[urq] The revolt is revolting?

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

This thread might find a target, but I suggest it may bring more apathy  from 
Ag, not less.  There are thousands of aftermarket parts available  for Audis, 
very few of which Audi 'owns' the rights to.  Further, I have  2.5urq's 
myself, routinely work on probably a dozen in the midwest, and find any  mumbling 
at Audis lack of support to be silly.  Very few on this list would  ever *pay* 
what Audi would need to charge to support a few hundred cars (at  most).  The 
aftermarket is driven by volume too, so you won't  find much support there 
either, it's not a patent issue - it's just plain  economics.  Demand for these 
parts is high enough, the parts will be  made.  Expect the other side of that 
Econ 101 equation to hit you too, the  price will reflect the demand vs 
quantity.  
 
Mercedes will support just about any machine of any year made.   Different 
buyer, the type that buys a Mercedes part for his 1971 isn't asking  how much.  
I just don't see that on this list, nor is the current market  price of our 
machines really worthy (IMO).
 
Andrew, you threw a lot of gas on the fire.  I spoke to the gent who  put up 
the urq25 website within an hour of it hitting the i-net, because of  *my* 
concern about the use of "quattro" on/in any website.  The chain  of events is 
longer than you summarized, and your letter doesn't jive with the  version I 
understand.   But the bottom line is that Audi doesn't  give that trademark 
freely, never has, never will.  And several vendors and  members of this very forum 
(including Dan too, on the name change of this very  forum) are well aware 
that trademarks in the automotive arena are guarded with  extreme prejudice.  
It's not just Audi, it's every single manufacturer,  from Audi to Volvo.  And 
there are attorneys that freelance, trolling the  internet for any and all 
infringements.  And the laws support them fully,  there are no innocents, it's only 
money.  To have a urq event canned  because someone violated the use of a 
well established trademark,  sounds absurd.  I argue if anyone here can't get the 
urq or urq25  reference, no need to go to the event?
 
I see a lot of Audi bashing on this forum over the parts issue.  I  just 
don't get it.  I like my urq's, and the challenges in making them what  I want, 
include the business moves Audi makes to raise the creativity.   It's a grand 
touring coupe that I appreciate greatly for what it is, how it  drives, and I 
don't pass another on the road every day.  Is  it easy to find parts for?  Nope. 
 Can I make every single urq I  work on run without sweating what Audi 
chooses to do in parts  support?  Yes sir.  
 
When I take my urq's out to Steamboat, or carve up some twisties with the  
center diff locked, or cruise effortlessly on route 80 for 16hours straight, I  
think about sending a letter to Audi too.  Thanks for making it difficult  for 
anyone else to own?
 
My .02
 
Scott J
83 urq
84 urq
.5 83 urq Steamboat beast
 
In a message dated 5/15/2008 4:46:53 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
dgraber460 at aol.com writes:

Isn't  there an issue that Audi won't release patent rights so no 
aftermarket?can be  made to fill the void??I have no idea if this is true but somewhere 
along the  line I had heard this. Not making parts is a somewhat justifiable 
business  decision, and when do you stop supporting old design etc. etc. 
Preventing  anyone else from doing so is an especially egregious offense to me.
It's  the old adage - "Fish, Cut Bait, or at the very least Get The Hell Out 
Of The  Way!!"

Dennis Graber
Quality Linings & Painting
Denver,  CO


 



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