the rear walls of garages. 60 Minutes profiled the story. To this day I am not sure whether anyone knows if it was driver error or something wrong with the brakes or the transmission. The problem did lead to the requirement that an auto trans car have the brake pedal depressed prior to starting. Don't know exactly where you can find more detailled answers, but I would suggest you start with the google.com site.

Steve Goldstein 2000 TTQC silver/grey

JoTT

Jump below all the pics for the text.<ul><li><a href="http://www.motorcities.com/contents/02J0G194232324.html">MotorCity.com</a></li></ul>

gtt

<ul><li><a href="http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5257">http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5257</a</li></ul>

liTT v

*****.

This gives me plenty to go on.
Thanks.

renTT225QC

Many economic factors are claimed for the demise of many automakers in North America during this 80-90 era.
The German Mark became so strong that it was impossible for the "common man" to own a Porsche, Audi, Etc.
The French car makers like Peugeot retreated, even Maserati.
Do not think 60 minutes had any influence. Owned a 1981 911 Porsche, my father owned a Aaudi 5000 85 Quattro Turbo. We were happy but the Mark made it impossible to keep up with tremendous $$$$ paid for maintenance services. That is the history and now is still evident for most people choosing a car in 2003.
René

voughtt

I remember asking my mom in the early 80s why we watched 60 minutes every Sunday night, and she explained that it was a trustworthy news source. Issues were dealt with in depth, and viewers could decide for themselves after watching Mike, Morley, Harry, and Ed. I watched that guy with the earring conspire and cajole to make Audi look worse than the cigarette companies.

After watching that 60 Minutes broadcast, I didn't even like Audis anymore. I was afraid of our car after listening to he Baptist minister's wife recount how she literally "stood on the brake" and her 110-bhp 5000S rammed her child through the back wall of her garage. No one could seem to explain why this happened ith only automatic-equipped Audis. Blame was placed on everything from the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection (which worked fine on Volvos) to the transmission to the cruise control. No technical explanation was evident. bottom line: Audi's sales went through the floor after the 60 minutes story and the ccar maker become the butt of jokes. (I'm outta here=I'm Audi 5000!") 60 Minutes failed to mention that the problem didn't occur in Europe.

P.J. O'Rourke wrote a great piece for Automobile magazine in '88 or '89 revisiting the "unintended acceleration" phenomenon. This horrifying behavior was traced back to the same root cause in nearly every case. Audi placed the gas and brake pedals closer together (as on some other German cars, like the Mercedes 190), and people were inadvertently stepping on the wrong pedal.

More often than not, people who reported unintended acceleration had been brought up in American cars where (to borrow a phrase from O'Rourke's essay) "you could almost see the gas padal from the brake on a clear day". The NHTSA report concluded that in all probability, Unintended Acceleration on Audis and other cars came down to a case of muscle memory and driver error. Audi (first and voluntarily) and soon every other car maker installed shift locks on their automatic transmissions, forcing the driver to firmly apply the brake before shifting from Park into a drive gear. I remember the distinctive click it make on our 5000S.

Of course, that's not the only reason Audi had a hard time in the 80s and early 90s.

My mom's 1985 5000S was a great car, but had some quality problems that were exacerbated by an incredibly incompetent dealer. (Sound familiar to anyone?) The red 5000S went through six or seven driver's side window regulators and at least four sunroof kits. Power steering rack failures left a permanent Valdez-sized spot on our carport floor.

Our two front-drive 4000s were (underpowered) great cars - virtually no maintenance problems, and I drove my 1987 to well over 150,000 miles.

If you take a look at the AW Model Guide, you can see that Audi's car's from 1988-1995 or so weren't exactly compelling. Except for a couple of luxo-cruisers like the V8 Quattro and the 200 Turbo Quattro (the 217 bhp model), the cas were handsome, but uniformly slow and relatively cramped.

And thus ends my epic Sunday morning explanation of why Audi couldn't sell anything during the late 80s and early 90s.

Quattrings

I have had Audi's all my life, starting with a 1983 Quattro Turbo Coupe, through the Coupe GT, 1991 90 Quattro 20 Valve, (2) A4's, (1) TT

Pre 1990 Audi's were a mess with electrical problems and window regulator issues. The entire unintended acceleration issue was undeserved though.

Lloyd of the Rings

Can you say "unintended accelaration"?

QYKSLVR

I got a new 86 Coupe GT when I turned 16...three weeks later my car lost all resale value