1984 Audi 5000S (Reaction) Motorweek Retro Review 

The headlamps did have the advantage of not having to take the front end apart to change one of the sealed beam lamps.

These were huge sellers in Europe. With the manual diesel, they were extraordinarily frugal on the highway. The auto box and American spec headlights ruined the looks and efficiency.

My dad bought a 87 5000 CS Turbo Quattro new just before I turned 4. It was a wonderful car and I ended up driving it when I turned 16 because my dad couldn't get anything for it because of the BS unintentionally acceleration. In 90 he went back to the dealer to trade it in on the new V8 Quattro. He had a little over 20k miles on the 5000 which was $32,000 (I still have the window sticker) and they offer $2500 on a trade in! My dad laughed and said and you expect me to buy another one! Overall the car was reliable, definitely took a higher amount of maintenance then most domestic cars but on the other hand I don't think I would have been too happy in most domestic 1987 cars in 99 with close to 200k miles on it. We lived in Northern Nevada at the time and that Quattro system, turbo 5 cylinder, and 5 speed was amazing going up to Tahoe to ski with a few friends and the ski pass through bag! Of course this 5000 and the Quattro were much different cars, I think getting the Quattro added about 50% to a 5000's price but I'd love to have a nice one today!!

Boy, I'm about 180 degrees turned around here. The 5000, (known everywhere else as the Audi 100) was an amazingly impressive car for the US in 1984. A friend bought one then (European delivery) similar to the one that AutoWeek tested with two crucial differences. My friend's car was an automatic, and with the very rich looking brown cloth/velour interior, much preferable to the hideous orange vinyl in the video. To me, Audi's greatest contribution was the amazing straight five engine. So much smoother, quieter (and expensive sounding) than a then typical in-line four which didn't yet have the benefit of multivalve cylinder heads and balance shafts. The other thing i noticed back then was the surprising amount of GM parts used in the Audi interior That digital HVAC you mentioned was pure GM, from a Pontiac 6000 if I am not mistaken. The interior rearview mirror and power seat controls were also GM. And the GM pieces were noticeably "cheaper" looking than the other interior parts. The unintended acceleration fiasco was horribly mishandled by VAG. The real cause was the sub-optimal proximity of the accelerator and brake pedals in the Audi's footwell. Clueless American "consumers" thought they were hitting the brake except that it was the gas pedal. All Audi had to do was stage a test-lab demonstration of a 5000 with both brake and accelerators floored. With only 110 hp, there was no way for the car to accelerate with the brakes on. It took Audi decades to recover from that. At least John Davis by this point was calling Audi (ow-dee) instead of (aw-dee) like he did prior to 1984.

Fun fact the climate controls were supplied by GM and lifted from Cadillacs of that era.

I actually prefer the look of old sealed beam type lights. Much more than composites. Composite lights are just an expense that sucks to bother with when someone tags you in a parking lot.

Remember, the LH cars were front wheel drive with longitudinal mounted engines.

My grandma bought a new Audi 5000S 5cyl NA in 1981. Kept it until '99 when it kept nickel and diming her to death and lost compression in one of the cylinders. Sold it and bought a new '99 Buick Century that she owned until she passed in '07. She got a lot of reliable service out of that Audi, especially considering it was an early 80's German car...

Just saw a Retro Review on the 1988 Audi 90. You might want to see that one. Also, they said that the 1984 5000S was around $16,000.

I remember that era younger up and coming buyers wanted smaller cars but the price tags were high same or more than American luxury vehicles I thought it was weird 😮

From certain angles this Audi looks like the late 80s Hondas and Acuras...now we know where they got their design philosophy 😅

Revolutionary when it was introduced - like nothing else on the road - the Tuarus was still a a gleam in the Telnak's eye. Aerodynamically very advanced. The headlight screed should be directed at legislators - euro models had flush. I think you are selling it short. Our family had 3 (?) before finally trading up to the V8 (followed by an A6 4.2 before going off to one of the 'other' Germans) The interior was a marvel of understated functional (emphasis) elegance - though I never liked the seats or the too vertical steering wheel. First German car with AC that equaled GM (Germans sucked as AC then) Two of the cars were quattros with stick - one a 200 CS. Gripe - even with the turbo stick, you had to really work them to get a good 0-60 - they bogged. But great highway cruisers that would not totally wash out in the corners / though Audi never had BMW reflexes - the 5 series in various iterations was much more dynamic, and I've stuck with them through 3 generations. 60 minutes did a hit job - and sadly not their only one, and this was actually a bargain intro to German luxury when it first came out.As for the Oldsmobile comment - my God. I drove a friend's mid 80's Cierra Brougham (oh the crushed velour and plastic trees) - absolutely no comparison and if you were foolish enough to attempt some seriously spirited driving on a twisty road or hit an exit ramp too fast, god help you.

