Here’s how the Audi 5000’s unintended acceleration debacle almost killed the brand in the U.S.
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- Опубліковано 18 лют 2022
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In this episode I provide the history of the Audi 5000, which started as the Audi 100 in Europe, and began imports to the United States in 1968. By 1977 it has been renamed the 5000 in the U.S., and by 1983, Audi was getting complaints from owners that the car would suddenly accelerate on its own, even when the customer claimed to be trying to brake. The CBS show 60 Minutes would later broadcast a segment about the problem, and were later accused of rigging a car to make it appear it could accelerate on its own. Sales plummeted as a result, forcing Audi to rename the car back to the 100 by 1989. The car managed to remain on sale in the U.S. until 1995, when it was renamed the A6, which is still in production today. - Авто та транспорт
Alternate ending to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. His dad's Audi accelerates unintentionally to 120mph and he beats Ferris home by a good 10 minutes :P
You win the thread
And the crashes through the living room lol
Whoa, I've been subscribed to you for years, fancy seeing you here
Of course the Audi would win - the Ferrari would break down before it got halfway home.
Or, instead of saving Ferris, he runs him over?😏
These "unintended acceleration" cases always remind me of George Costanza.
"It's not a lie, if you believe it"
You should believe in lies unless you happen to know better.
I remember seeing the 60 Minutes episode and just scratching my head. The transmission lever dropped into gear all by itself and it surged forward about 15 feet, screeching the tires in the process, then dropped back to idle. I was also an avid reader of Car and Driver and saw their response to that piece of crap journalism. If I remember correctly Brock Yates offered the only "plausible" explanation: demonic possession while offering a prize to anyone who could replicate it in a stock 5000. I also read their article after Audi was exonerated which blamed the driver for pressing the gas instead of the brake. To be fair they also showed how much closer Audi spaced their pedals in contrast to American and some imports. Sadly a lot of people bought the unintended acceleration hook, line and sinker. Worse was many people simply couldn't humble themselves to admit that they made a mistake.
60 minutes, surely would have had secured a nice advertising campaign from another car manufacturer while 'developing' this story. Audi clearly didn't understand that 60 minutes and it's ilk is a shakedown, they could have paid to crush the story, but didn't yet understand the US media
Brock was a smart dude. I remember seeing the reort in Time or News Week. Stupid people are a danger to themselves and others.
Didn't they do the same with the Suzuki Jimny, lowering the front tire pressure so it would roll on command?
I'm sure, someone of the Big Three had paid them to do so.
@@Paul_VanGo
NBC did the exact same thing too GM in 1992 and they got sued too the tune of a cool five billion dollars for defamation and slander.
@@legalisquestae Thats the American Way. It’s why we can’t progress past stupid. It’s somehow a flaw to admit you made a mistake. Even in the criminal justice system, you have cases where DNA evidence exonerates someone and the prosecutor: “I don’t care what DNA says, I’m sure we got the right guy!” AKA “Tell me you’re an idiot without telling me you’re an idiot.”
My old man saw the episode. Audi was basically giving them away shortly thereafter, and bought one. Had over 150k miles on it when he sold it. No issues with the acceleration.. it was a fine car..
Your father was smart. That would have been a great time to purchase an Audi 5000, maybe even a few of them. My dad had a 1982 5000 Turbo which was a great car. His ownership experience was superb. When this 60 Minutes bull$h*t came out we had a feeling it was sensationalized nonsense. The only good thing it succeeded in doing was making a great automobile less expensive to purchase.
Strange how un intended acceleration wasn’t an issue in the European markets for the Audi 100
Manual transmissions made the difference
yes because Europeans know how to drive lmao
@@Infinitrium yes manual transmission did make a difference but in European markets the Audi 100 was top of the range executive car and many were fitted with the auto box
Far fewer lawyers in Europe
Where do europeans learn to drive and where do americans? In Europe you have to pay thousands of bucks to a real driving school where trained "professionals" educate and train you, in america you get your training from your parents that learned their shitty driving from their parents who couldn't properly/safely drive in the first place...
Huge hit job. My cousin and parents had many Audi's. Learned to drive in one actually. Nothing wrong with them. 60 Minutes was never held accountable and that is unforgiveable.
I believe that they thought that they were hitting the brake, because that's exactly the definition of "pedal confusion".
Pedal confusion is when the driver thinks that they're pressing the brake, when they are actually pressing the gas. They are so convinced that they are pressing the brake, that when they can't stop the car, they press it even harder.
This still happens today, usually by elderly or very new drivers. There's videos of it all over youtube.
I was at the window at taco bell, suddenly i was blasted past the window!. Old lady behind me has some pedal confusion going on!.
