Junkyard Find: 1984 Audi 5000 S, With Voodoo Incantantion To Ward Off Unintended Acceleration

The Audi “Unintended Acceleration” debacle of 1986, which whacked American Audi sales by about 75% within a few years, makes the 1982-86 Audi 5000 an historically significant Junkyard Find. The 60 Minutes piece about the 5000’s allegedly malevolent behavior turned the car’s image from masterpiece of aerodynamic science to bloody-clawed multiple murderer, with predictable effects on resale value for existing cars. This means that the 5000 of the Unintended Acceleration era that managed to stay on the good side of The Crusher until 2012 is a survivor of astonishing tenacity.

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  • Jeff I noticed the last few new vehicles I have bought a 2022 Maverick and 2013 CRV had very little new vehicle smell. My 2008 Isuzu I-370 the smell lasted for years but it never really bothered me. My first car a 73 Chevelle and been a smoker's car after a couple of months I managed to get rid of the smell by cleaning the inside thoroughly, putting an air freshener in it, and rolling the windows down on a hot day parking it in the sun. The cigarette smell disappeared completely never to come back. Also you can use an ozone machine and it will get rid of most odors.
  • Lou_BC Synthetic oil for my diesel is expensive. It calls for Dexos2. I usually keep an eye out for sales and stock up. I can get 2 - 3 oil and filter changes done by my son for what the Chevy dealer charges for one oil change.
  • Joe65688619 My last new car was a 2020 Acura RDX. Left it parked in the Florida sun for a few hours with the windows up the first day I had it, and was literally coughing and hacking on the offgassing. No doubt there is a problem here, but are there regs for the makeup of the interiors? The article notes that that "shockingly"...it's only shocking to me if they are not supposed to be there to begin with.
  • MaintenanceCosts "GLX" with the 2.slow? I'm confused. I thought that during the Mk3 and Mk4 era "GLX" meant the car had a VR6.
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