sasquatch1

Thanks for not auto-flamming the new guy. FWIW, I did spend some time with the search to gather info before I posted.

I'm thinking about purchasing my father in law's '92 100CS. Mechanically everything seems to check out on the car. The father in law is a retiree who moved the car to AZ from OR. He tells me that a local dealer told him that the auto tranny on these cars have a bad reputation and advised him against driving it back to OR. In searching on this site and on the Internet I couldn't find anything to suggest there is a persistent problem. The car's current owner says he hasn't experienced any signs of shifting problems. I'm wondering if the AZ dealers' complaint is maybe a function of his experience with these cars in a hot climate w/o a tranny cooler (father in law told me it doesn't have one stock)

Any validity to the Auto in this vehicle being infamous? How painful is a manual swap in $$? Anything else I should look for? The car has 140k about 70% highway miles.

Thanks for your patience with the newbie questions and your help.

djdc

I have the same model/year your looking at. From all I've read these aren't the best trannies in the world. The engines are great, as long as you take care of them. My trans has been acting up for about a year now and i'm still trying to fix it. I'd say, inspect the whole car very carefully and take it for a good test drive. The one things everyone will tell someone on this forum to look for when buying these cars, is to check the tranny. Besides test driving it and checking the fluid for being burnt/low/metal flakes etc, theres not much you can do. Good Luck

sasquatch1

Thanks for hitting me back....my father lucky is meticulous and has all records for every oil change and every tune-up and the interior is immaculate. I just know they are thinking of getting rid of it as the bought a new *whisper* mercedes. I'm mostly concerned with hidden or potential problems (I'd have to drive it back from AZ if I purchase it).

Anyone do a swap for the manual for this car (I couldn't find it on search)

eltako

Go ahead and drive it, generally transmissions give you a lot of warning, and rarely just suddenly "give out."

A manual swap would be next to impossible to do, and would likely would never drive quite right again. Keep your auto.

There are thousands of these cars on the road with their original transmissions. I wouldn't worry about it.

eR-quattro? (rob)

which is to say that if you're seeing no signs of trouble, the chance of having a transmission fail on a highway road trip are about the same as those of being struck by lightning - out of the car. the auto. transmissions in these cars is certainly not their strongest point, but nor are they ticking time bombs. generally it seems as though the bad ones fail rather early unless abusive driving is a factor - which i doubt in this case. as for the manual swap, unless you have a complete "donor car" to park aside the recipient for the operation AND can do the work yourself, you'd be far better off to buy a 5 speed than to consider attempting it. i've had two C4 body cars with the auto trans. (a '92 csq and a '98 a6q - both avants), and have not personally experienced even a transmission "skip" with both cars at or a good bit above the mileage you're showing. i've also had a 5 speed '94 100s, which was one of the best driving cars for the money that i've been exposed to... BUT not what you're being offered. moot. in short, if the car you ask about has a proper maint. history, lacks abusive flogging, and shows no signs of impending doom i wouldn't fear the C4. good luck, and watch your mirrors. rob.

Ken Clunk

A transmission doesn't do work when driving on the highway, it's already in 5th gear and stays there. I would highly doubt that driving a long distance would do damge to the transmission. It's the stop and go that kills it.

sasquatch1

Thanks for the reply...I couldn't really find ANY information that seemed in line with the doom and gloom forcast the dealer gave my father in law.

The worst enemy of a tranny of course is heat and so maybe again they see more failures in So. Arizona. This car only recently made the commute down there and pretty much all it's miles were here in the milder climes around Portland, OR.

The car is currently just sitting there, unused and lonely in AZ so I'm considering offering him 1K, flying down and driving it home.

The Dad-in-Law is a retired nuclear engineer and is very meticulous with pretty much everything...I have no fears about the past upkeep of the car.

I don't NEED another car but I'm thinking about using this as a commuter so it'd see a lot of miles.

Again, thanks for the replys guys.

92-100S

I believe there is a cooling circuit from the trans to the radiator. I have 159,600 miles on mine, and have never had a problem (nor has it ever been the smoothest transmission). I think some of the problems people have had are caused by never changing the fluid, which is not on the Audi service schedule I have.

sasquatch1

I'm going to be talking to the inlaws on Wednesday, thanks for all your input guys...I just might be buying a one-way ticket to AZ

4Driver4

If you buy it, at a minimum, check the levels in both the automatic and final drive/differential.