That happened to an older fella at the dentist office two doors down from me.
When I was a kid, my mates and I thought that the 5000 has to be the ultimate Audi. In Germany we had the 80/90, the 100/200 all looking quite similar, but higher number needs to mean more power, obviously. Having some US army bases nearby, many civil US vehicles were quite often seen on the streets and apart from classic US cars, whenever an Audi 5000 popped up somewhere, we were in awe, thinking just based on that number, this has to be the uber-Audi and king of all Audis! Little did we know at this age the 5000 was just a rebranding, lol.
I still remember when the 3rd-gen 100/5000 debuted how much the car rags were raving about its aerodynamics, especially in regard to how little wind noise there was at freeway speeds. This was a pretty big deal in the early '80s.
They look the same because they ARE the same
Yup. Facts. Dumb kids we all were. The higher numbers meant it was the king dingaling. Not to mention cars with four mufflers, either!
My sister had a 5000, and it was an excellent car. At 200K she had to have the steering rack replaced along with the struts, but that's it---it still ran like a watch. No car company can compensate for driver error, and that's exactly what this whole fiasco was about
This 60 minutes report is a great example, along with the Consumer Reports smear job on the Suzuki Samurai and the Jeep CJ are part of the reason I am pretty skeptical of the national media. When they are more concerned about ratings than they are about truth this is what happens.
to be fair, it IS currently known rather well that during the seventies and eighties, the US Automobile media and testing were extremely biased. These issues never came to light in europe, so either it was the driving style of americans or just a lie to try and limit the popularity (like with the suzuki samurai) in favor of american brands
Don't forget the NBC exploding Chevy truck gas tank scandal
News media making stuff up? No way.
Straight out of Goebbels' playbook. Repeat a lie often enough, the people will believe the lie.
People talk about the mainstream media being untrustworthy and biased today, but the more things change, the more things stay the same.
@@Infinitrium I remember it well. NBC attached model rocket engines to the fuel tanks. NBC ended up paying GM settlement money…
I had both the 4000 and 5000 models back to back and never had a problem. The only thing I noticed was on the standard models the driver foot well was very small for having 3 pedals sometimes causing me to also push the clutch while breaking.
My 84 4000 quattro could be started while the car was in 1st and most likely Reverse. It seemed like it started quicker when it was in gear. That changed in 85.
It was only in automatic cars
it´s also a way of breaking with more safety, the models in Europe were diferent named,when audi started to be diferent from VW models i started to like them more allthough i had an old passat/70 vw or audi
@@MrDrifterdevin Hello :)
I work in the German automotive industry and have studied automotive business where this has been discussed. The key takeaway is: Even though some (!) American consumers are extremely stupid and feel entitled but then insist that they are not, NEVER blame them. This is unthinkable within European culture (“if you’re too stupid to drive, then don’t” attitude) but being a smart-ass about it didn’t help.
Toyota / Lexus learned and when confronted by the same problem decades later and despite them also being released from ANY wrongdoing or anything being wrong with their cars, they instead apologized publicly and compensated customers - leading to an increase in sales.
Well, Bear in mind We have more lax driving standards. After working at a go-kart track, I'm amazed on how too easy it is for some people to get drivers licenses.
Dateline did the same thing with gm pickups with the side mounted gas tanks. They literally made the whole thing up. And the media wonders why nobody trusts them...
They just needed to remove the accelerator pedal and just have one giant brake pedal, people would have loved it.
As someone that refuses to own a vehicle with less than 3 pedals. I find this abhorrent but also funny
They needed to replace the throttle linkage with a throttle cable. Linkage feels better, but a cable is safer. A broken engine mount will not cause the throttle to be opened by engine movement with a cable, but it WILL with conventional linkage.
I'm old enough to remember when this hit the news. Not only did people change their opinion of Audi, I remember many (mostly older) drivers swearing off electronic fuel injection, since most cars on American roads in the mid-80's were still carbureted. When the Toyota sudden acceleration reports hit the news, I recalled this incident and realized I'd never heard that there were any solid conclusions as to what was happening. As I recall, the Toyota one was attributed to a combination of faulty accelerator assemblies that could stick, along with floor mats that would bunch up under the brake but over the accelerator, so it would press the gas down while you braked. Sure, the brakes are stronger, but I think many people panicked and took their foot off the brake and then crashed. In driving over 40 years and more then 1 million miles, I've had exactly one incident of unintended acceleration, which was definitely from the throttle sticking open. Never happened again in that car (a 1987 "Chevy" Sprint) or any other car I've had.
But the Audi 5000 had mechanical fuel injection, with a balanced mechanical mass airflow sensor connected to a mechanical fuel distributor that fed 5 high pressure fuel lines.
