With a few winter storms heading in to New England today, I’m warming my memories up with this 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro. It’s not so much because of the winter prowess of the model in this case, though; it’s because this particular last model year of the B2 chassis is located in Kula, Hawaii. Road (and boat) trip, anyone?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro on eBay
Year: 1987
Model: 4000CS quattro
Engine: 2.2 liter inline-5
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 112,781 mi
Price: $7,900 Buy It Now
1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro VIN: WAUEB085XHA019436 condition: excellent cylinders: 5 cylinders drive: 4wd fuel: gas odometer: 112781 paint color: white size: mid-size title status: clean transmission: manual type: sedan 1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro all wheel drive 4 door sedan. One owner car since new. A very collectible car!!! A lot of recent mechanical work done. Body and paint are all original and tan leather interior is in very nice shape. No rust and car was rustproofed a few years ago. 2.2L 5 cylinder gas engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. Alloy wheels, Michelin tires, Bilstein struts all around. Sunroof, Kenwood CD unit. Recent Interstate battery with custom cutoff switch. Over $29,000 in documented professional mechanical restoration done since 2008 at 90,721miles including timing belt/water pump, radiator, belts, distributor cap, rotor, wires, plugs, engine lifters, tie rods, 4 Bilstein struts & mounts, all 4 control arms & ball joints, wheel bearing, front brake pads & rotors, brake proportioning valve & fluid flush, trans & differential mounts, fuel pump & fuel accumulator & fuel lines, accelerator cable, tires, battery, service & oil changes . Registration thru 4/17 & safety thru 1/18. 112,781 miles now. $7900.
Besides the location, which will get back to in a moment, there are some interesting things to see. One of 2,929 4000CS quattros sold in 1987, the last model year is the least numerous for the lineup. Alpine White is one of the most popular colors, but inside the tan leather interior is very, very rare to find. Those seats are heated, and otherwise this car carries the standard assortment of power items these 4000s came with. Frankly, there were very few options you could select.
While condition is not exceptional, it is certainly not bad overall. The driver’s seat has some more serious wear but the rest of the interior seems to be in good shape, as do the carpets. It looks to have original mats and outside of a aftermarket stereo head unit is otherwise as you would have seen in some 30 years ago.
Now, the interesting parts. First, the car is located in Hawaii. While contrary to popular belief it does snow in certain parts of the islands, I have a hard time understanding why someone decided to pay a premium for the all-wheel drive 4000. After all, you could get a very nice 4000CS front driver with leather/suede seats in the same year; it was less expensive, as quick and got better gas mileage. But beyond the original purchase, there’s then the claim that since 2008 someone spent $29,000 on the car. Really? You more than doubled the original price of the car in restoration and the driver’s seat was never remedied? How about the wheels, which though original and generally better than most show significant paint wear? Or the scuffed bumpers? Or the missing reflectors, tired badges, non-original exhaust, missing lower grills and broken center vent retainers? How about under the hood, where the engine – which had to be apart to do the claimed lifter service (the noise was probably the high-rpm vacuum pump, anyway…) has plenty of surface rust on the engine covers, core support and under hood? And why did you have to put a custom electrical shutoff? Where, pray tell, did that $29,000 go, if the cosmetics were never touched?
These things are to be expected in a car at this age, but for one that’s claimed to be a collector and priced as such, they’re a bit inexcusable. The car generally looks solid from what is shown and probably one of the nicer ’87s overall that we’ve looked at recently. The interior is a neat option, but needs work. And, at the end of the day, unless you’re in Hawaii, too, you’ll be paying to ship this car across the Pacific. Ultimately, that makes this example worth around half what the current $7,900 ask is, in my opinion.
-Carter
Yeah if we’re honest… It’s a bit of a roach.
I had a white ’87 with white wheels (although I replaced them for standard silver units as the white were a BITCH to clean / keep clean) and a graphite quattro jacquard cloth interior (one of my all time favs). Utter beauty. Euro H1/H4 headlights and PIAA 90PROs integrated into the front bumper. RE71s for three seasons. Studded Gislaved Nordfrosts in the winter. LOVED that car. It was EPICLY good in inclement weather. Sold it after it sustained hail damage at 60k miles.
Replaced it with a ’93 S4 that was special in other ways. As much as I loved my thoroughly sorted and full RS2d S4, the 4K is the one I’d like to have back.
I’ve got to believe that is just a type-o – I’m guessing $2900 spent on the services listed.
I have already contactes you in Ebay. Beautiful car, could you imagine shipping the car? I’m from Germany and have been looking for an affordable audi 90 type 85. If the car is still available please contact me, I would be really interested
My son had one for a while. Worst car experience I’ve ever had. Wonky electrical system, constant broken switches, everything in the engine compartment jammed over to the passenger side with a huge open space on the other side, almost impossible to change the air filter without making it a half day project. I could go on. It never ran right, and he (we) took a bath when he sold it to a mechanic for half of what he paid the year before. A real money pit. I can believe the $29k figure quoted. I still have some very nice floor mats from it. I figure they cost about a thousand dollars each…..
