nickwh

So I'm mentally preparing myself to drop some cash into my car (timing belt service due to age + new tires). I bought it as a CPO 3.5 years ago and it's been relatively reliable (about $1000/year for maintenance out of my pocket). After investing in the T-belt I'd like to keep the car another two years. It's a 2003 with 56,000 miles and I only do 20 miles a day (short work commute).

With that said, I'm afraid that after I spend this money and commit to keeping it there will be a tidal wave of other repairs waiting for me. I'm thinking suspension work at a minimum: CV joints, TRE, shocks, etc. I'm out of warranty on time so this is on top of any mechanical failures which are always a possibility.

I guess I'm looking for other operators who have had the car a long time and/or higher milage. What kind of money will I need to keep this car running, based on your experience? This is all based on paying someone else to do the work.

Thanks!

P.S. Should the transmission fluid be changed at this point? I don't believe it's ever been done.

CincyQuattro

FWIW, after four years of ownership, pretty much everything has been age/wear/mileage-appropriate so far for my 98, now at 158,xxx miles. You may run into leaking gaskgets/seals on your differentials coming up here (mine went out at just about exactly 10 years old, back in 2008), but your mileage is low enough that you shouldn't run into many issues besides the timing belt that have mileage limits on them.

Since you have a fairly firm timeline for dumping the car, I would always ask for clarification on anything that's in the process of failing but hasn't yet. That is, if your mechanic comes back and says "your tie rod ends have some play in them", or similar, you may well be able to make it through to when you plan to sell the car. Likewise, for leaks and such, as long as it isn't hemorrhaging onto the garage floor, those are just where you buy coolant, oil, etc., and top it off (you can buy a heck of a lot of fluid, even coolant, for what the repair would cost as long as it isn't critical).

In short, just don't get youself hosed by plopping down huge sums on preemptive repairs that could hold out for the time you're keeping the car without first running through the risk assessment and failure timeline with your mechanic.

Just Me

My take is that you hit on the likely candidates - suspension components. And they dont ALL go. Aside from the TB and suspension stuff, i find these cars durable and fairly reasonable to keep to high miles. This is my only C5, and i dont ahve big miles on it, but i have >>1/2 million cumulative miles on Audis from 1984 onward.

Honestly, once i did the TBD and the suspension, i would lengthen my horizon and keep it for 50,000 miles.

G

radhaz

I have a 2001 with just over 100k on it. My alternator just died, and I had the TB done about 15 months ago. I'd consider replacing the alt, as the entire front has to come off to replace it.

2.7Lturbo

ill chime in with suspension issues as it ages, but this in no way affects drivability, just confort and sportingness? haha

sqplus

don't forget tire wear! some audis (including c5s) have a tendency to have abnormal wear on the inner portion of the tread...this will be amplified with faulty suspension components

Just Me

I'll comment on this. Audis, like many cars that portend to handle, have some negative camber built in. This means inner edge wear, and it is not abnormal. It is very normal for negative camber. if your camber is more than about 1-1.5 deg, its out of algnment and something is either bent or badly worn ( to your point).

That said, my cars are nearly always in good shape, and with good tires i routinely get 30-35k of fairly even tire wear out of a set of tires. And i occasionally drive fairly hard, for fun. So there is no mysterious rapid abnormal wear. Just out of condition cars.

Goto statement on suspension wear and keeping after it.

G

sqplus

Yes, they have negative camber from the factory, maybe I should have been more detailed in my comment sorry for the confusion. My point was that for someone new to audis expecting their tires to wear in a relatively even pattern they will not be expecting to have 'accelerated' inner edge wear and may think something is wrong with the car when in fact it could be perfectly normal.

Just Me

sorry to be dsagreeable, but...... i will disagree yet again. You are, in effect, saying that people should expect rapid tire wear with a properly maintained car. I maintain that rapid tire wear is not normal. I don't have it. If you are experiencing rapid wear, something is wrong. A slight acceleration of inner tire edge wear results from negative camber, but at 30-35k miles on high performance tires driven hard, who would complain?

If they're getting far less, something is wrong.

I believe most of the stories we hear about are from:

1. worn suspension
2. improper alignments
3. crap tires

Grant

2.7Lturbo

have to agree with just me.... i have nad GREAT tire ware up untill about 2k ago when my suspension components started to show their age.... good thing im buying new tires/controll arms in the fall !