Happened to me exactly once as well, in a Honda CRV. Gummed up butterfly stuck. I calmly put it in neutral, turned off the key to avoid red-lining it, and gently coasted to a stop. Was a nothing-burger for me, not even a good story to tell.
I do however maintain that teaching multiple generations of people to drive with one foot caused this whole problem. Jamming on the gas is the exact same muscle memory as jamming on the brake. This is why people swear they were braking even when faced with evidence that braking will always stop the car regardless of throttle position. If they were taught to left foot brake, this would never happen.
Poor Sprint. I love those cars. Im glad you're ok.
In 1996 my family had two beige 1984 5000s: a manual sedan (my first car) and my dad’s automatic wagon. Passersby thought we were weird. Unintended acceleration was the only problem those cars DIDN’T have.
Thank you for this. I think how a certain electric vehicle manufacturer based in TX has done truly far worse, yet does not get vilified like Audi did. Please consider an episode on the Audi Fox/4000/80/90/A4.
I had a BMW 325i in my 20s. Great car that developed an oil leak. I had to add a quart of oil a couple time a week until I got it fixed. One time I neglected to put the cap back on the oil fill. It ended up under the throttle cable. I was driving down a state highway with a 65 speed limit and a stop sign at the end of the road. I hit the brake and…. Kept going. I stood on the brake and got it slowed just enough to make the turn. Thankfully nobody was coming! Once I completed the turn onto the next highway I turned the car off and coasted to a stop. No doubt the brakes could overcome the engine if tested. But in that real world scenario the brakes were losing. That experience has made me wonder if possibly there was something else going on with the Audi. At the time I certainly sided with Audi and thought the drivers were just stupid.
Doesn’t change the fact I’d love to get one of those old turbo 5000s.
My first A4 B6, the foot rest became dislodged and stuck behind the clutch, fun memories... Thankfully I could just shift in neutral and stop... Can't fault the car, as I found out, sometime during the previous ownership, someone had neglected to refit the screw that held it in place...
What was wrong with the Audi was weak engine mounts, conventional throttle linkage, instead of a safer throttle CABLE, ridiculously fast cold idle speed, all of which resulted in cars with a broken engine mount having the throttle opened up if you put it in gear with the engine still cold and racing. Europe did not have those harsh emissions targets, and most of them had a manual transmission on top of that. Most of our 5000s had an automatic.
Worked for a 10 minute oil change from1988-90 and went pull one out of the bay as we were very busy. I jumped in, started it up and went to pull it out, pushing on what I thought was the brake pedal and the engine revved up, fortunately I hadn't put in gear yet. What I found out was the pedals were slightly left of what I was used to, I had to move my right foot further to the left just to push the brake pedal. In other words the accelerator was where I thought the brake pedal was.
When I was a kid in the 80s my mom had a 1987 Audi 5000 . It never had the acceleration problem.. however it did have other issues… power antenna did not go up, some of the windows would not work, sometimes some of the climate control lights would not work!! My mom actually liked the car , even though it had to be taken to the dealership often.. In 1992 my parents traded the 5000 for an Acura Legend, which turned out to be an excellent car with no problems .. of course Acura is just a fancy Honda and in the 90s it was a great time for Honda/ Acura…. Thanks for this review… made me think back to my childhood!
I traded my 78 Audi 5000 on a new 1981 Honda Accord and never looked back. That Accord had much more mature engineering than the Audi ever did. It was a troublesome car from the start.
My brother had an Audi 5000, albeit with a manual transmission. He never had this bogus "unintentional acceleration" issue. Nowadays, we've seen people's car jump curbs and crash into stores and restaurants and it's NEVER been the fault of the car, always the driver hitting the wrong pedal.
I remember seeing the 4000 and 5000 driving around in the 80’s. Great cars that you rarely see today. Excellent episode
freind of mine has a 86 4000 s installed the 20 valve 5 cly in it,, wonderfull car
I have an '94 Audi S4 as my daily driver. Truly an amazing car. The original parts last 25 years..
Ironic because if there was one thing 80's cars were bad at it was accelerating.
Lol, ain't that the truth!
I certainly remember all of this. The Audi 5000 was one of my favorite cars. Love the look of it. And few cars on the road could match it's technology. I do remember plenty of reviewers complaining that the pedals were too small and too close together. I guess when you have Americans used to giant pedals in American cars some of them couldn't make the transition. The whole thing was absurd. Of course Audis of the time also had plenty of other issues. Much like they do today. Overengineered and not terribly logically constructed
Why do so many foreign cars have such tiny close together pedals anyway?