My only other Audi experience was a 100LS that I was thinking about buying in the mid 70s. It caught fire on the test drive when the battery under the rear seat touched the seat springs and shorted out.
And I own four different makes of German cars. No Audis thanks.
These cars, like many other specialty German cars, are reasonable to maintain if you have a good basic understanding of car maintenance, some tools, and handyman skills. Back in the day, I remember seeing so many people getting ripped off right and left, for simple things that were easy to fix. Yes, the air filter on these cars were a bitch of a project (full hour of work), but at least you only do that every 30K miles. Everything else I worked on (I had 3 CGTs) was pretty straight forward, albeit a little quirky. I found my CGTs to average in reliability for an 80s car, better than American, worse than Japanese, and the rewards of driving them were worth it.
Ahhh, love it! Not so much the car as the memories and the comments from Frank A, one of the faithful.
I bet that cutoff switch was a bandaid fix for the fan relay; in my car the fan wouldn’t shut off correctly and it would kill the battery. I sold the car after replacing many burned out relays, not because of the relay but because I had a great opportunity to move into a low mileage 5000csq after the 60 minute debacle. I am sorry I did it now. I love these cars.
Great to see you here Frank! Another excellent find Carter! I have never seen the tan leather in this model.
It would be so fun to relive that ice driving event at Steamboat in one of these!
Carter, it’s kept in nice shape for Hawaii. Just sayin.
@Early8q D’ja ever see this one?…
http://bringatrailer.com/2016/10/15/tuned-20v-993tt-brakes-1987-audi-4000-turbo/
Oh momma!
4K CSq + 20VT + 911 brakes?!?! These are a few of my favorite things! Good thing it isn’t white, or I mighta made an offer. Hell, I might have considered it at $12.5k.
@frank – that is a sweet 4K! The best of two of my favorite quattros combined. I had not seen that one. I am surprised that Carter didn’t post that one on a Tuesday?
Great comments, all! As many of you probably, know, I had a near twin of this car as an 86 and mimic Christian’s comments; not the easiest car to work on and plenty of unique and somewhat expensive parts, but high build quality and I never had major issues with mine. My Coupe GT (s?) soldier on.
@Early8q – a reader sent that car in, but the listing had only one photo when I looked (many times), so I chose not to write it up. Not sure when the other photos went up! It’s a nice example, certainly, but at 25K I’d probably look for a Quattro.
@James Garfield @Carter
In terms of reliability, mine was flawless. I can’t believe 5000s of the same vintage rolled off the same assembly line. My uncle owned a BMW, Porsche & Audi independent repair facility and he built an EMPIRE working on ’80s 5000s. I had to search a long time before finding the right ’86 / ’87 4K CSQ. In fact, back in the day, seemingly all the techs (we called ’em ‘mechanics’ back then!) at Carlsen Porsche & Audi drove / owned 4000s and the reasoning they gave me wa because they were such great cars. I never realized how low the production numbers were on these. Totally explains why I had such a difficult time finding one.
Old post I know, but this car is back for sale, on Craigslist Maui for $3900
https://honolulu.craigslist.org/mau/cto/6058315516.html
All pics and specs the same.
Just wondering if it is worth it? I live on Big Island (where we do have snow!) and it would cost $400 to get it onto the barge.
Mahalo!
@Rich Bell, interesting because it’s on eBay too at $5,900: http://ebay.com/b/Cars-Trucks/6001?Make=Audi%7CBMW%7CMercedes%252DBenz%7CVolvo%7CVolkswagen%7CPorsche&Model%2520Year=2010%7C2009%7C2008%7C2007%7C2006%7C2005%7C2004%7C2003%7C2002%7C2001%7C2000%7C1999%7C1998%7C1997%7C1996%7C1995%7C1994%7C1993%7C1992%7C1991%7C1990%7C1989%7C1988%7C1987%7C1986%7C1985%7C1984%7C1983%7C1982%7C1981%7C1980%7C1979%7C1978%7C1977%7C1976%7C1975%7C1974%7C1973%7C1972%7C1971%7C1970%7C1969%7C1968%7C1967&Vehicle%2520Mileage=Less%2520than%2520100%252C000%2520miles&rt=nc&_dmd=1&_fsrp=0&_sacat=6001&_sop=16&_stpos=97330&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5336332035&toolid=20008&mkevt=1&MBDACmisc=2o3DuHR. It’s a much better deal at $3,900. I’d say it’s worth it for $4,300 (CL plus shipping) presuming there are no major running issues. Thanks for the link and let us know how you make out!