GMcB in Seattle

Haven't posted on this site for a few years, but I'm on my second ar. I've owned both since they were new. Retired the first one with about 38k miles. Traded it in on the 2nd one. It was a Silver '01 2.7 tip, with everything but nav. I bought my current one in December '03 with 12 miles on it. No solar package, and no Nav. Every other option.

I'll try to be brief, but here's my story, which ended just last week:

Just shy of 50k miles I took the ar to my dealer (University in Seattle) and had them perform an off warranty oil change and also inspect it. Turns out it had an oil leak at the rear of the engine. The main seal. Advised up to 2 weeks for repair. 40 days and $5800 later (fortunately all covered under warranty) the main seal, alternator, serpentine belt, and rear window washer jet were replaced. I'm not going to talk about the paint problem due to the fact that it got egged on their lot - that's another story....

What I would like to know from the ranks of this site is your experience with reliability post 50k in your V-8 allroads. In otherwords, should I forego the ultimate pleasure of owning and driving one of the best cars I've ever owned and sell it - because down the road I'm going to be stuck with huge maintenance bills? Or am I going to be fine and the normal wear and tear will likely be manageable by my humble checkbook.

Oh yeah - the fact that gas is now up to $3.50 a gallon has also weighed heavily on my mind as to weather I should keep my beloved stealth hotrod.

Your thoughts and wisdom are greatly appreciated.

allroadCole

4.2's are solid. plus gas savings and repair cost will be way less $ than the cost to trade up to anything even close to as capable as a 4.2 ar, if indeed something as capable exist

if you would rather know exactly what it will cost you, buy an ext warranty

audialex

besides, so gas is $3.50 per for a while...we STILL don't have state income tax ;-)

Maxcattle

as to whether it fits your needs. Do you use the cargo space, do you use the ability to haul, do you use the style cache, do you use the transportation ability to drive great distances and still feel like you can keep going? (to name a few)
If you like it and really use it get the extended warranty and don't look back, life's to short to drive around in a wannabe. You "ain't" going to find a better beloved form of transportation.

kingfishgrapejam

Do you think anyone here is going to tell you to get rid of it?

GMcB in Seattle

post warranty. Has anyone had any big ticket, unexpected problems with either the engine or the drivetrain. I've been super happy so far with performance and dependability.

girlroad

probably dump it, but if you think you'll find something as fun to drive, that is also reasonably practical, good luck with that, as I've tried. Also MANY other vehicles get the same bad mileage or worse in this category...so unless you see a Honda Civic in your future, drive on

millerwd

Your life has enough unpredictable expenses. I'm dumping mine, 104k miles, in January of '08. It'll cost me around $3k which is a lot cheaper than any major repair.
I don't like high maintenance, plus the added expense of buying parts in boxes with four circles.

It's all been an enlightening experience I just no longer feel the love.

mowog

I've been using regular in our 04 4.2 for over 3 years. If mountain driving I'll use premium, otherwise regular. Manual states 91 octane "recommended" for maximum performance. I have tried to compare mpg using 87 and 93 octane and have not been able to see a significant difference. Sometimes I see higher mpg with regular. If performance were suffering I would expect decreased mpg from retarded timing or enriched mixture- I've really tried to convince myself that 93 would benefit me, but I can't see any numbers telling me so. Now this is non-turbo, normal driving (not constantly spirited) giving us an average of 17 mpg with 20mpg+/- highway. This works for me- might not for you. Some will say this only saves about $600 for 50K miles, but hey, money is money!

scfan

According to APR and the research on the 4.2 in the allroad, it appeared that the detuned condition of the 4.2 was for running 87 octane (think it had to do with North American distribution and areas like Mexico with 87 octane only). Not sure how many allroads were shipped to Mexico for this to be a factor though...or if like Paul said, it was slightly detuned for marketing as to not upstage the S4. APRs 91 program supposedly brings it up to the same as a stock S4 (hence the 340 hp rating) by changing the timing/fuel curves to that of the S4.

I have run 87 a few times in my 4.2 and never had any detectable detonation nor less performance/mileage. Like you, I always run 91 in the mountains or warm/hot conditions.