@@michaelbenardo5695 so people who know what they are doing can drive better, heel and toe, they don't assume people are driving them with work boots
@@kevinbarry71 People who work often DO have to drive with work boots.
@@michaelbenardo5695 obviously. But every design is a compromise. Or the opposite way like American cars at that time had the brake and gas pedals and separate counties
@@kevinbarry71 I still like widely spaced pedals. I still have a 54 New Yorker and a 73 GMC, and I love them and don't like computerized cars.
I own 3 Audi's, the oldest being a 2001. All of them have a safety built into the ecu that if the brake and accelerator are both preesed at the same time, it almost instantly cuts throttle. Not sure how long it has been a thing but I can only assume it is a direct result of the 5000's issues.
It’s all obd2
Back when I used to autocross. a friend of mine let me take some fun runs in her S4. I usually brake with my left foot in autocross and tried to do so with the S4 while still applying throttle. Did. Not. Work. I could get away with it in my Miata since that still had a cable-operated throttle, but not in an S4. IIRC, it was either a 2000 or 2001 model.
@@DinsdalePiranha67 you can tune it out with the right software...
The electronic throttle cars (~1997 and up, starting with the b5 s4 2.7 and then later on all cars) have this - there are a ton of safety checks in the ECU pertaining to delivering the torque the driver requests with the go pedal, or lack thereof with the stop pedal, furthermore there are safety checks for things like if the throttle blade seizes, if air somehow bypasses the throttle, etc. It is a very robust system and you'll see any modern DBW management do the same thing. My ECU from a ford fusion has a dedicated microcontroller on the board which will read the accelerator pedal and throttle angle and cut the injectors off regardless of what the main processor wants to do. And yes you can tune this out for left foot braking/brake boosting but I like to leave mine enabled and have a dedicated rolling launch control button for that purpose.
The cable throttle cars do not have any thing like that, if the throttle is open then that is that, that said, there is no way these cars could accelerate in any meaningful way on their own, especially in a way that you can't easily stop with the brakes. Old (stock) audis of this era are big slow boats that can't just take off and kill you. At low speed with cold and unfaded brakes any car can be easily stopped even at full power.
Any way, unintended acceleration has always been an American problem, why I don't know but that's just how it's been.
@@azxuts783 I had a 1974 Mustang II back in the day. My throttle did get stuck wide open at about 40 mph. I was an inexperienced teenaged driver but I was able to slow the car down enough to keep control, then after panic faded I realized I could turn off the ignition! Scared the hell out of 17 year old me that for sure!
My very first car was an 84 5000S, and I never experienced the acceleration issue. Such a shame that this great car was mired by the controversy.
It immediately achieved fame for being the most aerodynamic car in the U.S. - a .33 drag coefficient. Motor Trend quipped that people would look at it and say, "What an aerodynamic car," even if they couldn't tell a drag coefficient from Boy George! 😄
NO one could imagine a car with less wind resistance. My 2000 Golf had a 0.31 drag coefficient. Incredible. . .
@@stevenmaginnis1965 Audi 100 C3 was the car that started it all.
I wasnt old enough to remember this when it came out, but I've thankfully been an owner of older Audi's for over 20 years now. I always chuckle when this comes up and feel horrid what Audi had to go through. Disappointing that the media caused an uproar when nothing was wrong. I wouldnt hesitate owning a fwd automatic 5k, but it wouldnt be as fun as some other options. Nice video!
Crazy Audi driver is called Lord Of The Rings.
yea, the rings around their bathtub
At that time I studied car engineering and I did an internship at an Audi dealership, that model is so well put together, and so special that we in Europe do not suffer and there are also plenty of bad drivers in certain countries
Europe also didn't have the harsh emissions targets that we did either.
@@jamesbosworth4191 yepp
This is still one of my favorite cars from the 80s. And it's the one that made me start liking the Audi brand. Great review! Keep em coming.
My very first car when I turned 16 in 1990..My grandfather gave me his. Thanks for sharing this video.
I had a 1985 5000S. One day i floored the accelerator to pass and it stuck wide open. I shut the car off and safely came to a stop. I opened the hood and saw that the wire loop oil dipstick handle had caught on the throttle - clearly a design problem. I put HVAC foil tape on it and that solved the issue. I noticed that my 1990 Audi with the same engine had a completely re-designed dip stick.
I had just got my license when this all began, one of my high school teachers had a late 70s 5000. I loved the way it looked. Another teacher got a new Volvo 244 DL, I also liked that car. Our school activities director got a new Citation. No comment.
Fake news back then...
"I'm shocked!"
