ryan27968

Hi there. New to the forum so I hope I'm in the right section. I just got back from looking at an Audi 100 series C3(sold as a 500e in South Africa) with a 2.2l 5cyl. I was impressed with the interior and the overall build quality of the vehicle. There were only a few things holding me back(although the cost of the car is very good). Basically the engine felt quite anemic. Even in 1st gear there didn't feel like there was much torque. The brakes were also very hard to press. Felt like there was no vacuum assist, although it was somewhat intermittent. Although this is likely a simple vacuum leak as far as I understand. The power steering was also intermittent. It seemed to have trouble keeping up when doing a three point turn, although it would kick in about a second after trying to turn the wheel. Finally, it was tricky to get it into 2nd gear(have to force it a little bit) but this is almost definitely just a loose linkage right?

So, given all these problems, is there anybody who has owned and/or worked on these cars who knows how simple these things are to fix? Is it as simple as finding a vacuum leak? Could that cause performance issues? How reliable are they overall? I'm willing to pay a premium for parts so long as I can work on it myself(I'm coming from a Kia picanto which was impossible to do the simplest sensor change without a lift). My parents have a car so if it's out of order occasionally I can always fall back on them. And i'm willing to spanner on it as a project. Just don't want to set myself up for buyer's remorse. I do a lot of highway driving so that might need to be taken in to account.

TL;DR How reliable/maintainable are the 5cyl 2.2l Audis?

ryan27968

This person seems quite convinced that they are incredible and reliable cars: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wmbvry8/ any rebuttals?

ryan27968

No replies at all? Really?

Pushbutton_auto

Read the last few pages and you will get the drift ....

hikeit

I had a 1984 and a 1986 5000s. Both used a hydraulic pump for the assist on both the steering and the brakes, not vacuum. If the brake and steering assist seems weak, it might be low on fluid, or the pump might be bad.

These cars *were* anemic. The torque converters didn't lock up, so like 20-30% of the power was wasted all the time. It was a big comfy car. It was not the most reliable, but I didn't mind because the purchase price was $400 for the '86, and $200 for the '84... and that was 18 years ago.