older Audis reliable?

Hi, i'm selling my E36 M3 and looking for a "filler" car to keep me going for a year or so. i want to pay $4K-7K and want all wheel drive. i'm thinking early 90's quattro. Are these older audis a viable option? (or should i start thinking subaru) i don't have much of a commute; 15 miles each way. which models tend to be the more durable and which transmission / engine etc. have the better longevity? thanks a whole lot for sharing any knowledge you may have. al.

I have never owned an older audi.

However, I've heard that the pre- "A" audis (A4, A6, etc) had some reliability problems, especially the ones from the 80's. It was until the first "A" cars that audi became more reliable.

This is only words, though, I'm not sure that it's true, its just word of mouth.

Audis are german cars. Nohing more, nothing less. They are more reliable than anything not made in germany or japan, and on a par with other petrol-powered german cars. High-mileage is not a real issue with german cars, and they are generally not problematic. I have friends who own Audis of various anceintness and they love em.

My parents owned an 80 which ran for 15+ years (daily use ) without needing mayor maintenance/repairs. It survived 2 kids , daily use (up to 60 miles/day) and a nasty sideswipe, so don't worry.

i have owned 2 older ones, and 1989 audi 100quattro and the one i have now is a 1988 audi 80quattro. They are pretty reliable cars and a very smooth highway ride i drive a minimun of 40 miles a day and it works fine, the only problem i have had with both of them was a radiator but 75 bucks later there where no more problems. and they last a while

HI
I've owned a dozen Audi's for the past 20 years, from a 74 Audi Fox, (yes before the VW Fox piece of s*** there was an Audi Fox) to an 89 200 Turbo. Each one had it's particulars, from a rash of bad front wheel bearing and CV joints to fuel pumps and window regulator problems. The best Audi I owned was a rusted out 87 Coupe, bought it for 400 bucks, limped it home, fixed the shift linkage and replaced the plug wires and did a tune up. Then i drove it for 5 years with only normal maintenance, brake pads, oil changes, wiper blades, etc. Then sold it for a 1000 bucks a couple years ago. Only serious problem it had was a slow leak in the radiator. Radiator shop fixed it for 45 bucks. You gotta scrounge for the best deal and cheap parts. I'm not tooting my horn but i did get to know the older Audi series of cars quite well. Even rebuilt a couple of auto trans on the 5000 series. As the other guy said, Audi's are normal german cars, don't run any better or worse then others.

dont get a turbo A6

The person who said that older model Audi's before the "A" series have some reliablity problems was right IMHO, that may be why there's such a price gap, but that's just speculation on my part.

I have an Audi 90S with an old leak. The old leak leaks onto the exhaust and when driving fast or reving high or downshifting (pretty sure it's downshifting or letting of the throuttle at high RPM, I'm here to find out actually) the cabin fills up with oil fumes and makes me dizzy. Might be exhaust, but I checked it thourghly and it seems fine. It was loud because I removed a catalyic converter, so I wanted to see if it was leaking.

Anyway, my father's friend helps me with my car cause he's a mechanic and he has tools. He has a lady with an Audi 100 that has the same oil leak and had the same water pump prolem as. We both had to change water pumps because they froze in the winter (could be lots of reasons for this of course, one is too much water or not correct antifreeze). See has the same minor oil leak (comes from vacume tube(s) inside air intake manfold I think, not an easy fix so we let it be), but she never has a problem with fumes because she doesn't drive like I do.

Audi is a very well built vehicle though, I was surprised. Very little rust, esspecially undercarrige, which is big for me. Subaru in my best guess will be rusty as hell underneith which you might not care about or you live in warm climate. Not very well suited for rough American roads although I like the rough ride. Very pridictable handling on all surfaces/conditions. Look under the Audi for oil if you buy a "90," "80" or "100" or any car for that matter.