-Fry
This is very similar to the Suzuki Samurai debacle where consumer reports did everything they could to show the little vehicle rolling up on two wheels. If you've ever stood next to a Samurai, or ridden in one, you know that all the heavy stuff is in the bottom of it - the roof was sheet metal, or more often, cloth.
Yep.
I also feel the same way with the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire debacle. I'm sure that those Firestone Tires were possibly defective but the rollover incidents were only a small percentage especially when Ford manufactured millions of 1st and 2nd generation Explorers and an overwhelming majority of them never lost control or tipped over. Also like the Suzuki Samurai, the 1st generation Explorers were truck based SUV's and vehicles with a high center of gravity like that are not meant to be driven like sports cars.
Those 100s looked so cool that I want one right now.
Hooray! A new episode of my old car! Easily my favorite channel. I can watch and rewatch the episodes and learn something new every time. I have had a connection to every episode. This one is now different. I drove a ‘88 4000 and I own a 2015 S4T now. I love this channel!!
My brother had two Audi 5000's when this went down. He never had unintended acceleration problems however both cars had to have their transmissions replaced with each car having less than 50,000 miles on them which seems to not changed as most people I know that own Audi's have transmission problems. The cars I had trouble with when it comes to unintended acceleration were Chrysler mini-vans in the early 90's when I worked for a car rental company. We would be driving down the freeway from one office to another with the cruise control on and suddenly the van would start accelerating.
I have been a mechanic both professionally and as a hobby on my own cars. I for the most part know how the brake system works and I have never ever seen a car where the brakes could not overtake the engine. Even my old Datsun truck with 4 wheel drum brakes and no brake booster could overtake the engine. I do seen to remember a video clip where a journalist experienced that unintended acceleration and they got it on film. The man swore he stumped on the brakes and the car would not stop. However on video the brake lights were not illuminated. I am not a fan of Audi, I have never owned one but I would tell you that I really believe is was all BS. I think if anything it was the pedal arrangement being in a different position than what people were used to. My boss in the late 80's had a 5000 and I sat in it and nothing seemed odd about the pedals personally.
I have a 1989 100, I need to get it back on the road again, but I want to give a genuine thank you for this video, I've never seen another youtuber make a video directly and fully about this car. It genuinely warmed my heart to see it! Thank you again!
"Deadly" automotive design flaws were kind of a popular thing back then in journalism. The only one I ever believed to be anything close to legitimate was the Bronco II rollover issue. Just look at the Dateline fiasco with the Chevy C10 side saddle gas tanks. They literally rigged the vehicle to explode. On the topic of unintended acceleration, I don't believe any of the cases were ever a defect with the car, especially in the cases of it happening while driving at speed. How does it never occur to the driver to put the vehicle in neutral, or shut the ignition off? I recall seeing a report about a kid with a Hyundai that was going 120mph, and he was on the phone with a 911 operator claiming that the brake pedal didn't work, the shifter didn't work, and that the ignition couldn't be turned. Yet the car was inspected afterwards and was found to have no problems. Moral of the story, making a mistake or being a moron is not an automotive design flaw.
Audi went from unintended acceleration problems in the 80s, to unintended depreciation problems today.
Audis fall apart the second you drive them off the lot
I had a similar situation with my 2006 Ford Focus. Coming to a stop, engine speed would come down to around 1000 rpm... then redline. Every time, the brakes stopped the car. Ford never found the problem, and I settled my lemon suit out of court.
it's not rocket surgery, mate. For your own education, it would have been beneficial to find out what was really happening with it.
Sticky gas pedal cable sheath? Faulty return spring for the gas pedal cable? Could have been an educational experience
LOL! I was wondering if you were gonna show the clip of Eliot’s mom driving her 5000! That’s great! As an owner of an Audi Allroad you nailed this video.
My father had a 100ls coupe, I think that's what it was called. The engine and transmission fell into the road during a road trip to death valley! Still, good memories of that old Audi! Great presentation, as usual.🌋
I had a friend who used to work as a Jeep mechanic. Whenever customers complained about nonexistent problems, they would tell the customer it was an ID10t error (idiot error). I thought this was hilarious!
There were very nice cars when they were new. It was probably a great time to get a deal on one after the 60 Minutes story. I don't think the Audi was the only car they've rigged. If Audi engineers could not duplicate the issue, it seems unlikely 60 Minutes could have managed to do it. I am glad Audi survived and the brand is still viable in the US today.
I know Dateline rigged a Chevy C-series pickup so it would explode in a side impact to demonstrate how unsafe it was to have the fuel tanks mounted outside the frame rails.
@@DinsdalePiranha67 That was a huge story at the time. GM scoured junkyards in a wide area, finally found it, and nailed NBC. I believe a fireman at the scene helped GM too. Dateline had to read a long statement on air.