Jon, I'm glad you brought up the unintended acceleration and why I disagree with what I think was a bad rap. Either me or my service manager tried to pull all cars in and out of the 10 bay shop to keep them clean, being in central Florida the mechanics came to work sweating. I jump in an Audi to back it of the lift and guess what, it accelerated. I pulled my foot up and it stopped accelerating. Here is what I know happened in my case, the accelerator and brake pedal were about the same height, I had my foot on both and even though I was mashing the brake also I was pushing on the accelerator which was a big pedal and I thought this is a bad design. In my opinion this is what everyone was talking about, after all a cable driven accelerator isn't going to move itself and it wasn't a motor mount problem.

1988 Renault Medallion just dropped. Remember that one? You should check it out. I’ve always had a soft spot for those old Renaults. Would love to hear your comments on that one. Really enjoy your content. Keep it up!!!

My parents had an Audi 5000 in the 80s when I was a kid…

16:08 Pretty sure they had to OEM that automatic climate control from GM/Harrison division. It's almost the same one they used in Cadillacs of the same era.

I was around back in those days and those cars competed with Volvo's 240 and were a yuppie car. You were right when comparing them to the French Renault Alliance. I recalled seeing them regularly back in the day. They had a reputation for being expensive to repair, but I think that the spares could have been had for a fair price. They were decent cars for the middle class.

In the end no independent engineering or testing firm could replicate the sudden acceleration problem. It came down to a slightly narrower footwell than Americans are used to, and pedals closer together. People who said they were holding the brake down as hard as they could probably were. Unfortunately they were also pushing down on the accelerator at the same time, and the engine won. I have a similar issue with my Corolla. When pushing in the clutch my foot will sometimes hit the brakes. Or get caught behind the brake pedal when letting up on the clutch. My solution was to not wear boots while driving.

in germany, this car is called "Langzeitauto"! That means, the quality is very, very high. So high, that you can see this Audi 100/200 every day on the streets. In summer, in winter - every day. The same, I can say about the Audi 80/90 of these years. If you want to see a mercedes, or bmw from the early 80s, you have to visit a museum....in 1988, there was a facelift and the interieur becomes very luxury. (sorry, my english is bad) -greetings from good old germany🙂

Early in the video the mentioned a $16,000 price.

Please keep in mind that German cars were big on crash protection even back in those days. 2,900 pounds was comparable to a Volvo.

A couple hours after you released this, Motorweek released their review of the 1988 Audi 90. Maybe a possible comparison to the 5000's newer smaller sibling.

Jon, re the power direction change up front, I’ll draw your attention to the same part at the back of any modern truck...

To my eyes, other than the headlights, it's a dead ringer for the early model years of the first generation Acura Legend; say 86-89. Whats more the tail light treatment would also look right at home on a late 80's Honda. But that's just what I see.

You have t love the red LED display for the a/c control. Audi always went on about clean airflow on the bottom of the car - everyone thinks about that now

The front end looks like an early Camry or Cressida to me…

The fragile C-V joints were a problem on Audi's >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>$$$$$$ fix .

Please do the Volvo 240

The headlights scream to me of us reg retrofit.

I’d say they were not particularly less reliable than other Euro or domestic cars of the day. I liked working on them just fine, when they came into the independent shops where I worked. I grew to despise working on all the newer Audis and fancy VWs (allroad and Tourag I’m looking at you)

jon can you please eliminate the echo in the audio when motorweek is playing . thank you !

Audi started to become the appliance of luxury cars from this age onward. They where and still are the generic “luxury” car from this day on, the upgrade to the appliance Camry or Nissan.

The real question is, do any of these still run?

I would compare the Audi with the Saab SPG 900.

I beg to differ on the “generic sedan” comment. There was absolutely NOTHING like it on the automotive landscape. It set the sedan design landscape to which every other manufacturer followed. It instantly dated ALL domestic sedans in design, and Ford took notice, and responded asap with the VERY 5000-inspired Taurus/Sable. Even GM and Chrysler ultimately got with the program some time later, and their subsequent designs ultimately reflected the sea change in styling that this Audi alone brought to market. Sedans still today adhere to the 5000 basic tenets, principles and design philosophies. In these regards, the Audi 5000 changed the automotive and particularly SEDAN landscape: There were sedans produced before this Audi that always looked like bricks. And you had sedans after this Audi, and ultimately even the stodgiest of them (Cadillac and Lincoln) ultimately produced sedans that reflected this Audi 5000 sea change. The “generic sedan” comment makes sense in perspective NOW all these years later as the Audi was so copied and our eyes are NOW used to this design language, but in reality, make no mistake, it was like Audi took a space capsule-like sleek sedan concept and put it out on the sales floor in the way that no other manufacturer at the time had the audacity or vision to do. This was no generic sedan. Sorry to disagree.

That front end is horrible A lot of the criticism here in the UK was there was just an expensive rebadged Volkswagen Passat

SMALL TRUCKS :; yeah this has nothing to do with Audi.. probably will never see this…. Anyway. With Hyundai/ Kia bringing the Santa Cruz does that “ truck “ fit the small truck….. how does the CUV body type platform fit in the CAFE EPA guidelines for a “ truck “. Truck body on a car platform??

The problem with this car was the five cylinder engines(normally aspirated and turbocharged). I refuse to ever own any vehicle that has either a three cylinder engine or a five cylinder engine.