r_fostoria

My cousin recently left for collage and my aunt is trying to get rid of the Audi 4000 CS Quattro that he had been driving. Because the car once belonged to my father and has been in the family since 1992, she offered it to me for $20. The car is in pretty poor condition. The upholstry is torn in various places, the passenger side fender and turn signal need to be replaced and the clutch may need to be replaced as well. I am not sure if this is a good deal are a money trap so some advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Are parts difficult to find? Would anybody be interested in the car as a restoration project? Is this a steal, or will it just end up costing more than it is worth?

billymade

I'm in the process of restoring a 85 Coupe GT; so, far the car hasn't been terribly hard to work on, you might check the clutch slave cylinder for leaks. We thought the clutch was toast and it turned out the hydraulic line was leaking, we had a line made at the local hydraulic parts shop, replaced it, bled the system and its fine now! I've done a major tune up, replaced the valve cover gaskets, rebuild the front end, struts all around, new brakes all around and the car seems ok. Considering these cars aren't worth allot at this point; you have to like the car to want to fix them up; just like any vintage car... it isn't the most cost effective when they aren't worth a whole lot to begin with. This is my sisters car and when we are done; will have more then we could sell it for but she has her heart set on the car... we are fixing it! It is at the body shop now for a full repaint, upholstery work is next, new windshield etc. I cannot say if its a "good deal", "money trap" etc.; if it is in similar condition as my sisters, pretty much everything I have listed we have done, will probably need to be done to yours, maybe more! I mean, does it make sense to fix up any old car thats probably not worth more then $3000? Probably not but we are having fun in the process of getting it road worthy and it will be nice when it is all done!
Parts wise; we have got most of the basics through autozone and some of parts they couldn't get through: http://www.europartsdirect.com/
You probably could take the car somewhere and have a professional mechanic check it out and see if there are any major issues that would require major $$ to repair. Depending on the evaluation; you could decide if you want to take the car on as a project or drive it around a bit and see if you even like it. Seeing how the car was being driven daily; it may not be that bad after all! I drove this one around a little bit and I actually kinda like it, it seems to grow on you.... then, again I am a life long VW freak... so, if you like VWs you probably will like this car as well!
When I was starting to learn about these cars; I went to vwvortex and looked at the FAQ's on this car, probably a good place to start!
Check it out here:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1795674
Good luck with your car and that fact that it is a Quattro makes it even more of a interesting perspective restoration project!

r_fostoria

Thanks for the advice, especially about the clutch. I will defenitley check that out. I completely understand your appreciation for the car. My dad drove the Audi when I was growing up, so I many fond memories of it. I was thinking about just spending a small amount of money on bodywork and just living with the rest of the little problems for a while.

VWinA

If you want to drive a 4000, take the car and do a proper long term assessement.

If you wanted to keep the car for 4 years, it may warrant a proper budget to restore many of the car systems first hand and have a strong runner without perpetually chassing issues.

They are great cars once sorted.

Good luck

billymade

Just to clarify on the hydraulic line; I was pushing the clutch while my brother was looking at the line. What it was doing was "ballooning", when the pedal was pushed and also leaking at the same time.... this reduced the ability of the fluid to push the clutch in.... so, yours might be the same thing! We had a hard time finding the hose and the hydraulic shop; custom made one for us that was pretty much identical for something like $20-$30, I'm sure that's cheaper then from Audi.

r_fostoria

I have decided to buy the car! I will pick it up and post pictures this weekend.

Popflyz13

Congrats!

A couple other great resources:

autohausaz.com
blauparts.com
worldimpex.com

GregLNSD

If you plan to keep the car for -2- or more years - it is worth it.
If you are thinking of fixing it and selling it - it's not.

These are great cars - very rugged and reliable.

Mine had a straight body and good interior - but the previous owner did nothing mechanical. I spend $3,000 in mechanics over -2- years, but I've been driving it for over 4 years now.

They are keepers.