@@DinsdalePiranha67 I remember that scandal. That's why I have always been skeptical of the late-model Malibu vs the 59 Bel Air. I know GM's X member frame with no side rails was a bad design - Mercedes used a similar one at the time - but still, you could see the exhaust pipe remaining in place while the front end was caving in. That told me that the 59 had no engine.
In drive by wire systems / with electronic throttle bodies -=- the gas pedal is basically an electronic resistance device, or a potentiometer. So, unintended acceleration can and does happen with those setups. It happened to myself in my Jaguar, at a stop light foot on the brake - car acted like it was being floored so I threw it into park. Did it one more time, replaced the gas pedal assembly and no more problems.
Love the Ferris Bueller clips. When I first started watching the video that was the first thing I thought of and I was glad to see it made it into your video!
Both my parents and a friend of mine were able to get smoking deals on 3-year-old Audis in 1988. The ironic thing is they both bought ones equipped with manuals which were not affected by the acceleration incident but took a nosedive in price too. I remember the cars had a GM Harrison air conditioner unit in them, and I'm pretty sure that the climate control switch was the same one out of a Cadillac as well.
I recall a negative story going around involving the Audi 5000. There sure were a lot of them being driven around at the time. My parents were shopping for a sedan in 1986, but the winner turned out to be the Ford Taurus, which looked very much like the Audi 5000. At times, they would be the 2 vehicles mixed up. Still, in Germany, , which my father had been stationed in 1986, Audi 5000's were big. I sure don't see many on the interstates today.
Hmmm…maybe because I’m a car enthusiast and can distinguish nuances in design, but the Ford Taurus never looked anything like the Audi of its day, other than having four doors, four wheels, and a steering wheel. But style-wise? Never.
@@clothestravel This person hardly even knew of the automaker Audi. The German automakers they knew were Mercedes, BMW, and Volkswagen. They only saw the Audi 5000 while traveling on the road.
The clip from 60 Minutes also showed the driver pressing on the brake with a closeup on the gas pedal moving in and out.
Love your channel!!! The best content!!!
I've had dozens of cars, but my three Audis have all been fantastic. A quattro, an A8 & an S8. Super machines.
Excellent episode. Thank you.
I bought a 2008 Audi in 2010 when their popularity was on a big upswing. It was one of my favorite cars I’ve had, and I remember the attention devoted to safety in every square inch of it. In fact the only other cars I’ve felt as safe in were my E320 and Passat. Audi should’ve been allowed to put 60 Minutes out of business.
Hi can we get a video on the BMW 528e from the early to mid eighties? Thanks! Great channel. I thoroughly enjoy your informative, well researched videos. Great editing as well.
HI ! Another great video ! The Audi 5000 was featured in "ET", and also in "Magnum P.I." with "Robin 2" plates, along with the "Robin 1" Ferrari 308 GTSI
Great video! My buddy was into Audis but all he could afford was early 80s 5000s…lol. I’m gonna call it a near death experience for me.
I had a VW Karmann Ghia that unintentionally began accelerating when I was already doing 60. It got to about 80 before I simply put it in neutral, then turned the car off, turned the key to on (so I could steer) and pulled off to the side. I found that the accelerator pedal had been caught under the floor mat. I took the mat out and drove home.
I remember that problem well. A mechanic had one in the shop that crashed because of unintended acceleration. He experienced it himself in that car, and he concluded that it was being caused by a broken motor mount on the driver's side that would allow the engine to move upward enough when the car was put in gear without warming it up that the throttle would be opened, as it had throttle linkage, not a throttle cable.
I really don’t know much about Audi and couldn’t have named any sedans that don’t start with A or S. Interesting situation with the 5000. Looks like an otherwise incredible car. I didn’t know it existed on its own before Volkswagen.
Wow I’m so happy to see this. My friend was given this car back in like 2005 and his family though it was just a big old car. I thought the radio in the backseats was awesome
My aunt had one back in like 1987 she was the first in the family with a import car. I loved it, was red with gray leather interior with the holes in the square headrest
When that woman said she was sure she had her foot on the brake, she smiled. Start watching at 6:13. Wow.
These were awesome cars. Despite the best efforts of many investigators they could never recreate the issue. All because a few drivers didn’t move their foot to the brake pedal and swearing their foot was on the brake. Then 60 minutes couldn’t recreate it and had to rig the car to get it to do it on camera.
Thanks for featuring 5000 !
It was my first car in the US. I enjoy the quality & safety of it.
I rode in one once, and like most foreign cars at the time, it was small, noisy, and rough-riding.
Loved this, my dad had one of these but never had the unintended acceleration problem he then later sold it and got a Suzuki, maybe a new episode on them?
