Winter shed Audi A4 B6 3.0 cab
Discussion
After the first cold and wet days (and additionally due to my current daily of the week (69 Firebird) decided not to shift anymore - different story) it became apparent that I need a half decent car for the fall/winter season, as the other ones in the stable are not driven in rain/snow, are too pretentious for business, only serve for longer rides etc., and pretty soon.
It came down to a hot(tish) hatch (Peugeot 208 gti), or something else, price had to be below 10k Euros for a nice Pug or under 6k for something else.
Of course, it turned out to be something else, so let me introduce to you my new acquisition, the winter shed, a 2003 Audi A4 B6 3.0 cab.
A few days of research singled out the most trouble free combination of the lazy 3.0 V6 with a manual. There's a strong community for this model, they seem to be reliable old buses, everything can be solved for little outlay (more surprise), and no horror stories in general.
Pretty much straightforward, only keep watching belts, pumps and front wishbones.
Good!
Lots of 2.4 or 1.8T around, 3.0 mostly autos, so it came down to only 6 cars in my perceived price range to choose from, but the sellers seemed not to care about selling, only one responded, one has to wonder.
After calling the second on the list (the only one with a telephone number in the ad), yesterday was the day to take a look.
One has to wonder that people do not care to spend a few quid beforehand to achieve a higher asking price, a quick wash and vacuuming would have changed my perception completely, but good for haggling.
Car was disgusting inside (as coffee cup still in holder, filthy steering wheel, general untidiness, bodged console, worn switches), unwashed outside. Chav looks with blacked out grille, way too low, a slight rattle on one exhaust, rattly windows, loose driver's seat, bad earth on the stereo and worn cables for the hood booth. Tank almost empty, headlights almost blind, only one key...
Seller (3rd owner) was quite young, so I suspect it was simply too expensive for him to upkeep and to fill up, and he owned it only for three months...
So technically it's a second hand car, and surprise, the former owners have been quite diligent.
Service book was fully stamped, the last only six months ago, the big one with belts, pumps and front wishbones about 2 years and 7k miles ago.
All paperwork present, leather and interior in good nick, little blemishes around, hood looked good, brand new Toyo tires, apart from the filth and the switches inside all seemed quite good actually.
It's on 120k mls, but is solid and straight, all the expensive things done already.
What really got me hooked was the test drive, smooth engine and trans, nice steering, comfortable even with that suspension (and probably more responsive as well), not really engaging but it suits the nature of the car, cruiser not sport.
Almost like a worthy successor to the A124, same quality engineering without that unnecessary and overcomplicated MB stuff like belt presenters and the like. The same soothing experience inside as well, only a few gauges, outside temp and rest mileage.
As with most VAG products from that time, the driving position for my average figure was perfect, everything worked as it should, even the AC.
Being the first series it had the (according to the general knowledge completely trouble free) Audi 5speed instead the later, from end '03 on VW 6speed, on top it's about 25 pounds lighter as well!
What's not in the car can't break, so I was glad to have no electric seats, no parking sensors, no cruise, no sensors for rain or light, but the really excellent sport seats.
We agreed on a fair deal, was way below budget, and my drive home was positively uneventful.
Temp was rock steady on 90 degrees, it went really well and even managed 30 mpg, so far so good.
Must have the fastest electric windows apart from 80s / 90s yanks!
Next is to tackle the few issues it has:
Fix driver's seat
Fix missing clamp on exhaust
New cables for hood booth
New switches
Adjust rattling windows
Polish headlights
Cosmetic issues inside and out
Fix console
Crank suspension up
Change grill
Change wheels to Audi RS 5spoke
Maybe change steering wheel and shift knob to leather
Sell the old wheels
As all parts are dirt cheap, the most things are done by me anyway I suspect that I can shift the car in a much nicer state in spring for almost free motoring, to satisfy my man maths.
Including new wheels w/winter tires and deducting the sale of the wheels on the car, I'm still around 5.6k Euros, which is fine by me and should be returned come sale in spring
Pics
It came down to a hot(tish) hatch (Peugeot 208 gti), or something else, price had to be below 10k Euros for a nice Pug or under 6k for something else.
Of course, it turned out to be something else, so let me introduce to you my new acquisition, the winter shed, a 2003 Audi A4 B6 3.0 cab.
A few days of research singled out the most trouble free combination of the lazy 3.0 V6 with a manual. There's a strong community for this model, they seem to be reliable old buses, everything can be solved for little outlay (more surprise), and no horror stories in general.
Pretty much straightforward, only keep watching belts, pumps and front wishbones.
Good!
Lots of 2.4 or 1.8T around, 3.0 mostly autos, so it came down to only 6 cars in my perceived price range to choose from, but the sellers seemed not to care about selling, only one responded, one has to wonder.
After calling the second on the list (the only one with a telephone number in the ad), yesterday was the day to take a look.
One has to wonder that people do not care to spend a few quid beforehand to achieve a higher asking price, a quick wash and vacuuming would have changed my perception completely, but good for haggling.
Car was disgusting inside (as coffee cup still in holder, filthy steering wheel, general untidiness, bodged console, worn switches), unwashed outside. Chav looks with blacked out grille, way too low, a slight rattle on one exhaust, rattly windows, loose driver's seat, bad earth on the stereo and worn cables for the hood booth. Tank almost empty, headlights almost blind, only one key...
Seller (3rd owner) was quite young, so I suspect it was simply too expensive for him to upkeep and to fill up, and he owned it only for three months...
So technically it's a second hand car, and surprise, the former owners have been quite diligent.
Service book was fully stamped, the last only six months ago, the big one with belts, pumps and front wishbones about 2 years and 7k miles ago.
All paperwork present, leather and interior in good nick, little blemishes around, hood looked good, brand new Toyo tires, apart from the filth and the switches inside all seemed quite good actually.
