gtquattro

Checking in from The Mid Atlantic. I am in the market for changing things up somewhat, Having always admired Audi's over a long time, I now find myself in a position to seriously consider purchasing one. My upbringing in autos has always leaned towards high performance cars, from the end of the Muscle car era back in the early 80's (IE: could purchase late 60's and early 70's hot rods still for cheap)to the start of the recent crunch of high performance to extreme high performance autos. So, while I can talk all about V8 boats and hot rods, I am wanting to become educated in german engineering, specifically Audi's.

As for the model(s)/ Body Styles I like, I would have to say the A5/S5/RS5 gets the initial nod as I have always preferred 2 door coupes to 4 door sedans. I also have always liked to tinker around and modify almost every car I have ever owned from its stock or factory configuration. While I am not adverse to owning a 4 door sedan, I would need to get a sweet deal and have the ability to do some serious modifications to it. Which comes to model years. I think currently, I would be leaning more towards the 2010-2012 if I were to consider the S5 mainly due to the V8 option and the price point I am looking to spend for this new toy. Having almost zero knowledge of turbo's and smaller motors, it would be easy for me to make a mistake and purchase something which I probably should have walked away from. My single biggest concern is of how good is Higher mileage reliability and the maintenance price points. Most of the vehicles I have seen in the model years described are in the mile range of 85,000-135,000, and the retail prices are around 14,000-25,000 US. One of the things which has attracted me to Audi is the longevity and overall reliability of the product. Though, I have to admit, I am coming from the stigmata of maintenance is extremely expensive for Audi's especially those close or over the 100k mile mark.

My goal by joining this forum is to hopefully gain some advice, learn from those who have walked this path before me and hopefully be able to contribute in a positive way towards helping others who wish to learn in the future. (Dang, almost sounds like I am applying for a job..... LOL)

Any info or suggestions on what is or is not worthwhile or reliable would be very appreciated, I have spent several months searching for info on Audi's and it seems like I need a secret handshake or something to get any info about these cars.