Ahh..another great video....reminding me that Ferris and Audi were truly all time greats....
Great video (as always)!!!!
If I'm not mistaken. The Audi 5000 was branded as the Audi 500 here locally in South Africa.
I don't know why the changed numerical names for different markets. though, the original Audi 80 was called the Fox in the U.S., probably because "Audi eighty" doesn't sound right in English. "Audi eighty" . . .. Try saying THAT ten times fast! 😆
I am old enough to remember the Audi problem. I was shocked they continued to sell cars in the USA. I thought they would go the way of the Peugeot and Renault.
Reportedly, there are no reported instances of unintended acceleration on manual-shift vehicles. I suspect manual drivers tend towards being more aware, and would just push in the clutch pedal if the accelerator locked on. When I did have this happen on ford ranger, I put my foot beneath the accelerator and pulled back. The truck slowed down.
As a kid growing up in the 80's, I remember people saying I'm Audi 5000 meaning they were leaving quickly. Never fully understood where it came from until now 😄 thanks.
Sad part is, that mom intentionally killed her child and was never prosecuted for it. She smiled when they asked her if it was her mistake. Sad.
Yeah, WEIRD shit, mk ultra maybe. A priest was involved too!
Intentionally? It was an accident.
Ps. On top of her tragic loss, she later got sued and lost. Perjury too
@@joesmith9216 Yeah, the priest looked snakey as hell
My folks had an '84 5000S that my dad picked up used for a great deal, probably not long after the "scandal". GREAT car, I drove it some in high school until I got my first car. I still love Audis to this day, currently drive a Q5.
Excellent review of the 5000. A suggestion for a review is the Toyota Cressida. It has a an interesting & maybe a little known story (history) in the US.
i suddenly remembered the scandal of Mitsubishi with their Montero's Sudden Unintended Acceleration here in the Philippines. despite the major media coverage and thousands of recalls, it didn't stop new buyers from buying that specific generation of Montero until its redesign.
The video brings something else to mind: you ought to do a video on the Suzuki Samurai -famous for rolling over.
Love your channel. Future episode suggestion. Oldsmobile Aurora.
We have terrible driving license standards and i can't drive so let's blame manufacturer for my rubbish driving skills.
Seems like American automakers wanted to push out competition just like what happened to Suzuki in the 80s.
Actually 60 minutes also did a scandal on American chevy pickups with "exploding gas tanks" around the same time
If that many people were getting the accelerator confused with the brakes, it was totally Audi's fault. For automatics, the gas pedal should be further back and brake pedal should be larger and more forward. And it's insane that the transmission could be shifted out of park without the brake being applied.
Being able to shift out of park without pressing the brake was the norm until the 90s. Chrysler didn't implement the safety measure until 2004 I think and that was after the government made them
@@kylefowler5082 didn't know that. Was that true for column shift automatics too or just floor shift?
@@manthony225 it was true for both styles, I had a 99 dodge ram 1500 with a column shift that did not require pressing the brake to shift out of park
I have an 06 Lotus Exige that will start in gear with the clutch engaged. (Yes, it left the factory that way). There are only two airbags, and no crash absorbing bumpers, only very thin, expensive fiberglass. Any collision above walking speed means replacing the front or rear one-piece fiberglass clams, either which will run at least $8K installed and painted.
Lotus assumed its customers are competent drivers, not idiots. If you are an idiot, or you drive it around idiots, that's your problem. I'm fine with that. Nonetheless, I am glad it has a rare optional factory roll cage, as being extremely lightweight, they will disintegrate in crashes.
It's also the best, most insanely fun car I've ever owned, and can't imagine being without it.
@@manthony225 It was true for all. I didn't know that they now required that it be impossible to shift out of Park unless you have your foot on the brakes.
I vaguely remember reading that ford rangers had some issues with unintended acceleration. I found found it odd that when I came to a stop that my engine rpm stayed pretty high for a bit and thought it may have been due to the fact that I just disconnected (and reconnected) the battery to fix something that required having no batt. Power supplied. I later realized that it could've been me pressing both the gas, the brake AND the clutch in at the same time by accident.
Great episode! I had never heard of this before. My Dad leased a Audi A4 some years ago, he wanted to purchase it but it was just too much money to justify spending. I've always like Audi's but have always been distrustful of European cars, in terms of cost of ownership.
I've owned plenty of Audis and VWs and never found them any more expensive to own than non-European brands. You just have to maintain them well. In fact, the most unreliable and costly car I've owned was a Mazda.
@@cjmhall I've heard so many mixed story's on VW's, either there good or really bad. I've been considering a Jetta to replace my 08 CIvic. I'm very scrupulous about maintaining my cars but a lot of people are not. European cars you can't beat on like Japanese's cars.
