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DKW that preceded Audi also had the 4 same intertwined circles logo. What was the relationship? I rode in one as a kid and clearly remember they were oil burners, like your basic gas trimmer.
Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer are the four car companies that represent the rings. The rings exist because of the four companies coming together.
The early cars had 2 cycle engines and they did burn oil. On a 2 cycle engine you had to check your oil level when you change the gas.
The reason you don't see many older Audi's on the road:
Two things, as already mentioned by many, older Audi's have a reputation for becoming a money pit without the prestige or glamour of other brands.
More importantly, do the math. In 1998 Audi only built a little over 600,000 vehicles. Over the next fifteen years they grew rapidly and in 2012 produced 1,466,000 vehicles. In fact, December of 2015 they surpassed 200,000 sold for the first time. In on month they sold approximately 1/3 of what they used to make in a year. So, as their production increased and the market share in the US has increased as well, you are seeing more of them on the road.
The 2003 Audi A4 (1.8T) I had was a nightmare. It has caused me to steer so far clear of them that I no longer even notice if there are any on the road.
Between 80-115k miles it spent more time on jackstands than it did on pavement. Electrical gremlins, cheap plastic components that got brittle and broke in the engine bay, etc....
Between 80k-115k the following happened:
Replaced all 4 window motors (twice)
Engine sludged up (despite proper on time maintenance with receipts from new) and had to be cleaned out while I had the timing belt replaced
Coil pack wiring harness melted
Vacuum fittings dry rotted and cracked
Coolant flange dry rotted and cracked
Oil dipstick tube dry rotted and broke off
Sunroof switch malfunctioned and would open the sunroof when you hit a bump (and once in a car wash.....)
Rear tail light shorted out and the harness melted
Message center stopped working when it was hot outside
All the buttons had the paint worn off. You couldn't see what you were pressing
Arm rest latch broke
Sun visor clips snapped off
drain plugs in the battery box on the firewall clogged and dumped water into the floorboard
Clearcoat peeled off (despite twice a year waxing with a spray wax every time it got washed)
Maybe their reliability has changed, but it would take an act of Congress to make me even consider another one.
The biggest things to look out for on German cars are electrical gremlins and ****ty plastic. German environmental laws make their plastic fall apart, causing problems with tubes and more electrical problems (loss of ground and short-circuiting) on top of generally poor software and wiring.
German cars are fun to drive, but they are overrated and unreliable long-term. That's why most American BMW/MB/Audi owners lease then dump them nowadays, and why the resale (especially on larger ones like the MB S-Class, BMW 7 series and Audi A8) holds it's value like Lehman Brothers stock.
And I know of 7 series that have gone that far, as well. our last E46 3 series (a 2002 yea) had over 250k on it when we sold it and it had needed a $50 water pump and a couple rear wheel bearings in all that time. And of course, Mercedes with over a million miles on them are not unheard of.
I hope to keep my current BMW well past 250k, as well, with proper maintenance. As I said, I got it at 150k and it's only needed an oil change since I first got it ready for inspection (replaced age cracked brake hoses that can happen to any 15 year old car) and has taken a number of road trips in the year+ I've had it.
Any car can last a long time if an owner actually cares about it.
My brother bought a ~1998 7 series with about 110k in miles about a decade ago. It was a nightmare car that spent 60% of the time in the shop racking up $5,000+ in bills in less than a year. The battery constantly drained itself, even after replacing the wire (which of course goes all the way to the trunk ...because Deutschland), etc. etc. The thing had some Lucas wiring, lol.... how on Earth was that company still in business in 1998?
The new A4 are *supposed* to be more reliable if you take the few years they have been running and compare them to the few years of the older years. It seems after 2010-2011 is when reliability *started* to take a turn.
So you would need to wait 5-6 more years to see how Audi is doing with reliability. I'm talking about their better-selling cars, like the A4 and Q5. Since those are cars Audi should be able to get right.
For example, we need to see how a 2012 Audi A4 is doing in 2022. Japanese cars can easily do a tough 10 year lifespan with minimal issues.
I'm sure the electrical gremlins will inevitably be popping up soon in the '10-'11 Audi models. My cousin owns a 2011 S5 and it has some gremlins developing in the oil and coolant sensors... The car doesn't even have a dipstick either to manually check the oil! lol. No wonder they lost the war.
My brother bought a ~1998 7 series with about 110k in miles about a decade ago. It was a nightmare car that spent 60% of the time in the shop racking up $5,000+ in bills in less than a year. The battery constantly drained itself, even after replacing the wire (which of course goes all the way to the trunk ...because Deutschland), etc. etc. The thing had some Lucas wiring, lol.... how on Earth was that company still in business in 1998?
Reputedly, the motto of German engineering is why make it simple if you can make it complicated. The Tiger needed a support crew just to keep it running. But where does German cars reputation for quality come from? Is it something they used to have but no longer do? My guess is that the Japanese raised the bar so much to make what was once exceptional merely average or less.
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