An Audi C3 lover lives here. The 5000 Quattro is gathering moss. The 200 Quattro looks a bit more roadworthy, but then there’s that almost flat rear tire. That leaves the Saturn.
Well, we can’t exactly blame Audi for the slow leak, just like it wasn’t fair to blame it for the unintended acceleration incidents.
Gen 1 Saturns are starting to get a bit scarce on the ground. And this is a “stripper” SL model, for what its worth. From all the comments I’ve gotten over the years to my misunderstood Saturn Deadly Sin article (It was about GM’s decision to create a Saturn Division, not the car itself), these are presumably pretty tough little cars. And the no-rust body was of course a great asset in the Rust belt, although a bit wasted out here.
Or maybe the true daily driver is at work?
Could it be the bus?
Heh heh heh! Came here to suggest the same thing.
C’mon get happy!
It took me 0.5 seconds to get the reference.
Don, we’re gettin’ old buddy!
Only as old as the cars we cherish
I was thinking the same thing.
Who knows, that could be Otto Mann’s house.
Here in northern Florida the 1st generation SLs seem to vastly outnumber Ions. Though for some reason I am starting to see more Ion Redlines, than ever before.
CC effect- I saw a Redline this morning on my street, and in very good shape. Can’t remember the last time I saw one.
Those wheels on the white 5000 are forged and very lightweight, highly sought after and likely worth more than the rest of the car.
” And this is a “stripper” SL1 model, for what its worth. ”
There was a stripper below the SL1, simply called the SL. That trim was available on sedans only, not wagons.
Righto. Fixed. And that explains why this one looks so bare; these SL’s weren’t all that common.
Ive seen one probably ex Japan but it was very plain and had Sl on the side, it was three different colours green red blue so theres more than on here, plastic you say? really, so it wasnt rust that caused the panel replacement and they should be hard to dent LOL more of a mystery than I thought. Oh well at least I know what it was now
Not sure how long the Quattro has been sitting in the driveway, but it would have been ticketed in my neighborhood by now. The neighbor across the street has a similar situation with an Accord with a flat tire, severe damage to the front fender, and dirt and dust collecting under the car in his driveway. The car sat for 2-3 months. It was gone with three days when a sheriff’s deputy put a bright fluorescent violation sticker on the rear window.
That’s why my wife and I chose a house well aware of those sorts of traps. My sister just delivered a ’96 Explorer to my house that has been the backup vehicle for various family members for 15 years. I’m the only one who won’t get ticketed for it these days. And there’s the ’97 I30 that I haven’t yet called the scrapper or car donation company to haul away. A Buick Rendezvous that I stupidly bought (thought it had a 3800, not a 3400. Oops.) And the Willys Wagon I accidentally won on eBay.
As well as daily drivers for three adults, and a ’97 e36 convertible for nice weather.
My wife also painted our front door a nice shade of HOA unfriendly purple.
I absolutely hate those sorts of rules, but many municipalities have them. The easy answer is to put a cover over the car–while this does not technically fix the legality of the situation, an officer would have to be extra extra bored to walk up a driveway, look under the cover to see if the tags are expired, and ticket accordingly. If you have a neighbor with a vendetta who calls the cops on you, well then it’s not much help. It’s how I’ve gotten away with keeping my old Malibu at my parents’ house for so long.
HOAs are a different story. Don’t get me started on some of them that not only care whether or not the car is registered and roadworthy, but what sort of car it is. I know someone who isn’t allowed to park his pickup truck in his own driveway due to HOA rules–if it’s not in the garage with the door closed, he’ll get a violation notice and a fine the next day as the HOA rules prohibit exterior parking of trucks or cargo/work vans overnight. Doesn’t matter that it’s a <5 year old crew cab Silverado that probably cost $50k new and is kept spotless. I'll take the drawbacks of a non-HOA neighborhood in exchange for not being told what I can and can't do with my own property, thanks.
A few years ago, I rented a townhouse in an HOA neighborhood. Never again!
I’m amazed that there are still HOAs that prohibit pickups in driveways. About 30 years ago, I remember hearing about “elite” new subdivisions that had such requirements, but I assumed that with mainstreaming of trucks, such regulations were no longer appreciated. I guess I’m wrong!
I know someone who ran afoul of HOA “commercial vehicle” rules a few years ago with a 1958 model hearse. To be clear, he was not a mortician.
Surprising intrusion on civil liberties. Unless it poses some sort of health risk to neighbours and community, I don’t think unregistered cars parked on private property here in oz can be ticketed by authorities.
Live free or die trying.
Park free or drive trying. hehehe
HOA’s get around the civil liberties bit by being “voluntary”. As in, you have to voluntarily sign the HOA agreement for the closing on the house you want to buy to be completed. No signature, no new house. Period. And once you’ve signed it, since you did so voluntarily, it has the force of law.
Most people who move into neighborhoods with HOA’s do so because they want that degree of control on what their neighbors can and cannot do, to keep the neighborhood neat and (especially) property values up. If it goes wrong, it does so in the implementation – you suddenly find out that the HOA board are a pack of power-mad backyard Nazi’s who are determined to regulate EVERYTHING.