It's on 120k mls, but is solid and straight, all the expensive things done already.
What really got me hooked was the test drive, smooth engine and trans, nice steering, comfortable even with that suspension (and probably more responsive as well), not really engaging but it suits the nature of the car, cruiser not sport.
Almost like a worthy successor to the A124, same quality engineering without that unnecessary and overcomplicated MB stuff like belt presenters and the like. The same soothing experience inside as well, only a few gauges, outside temp and rest mileage.
As with most VAG products from that time, the driving position for my average figure was perfect, everything worked as it should, even the AC.
Being the first series it had the (according to the general knowledge completely trouble free) Audi 5speed instead the later, from end '03 on VW 6speed, on top it's about 25 pounds lighter as well!
What's not in the car can't break, so I was glad to have no electric seats, no parking sensors, no cruise, no sensors for rain or light, but the really excellent sport seats.
We agreed on a fair deal, was way below budget, and my drive home was positively uneventful.
Temp was rock steady on 90 degrees, it went really well and even managed 30 mpg, so far so good.
Must have the fastest electric windows apart from 80s / 90s yanks!
Next is to tackle the few issues it has:
Fix driver's seat
Fix missing clamp on exhaust
New cables for hood booth
New switches
Adjust rattling windows
Polish headlights
Cosmetic issues inside and out
Fix console
Crank suspension up
Change grill
Change wheels to Audi RS 5spoke
Maybe change steering wheel and shift knob to leather
Sell the old wheels
As all parts are dirt cheap, the most things are done by me anyway I suspect that I can shift the car in a much nicer state in spring for almost free motoring, to satisfy my man maths.
Including new wheels w/winter tires and deducting the sale of the wheels on the car, I'm still around 5.6k Euros, which is fine by me and should be returned come sale in spring
Pics
Thanks tvrfan007, the story goes if you look out for something, you see it everywhere. Today I've seen quite a few as well.
As these are mechanically straightforward, they are quite easy to maintain, even for a ham fisted bloke like me.
I was pleasantly surprised about the mileage, Today was only stop and go city traffic, I'm still around 25ish mpg...
And the cheap running costs mean that if it likes a drink or two, it's still not upsetting the balance.
Ordered the small stuff today, switches, console parts, gear knob, picked up very nice winter wheels with almost new Nexen snow tires for 400 quid, all parts combined so far still below 1k, after selling off my used parts I'm probably at around 500 investment so far...
Will post better pics tomorrow!
As these are mechanically straightforward, they are quite easy to maintain, even for a ham fisted bloke like me.
I was pleasantly surprised about the mileage, Today was only stop and go city traffic, I'm still around 25ish mpg...
And the cheap running costs mean that if it likes a drink or two, it's still not upsetting the balance.
Ordered the small stuff today, switches, console parts, gear knob, picked up very nice winter wheels with almost new Nexen snow tires for 400 quid, all parts combined so far still below 1k, after selling off my used parts I'm probably at around 500 investment so far...
Will post better pics tomorrow!
These days things take a bit longer than anticipated, so after relegating the C2 to daily duties the winter shed is now ready to take over from now.
Of course a few things didn't turn out to be that easy, and a lot of parts are bespoke cabrio items, such as console, headlights and so on.
As I wanted to upgrade to the later sat-nav I ordered all items without taking care of the installation in the cabrio, so had to learn the hard way by comparing and realising certain items just didn't fit. Funnily of course for avant and limos there are parts a-plenty and cheap as well, for the cab it's the opposite.
Headlights didn't turn out to be nice after polishing (better but not good), so I got some newish ones in instead.
Inside it looks clean again, the console looks good and fits, sat-nav is looking tidy and works as well, the climate control unit turned out to be almost new, worn switches are changed, the leather steering wheel feels great and chunky, and changing gears with the leather knob is a delight. For now the interior is sufficient, it has to be deep-cleaned come spring, as the leather has to be treated with bee wax to get some suppleness back.
Mechanically the car is pretty good, underneath it's rust free, after pulling the little dings it's cosmetically great.
Raised the comically slammed suspension to normal levels, fixed a loose screw wich was responsible for the rattling window, fixed the clamp on the exhaust, and voilà, hit the road:
Of course a few things didn't turn out to be that easy, and a lot of parts are bespoke cabrio items, such as console, headlights and so on.
As I wanted to upgrade to the later sat-nav I ordered all items without taking care of the installation in the cabrio, so had to learn the hard way by comparing and realising certain items just didn't fit. Funnily of course for avant and limos there are parts a-plenty and cheap as well, for the cab it's the opposite.
Headlights didn't turn out to be nice after polishing (better but not good), so I got some newish ones in instead.
Inside it looks clean again, the console looks good and fits, sat-nav is looking tidy and works as well, the climate control unit turned out to be almost new, worn switches are changed, the leather steering wheel feels great and chunky, and changing gears with the leather knob is a delight. For now the interior is sufficient, it has to be deep-cleaned come spring, as the leather has to be treated with bee wax to get some suppleness back.
Mechanically the car is pretty good, underneath it's rust free, after pulling the little dings it's cosmetically great.
Raised the comically slammed suspension to normal levels, fixed a loose screw wich was responsible for the rattling window, fixed the clamp on the exhaust, and voilà, hit the road:
Thanks Gregg, yes it's a nice looking car from probably the cleanest design era from Audi, all the better for it without the blacked out grille and wheels to appreciate the purity of form. I'm already liking it so much that I'm not certain to sell it on next spring...
And yes, the seats are very comfortable.
Agree with you about Audis from that time, a TT should be the next mini project.
And yes, the seats are very comfortable.
Agree with you about Audis from that time, a TT should be the next mini project.
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