S8ilver

Hi everyone, long time AW/QW member and D2 owner. A '93 90 popped up on Craigslist in town and it peaked my interest. Anything I really need to look out for? I've done all the work on my S8 short of an alignment (shop has all the fancy equipment) and transmission service (no lift and didn't feel like doing it on the cold garage floor).

Talk me into it? A V6 with Quattro and a manual sounded like an awful lot of fun in CO. My D2 is mint and don't love putting a ton of miles on it. I'm looking for something fairly reliable (not a Honda) and easy to work on.

I would love to hear thoughts or possibly direction to a buyer's checklist for the B4. The seller mentioned bad CV joints that I think I could rebuild in my sleep now after doing them on my D2. He also mentioned oil leaks. Where are the common leak points?

1993 AUDI 90 QUATTRO CS

Hybrid_Hatch

b4s are great, the engines are sort of gut less. The 93s were one of the earlier years of that motor and as such tended to have some leakage issues, but it seems like this one has had a good home and has survived this long. Should make a great winter duty car.

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

2nd that
that one looks like its in excellent condition, and already lowered.
oil leaks are in normal areas, upper and lower oil pans, rear main seal, valley pan. i bet you can talk him down to 2500 ;-)

Mike Atkisson

Replacing the steering rack can be a bit of a pain with the engine still in the car.
You might want to look into the cost of a rebuilt rack and factor that into the price too.

4ringsinutah

I am actually in a similar situation as you, i just bought a 93 in similar conditions and in a similar climate (i am located in utah around SLC) and i think i can give you a decent idea since some the issues on that car are the same as the one i bought...
full disclosure, i paid a grand for my car, and to date i am about 1800 in with repiars, not to bad but keep in mind that these cars can be really tricky to work on.....i have only had mine for a month but i have been more frustrated by some of the repairs then any of the other cars i have owned...the steering rack which i will address in a moment, was amazingly complicated and i honestly recommend paying somebody to do it. But i digress, So here are my thoughts on the matter

1. Parts availabllity, a ton of the parts for these cars are no longer available from dealer, one thing i would reccomend that i ran into is check all of the weatherstripping, i did not but learned quickly when i went to wash the car that there were some issues.....and now i having a really hard time locating those seals.
2.Cruisecontrol, check it, chances are it is not working, mine was not and i know they are weak areas in these cars
3.the lights are not to bad for the cc (climate control), i have not done mine yet, but i have heard from a couple of users on this site and it seems easy to get those replaced.

4.Oil leaks. i cant really speak on them because fortunately that is the one thing my car did not leak when i got it....weird right?

5.THIS STEERING RACK IS PURE EVIL to change.....it is very hard to get out with the engine still in the car, nigh on impossible. The hard part is getting the hardline fittings back into the rack....also as someone mentioned make sure sure you check the pricing for the reman. rack//i purchased mine off of rockauto for 178 after core, but i didn't read it right and this one does not come with variable steering (servotronic). Not world ending but slightly annoying....i checked later and an actual rack with that is close to 400 bucks after core charge.....that plus shop labor if you are having a shop do it and you can easily put a grand just into the rack.

With all of what is mentioned above, the big thing is cost. 3000 seems a bit high to me, especially considering with what you have mentioned you could easily be 4-5 grand after all of the repairs are made, if you choose to fix all of them. While i have not seem them come up often, i have seen them in the area (idaho, utah, colorado) for time to time in the 1-2k range, in similar condition with similar issues. It is a good looking car, but i would definetly push him down towards that 2000 number.....but all in all these cars are great when everything is working, and the locking rear diff and AWD is just the thing for those mountain snow days!

4ringsinutah

Has anybody else noticed that the coolant in that car is green? i thought all audis needed the pink g12/g13 coolant...does it come in green?

Mike Atkisson

Green is not what Audi recommends, but as long as the factory coolant was completely flushed, you can use some types of Green coolant.

egp320i

How many miles? Often the leaking into the valley pan area is from the rear head gasket that weeps and flows downhill.
Upper and lower pan weep with age/heat cycles.
I've done both already, plus old hardened valve cover gaskets that weep too.
CV joints can be bought rebuilt at NAPA for around $50 or so.
For the price and not having to slop in moly grease it's a good choice.
The original coolant is blue but can be upgraded to pink/red if 100% of the coolant is flushed because if they mix it can gel.
Most mechanical parts are still available but cosmetic parts are NLA or in low quantity
prompting junkyard picking or those parting out 90's.