I entertained the idea of a used Volvo once but not having any experience with European cars I passed and at the time I thought I was going to be moving to Michigan, so insurance rates were a concern.
I had 2 Buicks and a GMC Truck that were total money pits, No more GM's for me after that. I had a 04 Camry that I hated, Funny enough one of my better cars was actually a 08 Kia Rio lol.
@@kingkatradio keep the civic. Why did you hate the toyota?
Only fools drive German cars 😂
They're definitely expensive to upkeep but got-damn do they drive well and look good. My 2012 A6 still looks ultra-modern inside and out, the only thing dating it is the lack of Carplay/Android Auto (but 2015+ models got those).
Nice clips!
About European car in the US. A much unknown European car sold in the US is DAF
from the Netherlands. Originally a truck company, they build cars from the 50`s
until the 70`s. The truck company still exist today, and since 1996 part of Paccar (know of Kenworth
and Peterbilt)
I grew up with Audi 5000S's in the 80s... such a great car... if a bit under powered and I remember when my parents car came back from the recall with that label for the brake park lock sticker... those were the days. I would love to find a low mileage example car to own today but they are few and far between...
I purchased a used Audi Super 90 model in the late1970's
It was very rare to see one here in the US, very few where imported.
I saw Audi 5000 and unintended acceleration and I clicked on the link.
My mom had I think a 1985 (back then in 1985) Audi 5000 (maybe a 5000S) in a sky blue paint job. Her car has the double headlights. Anyway, I remember news and my parents and everyone around me talking about the unintentional acceleration issue. I am happy to report her car never had the issue and I am sure my parents took it in for recall after recall. However the car did have other issues.
People who drove those allegedly defective AUDIs in 1986 are well into their 70's in 2022, if they are even still alive. Most drivers today probably don't even know about the unintended acceleration SCAM. People just don't know how to drive or were looking for a quick buck. Sheesh, seems like nothing has changed, even today. In that 60 Minutes clip, the one guy was dressed as a priest and was swearing the car was unsafe. I saw right through his shenanigans!
Was he supposed to be her husband? A married Priest?! Not Catholic i guess.
I'm pretty sure 99% of the cases were people that woke up after a few weeks and realized they purchased a fu@%ing Audi. Hitting the gas and ramming it into the nearest light pole was probably the cheapest option.
Lol
Left foot on brake, right foot on accelerator coupled with panic, and drivers who have been driving like this for many years (due to either laziness and/ or poor training), if not since day 1, would explain a lot.
That woman may be being honest stating "I was pressing brake gently" but what was her other foot doing?
Wow. You hit it on the nail there. ... a defect that the car didn't even have.
You heard 'em. Those drivers were adamant their foot was on the brake so we can completely discount driver error.
Consumer reports also got caught rigging a rollover test on the suzuki samurai . They eventually settled with suzuki .
My first car was my parents old ‘83 Audi 5000. The only time I did anything odd was on cruise control. Once I crested a hill and the cruise just kept mashing the throttle as I headed back downhill. I had to hit the brakes slightly to disengage it. Only had 90 hp or so, so it wasn’t like going to warp speed…. I quit using cruise after that.
Indeed, my Audi did have this problem. It even accelerated unintentionally while on cruise control. It still was a wonderful car.
Dude youre 2nd in the comments to have it and i said to the other guy IT WAS THE CRUISE CONTROL!!! he said he saw the pedal go straight to the floor. We all remember cruise control before electronic throttles, the pedal would move! Somthing was causing the cruise control to go wide open trottle!!!! We solved it! Internet commentors smaeter than german engineers!! 🤣🤣🤣🍺
@@Henry_Jones I remember when the pedal would move. Indeed it would go full throttle while on Cruise-matic.
I did accelerate while I was parking it in the driveway. I hit the garage door
@@maximilianacosta2625 bam we solved it! Do you live in a cold climate where rhey salt the roads? I bet its some electrical prob caused by corrosion that caused the cruise control to go wonky.
@@Henry_Jones I live in a sunny climate. No snow
We don't trust 60 Minutes anymore, not after they came clean about faking how easy it was to flip an AMC Jeep CJ5 and a Suzuki Samurai.
Hey can you do the International Scout.... or International autos????
Back in 1991, my best friend, Phil, taught me how to drive in his Audi 5000 and let me take my driving test in that same car. Thanks, Phil, for letting me learn to drive in that death trap.
“Best friend Phil”…Phil had his eye on your girl and wanted to off you.
If you watched the video all the way you wouldn't call it a death trap
9:05 That 200 20V is a sweet looking car.😎