The reach of a HOA is often tied to the age of the neighborhood. My neighborhood association dates back to the late 1950s and membership is voluntary. Other than requirements for how far a house must set back from the lot boundaries and requirements for the houses themselves as set out in the rules filed with the original plat of the development, there is not much in the way of what you can and cannot do on your property. I attribute this to people (especially those able to build homes of this size back then) trusting that their neighbors would “do the right thing.” In more recent developments (I’ll say from the 80s on forward) the restrictions become quite detailed, such as no driveway or street parking except on an occasional basis. In these developments (which make HOA membership mandatory), there are a bazillion rules that rely on a HOA for enforcement, which many HOAs are reluctant to do with their neighbors.
True. My ire for HOAs is reserved for the mandatory enforcement type. My neighborhood (houses dating from the late 30’s to early 60’s, ours was built in ’46) also has a voluntary association, but it doesn’t have any enforcement powers whatsoever. All they do is plan community events, maintain signage, and oversee the neighborhood watch program.
There are a couple houses in the neighborhood that I wish would clean up their act (things like maintaining their lawn better, or not leaving Christmas lights up all year) but I’ll put up with that in exchange for not being micromanaged. Maybe my opinion would be different if I had one of them next door.
I’ll just leave this here…It explains everything! LOL!! “Over The Hedge”
https://youtu.be/9p-0FxJ6kvQ
My neighbors had a beretta sitting in their driveway for at least 5 years with no license plate. I would never want to live in a HOA.
We are supposed to have an HOA. Most of these aren’t worth paper they are printed on unless it is a high end neighborhood, because there is no enforcement. And how can it be enforced? Our neighbors are some sort of sorry asses. Dude had a GMC small pickup on jackstands sitting at end of driveway when we moved in. Sat there for a couple months and I called SD. They were driving thru the yard to get to house. He moved it. Then he got a Mitsu eclipse that sat for a long time. His latest acquisition is an old(pre 74) Nova SS that has the side rotted out. Follwed by the body of a later Nova. Most recently, he has moved the Eclipse and Nova into yard so he can lengthen his carport. He has some of the ribs up and rest of the parts are in the yard, grass about 2 ft tall around everything. he mows around. They have these four hulks that he fiddles with sime but not often. And they have 1 and maybe 2 other CUVs they drive. I’m a car guy, but dang, don’t be so darn junky.
HOA? My neighbor can’t find his copy and we weren’t given a copy. I love our little house, but had we known this was going to be the case, we would have NEVER bought the place. And short of filing a report with the county – have to put your name on public record – we have no recourse. And the problem with that is if the guy knows who actually complained, he may decide to mess with our stuff while we work. We can see no evidence that the winner works. And what kind of spouse tolerates that kind of junkiness? GRrrrrr…….
Ah, the C3 Audi. I still have a misguided love for those things despite remembering how much money my parents had to spend to keep our ’86 5000S on the road for the four years in the mid 90’s we owned it. Hopefully the flat tire on the 200 is merely temporary. The prognosis looks worse for the 5000CS, but when was the last time you saw one of those? As long as water isn’t getting inside the car, there’s hope. Though the fact that there appears to be a prop stick holding one of the back doors closed (?) makes me wonder about that…
I saw a 5000 in the parking lot of work earlier this year. It had been quite a few years since I had seen one.
Those Audi 5000’s were so cutting edge in their day. They were the most beautiful sedans ever to grace my young eyes. It was the proverbial yuppie machine of the ’80s. I remember the day I saw a really nice, low mileage, ’85 Audi 5000 at a used car lot back in ’91, for “only” $5,500. Here’s a car that was well over $40K brand new. I thought that price was a steal and I begged by parents to help me purchase that car. Well, my dad talked to his mechanic about the Audi 5000 and the mechanic said that those cars are a Pandora’s Box. Needless to say the Audi was out. What did I know back then as a young, dumb 17 year old allured by the suductive styling of a prestigious German automobile. Later on I came to understand what my dad’s mechanic was talking about regarding the Audi 5000 as a Pandora’s Box. I still think they’re gorgeous sedans. And as rare now as hen’s teeth.
So much so, that the Ford Taurus was influenced by the Audi 5000.
And the rest is history.
Don’t get me started on these piles. I have a ton exposure to them via work ( I was selling them at the time) and family ownership experiences.
You were lucky to get 2 weeks continuous service out of one before something broke.
A cross-country trip in one was a crap-shoot that you would ever reach your destination.
Once off warranty, the depreciation was mind-numbing.
I feel that current offerings are not much better in those respects. It’s really galling to me that they are even still in business. I thought for sure that Lexus et al would have seen to the demise of this wretched brand.
In a fair world, they should have been forced to refund the purchase price in full to every original buyer.
Having lived with a ’71 Audi for over ten years, I can attest to enduring more than my fair share of mechanical problems.. Still, I loved that car and was able to do most of my own repairs to keep it going until parts supplies dried up. Also, mine had no high-tech electronics to deal with.
Thinking about an upgrade in summer of 87, I briefly lusted after an accident-damaged ’85 5000S for sale, cheap, at a salvage-yard. A closer look revealed how bad it really was and I passed. Over the years, I learned what money pits those were.
At least my ’71 was able to make a round-trip, cross-country in ’82 – without any breakdowns!
Happy Motoring, Mark
I owned an ’89 200 Quattro. When everything was working, the way it drove made you feel like a king. Big, comfortable, and powerful by the standards of the day, It even smelled good. My mechanic kept telling me what an awesome car it was. Finally I realized it was more awesome for him than for me.
I know what ya mean.
Sounds exactly like my Alfa Romeo 164S…fun to drive, sexy, and very fast…
When it isn’t at the repair shop.
That guy’s got cyclist written all over him. The cars aren’t getting him anywhere.