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Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:17 pm
(This post was last modified: April 22, 2015 at 9:19 pm by SteelCurtain.)
I need to dump my Audi. It's 16 years old, it has a phantom electrical issue that I can't trace. It kills a battery every 5 months or so, not to mention that EVERYTHING costs more with this damned car. You have to buy special antifreeze, special power steering fluid, special brake fluid. You have to use premium gas. You need a fucking computer to change the battery. It drives me nuts, because I don't like to pay a mechanic when I can do most car work myself.
That said, the car is so nice. Leather, heated seats, good power/torque, the drive feels fantastic.
It works, right now at least. Until the electrical issue shows up again, and I have to buy another $140 battery.
I have an opportunity to buy a 2005 Subaru Impreza at nearly $3k below book. Subaru is a brand I love. It is the base model, nothing fancy, no turbo or anything like that. But it is manual, which I want. It is AWD,
which I want. It is easy to work on, which I need. It's got a lot of miles on it (almost 50k more than the Audi despite being 6 years newer), and the throwout bearing is shot. It's a $35 part, but replacing it is a $1600 job if a mechanic does it. (You might as well replace the clutch/flywheel while you're in there) It would cost me about $500 to do it myself, but it involves dropping the tranny or hoisting the engine, which I don't have the tools for.
I really like this car and I am so sick of the stress/headache of wondering if this damned Audi is going to start every time I get in it.
But, they say, the devil you know...
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:24 pm
Not sure if this is advice but in the videogame Need For Speed I loved to use that car for racing and it worked like a charm.
If your car sucks it's time to let it go. My dad had the same mercedes for 20 years, but it worked perfectly until the day he died (if we exclude the fact it was hard to park because it was enormous in size).
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:26 pm
Have you tried asking your question on the web?
Something like audi electrical problem battery help
I've put some bizarre questions on the web and it is amazing how many people have the same issue.
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:33 pm
I'd be wary of exchanging a car you love that has a known issue you are familiar with dealing with, for a car with more mileage on it that also has possible issues you don't know about.
That being said, if being able to work on it yourself is something you really can handle, and you think you'd save money with the Subaru, get the Subaru.
Whatever you decide, good luck!
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Min, I have crawled the entire interwebz for an answer to that question. I've hit and run a couple of Audi forums for some advice. The leak is so slow that it takes 5 months. I have the battery on a conditioner every other night, and whatever is causing the problem gives the battery a memory, because it'll read like it's giving out enough voltage, but the amperage isn't there to crank the car, or even run the accessories when it's done. There are 2000 electrical components that it could be, from the radio to the memory function on the mirrors/seats, and my mechanic said it could take him 3 weeks working on it every day to find it, then he's gotta fix it. Said it'd pretty much total the car.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:40 pm
What kind of Audi? A 5000? I remember those were problematic for sudden starts or somesuch. That's a shame. Ilike Audi.
But I like Suby as well. My mother owned a '91 Legacy wagon when I was a teen down in FL. I follow a couple of rally teams that use WRX's to compete. Rugged freaking cars.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 9:47 pm
It's an A6. 2.8L V6. I like Audi too. I just don't have the cash to be an Audi owner. They are some of the most beautiful cars on the road.
That's the reason why I like Subaru. Rugged. AWD. Super cheap to run and work on.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 10:01 pm
(This post was last modified: April 22, 2015 at 10:02 pm by AFTT47.)
SteelCurtain, I have a background in electronics. I can tell you that car batteries are specifically designed to produce a large amount of amperage at once for starting but they will be damaged if they are too deeply discharged too many times. It wouldn't take much to damage it (especially in a hot climate). Modern cars have so many systems, it might be difficult to detect where the draw is coming from. You would have to use an ammeter to measure the draw on the battery when the car is sitting while disconnecting various systems and see when the drain goes away. The simplest way to do that would be to sequentially remove fuses and observe the change in current draw. It could also be a case of inadequate charge from the alternator. A faulty charging system could cause that or it could be something as simple as a slipping belt.
I'm not familiar with Audi but I can vouch for Subaru. They have a unique design ethic. Good, reliable cars. If you want something sexy, get a Tesla. 
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 11:01 pm
(April 22, 2015 at 10:01 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: SteelCurtain, I have a background in electronics. I can tell you that car batteries are specifically designed to produce a large amount of amperage at once for starting but they will be damaged if they are too deeply discharged too many times. It wouldn't take much to damage it (especially in a hot climate). Modern cars have so many systems, it might be difficult to detect where the draw is coming from. You would have to use an ammeter to measure the draw on the battery when the car is sitting while disconnecting various systems and see when the drain goes away. The simplest way to do that would be to sequentially remove fuses and observe the change in current draw. It could also be a case of inadequate charge from the alternator. A faulty charging system could cause that or it could be something as simple as a slipping belt.
I'm not familiar with Audi but I can vouch for Subaru. They have a unique design ethic. Good, reliable cars. If you want something sexy, get a Tesla.
The first thing that entered my mind when reading the description was the alternator/charging system, too. Your idea of making sure the belts are not slipping, as well as your other advice about checking what is drawing power from the battery when it is sitting (if there is too much being drawn while sitting), are good suggestions.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Need some advice
April 22, 2015 at 11:21 pm
We don't buy new cars often. We wait to sell until they're unreliable in ways that give us headaches. It sounds like your Audi is at that point. And phantom electrical problems are the kind of thing that never ever gets really fixed.
I'm no expert. And I'm no mechanic. But I've owned Subarus and I wish I owned one now. They just run, and run, and run. I'd buy the Subaru.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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