[gonefirefightin]

Please tell me more. I need/want to replace my old toyota pickup with a wagon body for bike/camp/light expo type duty and I've read a couple times that the older monteros are a solid option.

Edit: I've had a few issues with my brothers 1.8t b4, but they've been ridiculously easy to diagnose and fix. Mostly because there are so many of them around and "they all do that"...

any of the 90's montero's are bomber. the auto trans is bullet proof, the engines can be rebuilt for 800 bucks in a day and the 4 wheel drive is unbelievable it also has diff locks and transfer locks plus you can sleep in it.

you can find them on craigslist all day for 2-3k

 

[drkenan]

B5S4's are what I make a living on. Got a couple big turbo cars I babysit. Plain jane K04 on E85, 400whp, sub 3 fats time. Got another actual RS6 with modified turbos that scoots out pretty good, it's gotta go to get the transmission done or it'll puke soon. Want to talk about nightmare? Work on an RS6...

Gawd I miss my S4. Wanna hear about a mistake though? My K03's went out the same week that RPK04's went on sale. I literally bought the first set from JHM. Got a pretty aggressive tune off the classifieds on AZ and all the supporting mods, then did all the work myself in the dead of winter with no garage.

I'd L-O-V-E to do a Tial 770 build one day.

 

[JustMtnB44]

I have an allroad 4.2 so I'm well aware of the Audi money pit issues. Take a regular A6 Avant and make it more complicated and unreliable and you get an allroad. Between mods, regular maintenance/wear items, and repairs, I've spent 7k on it in 2 years. There always seems to be some little issue with it that bothers me, even if it is not an expensive fix.

That said, for the most part I do love the car and I don't know what I would rather have instead. Just yesterday I made a trip to Ray's MTB with 5 people and 3 bikes on the roof, back full of gear, cruising at 80 mph on the highway without breaking a sweat and everyone comfortable inside. I can also lower it down and throw it into corners and play around when I want to, or raise it up and drive through deep snow or dirt roads without a problem.

 

[stevew]

Just yesterday I made a trip to Ray's MTB with 5 people and 3 bikes on the roof, back full of gear, cruising at 80 mph on the highway without breaking a sweat and everyone comfortable inside.

buy a later model Land Cruiser.

my younger brother drives the sh!t out of his in the winter...

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

cruising at 80 mph on the highway without breaking a sweat

why would you be sweating anyway? It's november in the northeast?

 

[spam16v]

Honda Element. 106K, owned since new. 2nd set of tires, 1 set of brake pads.

And Ike Turner would be ashamed at how I've treated this car.

Mine sees track time and ice racing in the winter

 

[bean]

buy a later model Land Cruiser.

my younger brother drives the sh!t out of his in the winter...

It's hard to go wrong with a Land Cruiser.

 

[JustMtnB44]

buy a later model Land Cruiser.

my younger brother drives the sh!t out of his in the winter...

Yeah but they drive like a truck not a sporty car. I still like to have fun while driving and can only justify one car for now. The allroad gives the best of both worlds but with the downside of Audi reliability and maintenance costs.

why would you be sweating anyway? It's november in the northeast?

Actually I was sweating at Ray's even with shorts and short sleeve jersey it was really warm in there since it was almost 60 deg outside.

 

[Sandwich]

FWIW, I sold my S6 and picked up an Infiniti FX35...I pay about the same in monthly car payments as I did in repair bills on the Audi, and I don't have to actually do any repairs. So far, in the course of a year, I've had to replace one stuck brake caliper on the driver's side. I did it myself, took 15 minutes.

Anyways...the car has a tall ride height but uprated dampers and springs thanks to the sport package. It handles almost as well as the S6 (with a little more body roll) but has ground clearance to get up and over most anything. It's the only alternative to the Allroad I found that combines ground clearance, ride/handling quality, and ride dynamics. Actually, I think the AWD system in it is superior to the Audi system in everything outside of pure snow....plus it has metal springs instead of airbags for suspension!

I do agree though, nothing comes close to the fit and finish of an audi interior...it's just a shame they come in an audi and not something reliable.

 

[stevew]

Yeah but they drive like a truck not a sporty car.

this fact is lost on my brother.