1987 4000 Quattro

[ramiro@ctt.bellcore.COM]

Paul,

I have the same year/model car (1987 4000CS Quattro) in NJ.  The roads
are salty here for a good part of the winter (although not as much as
New England).  I don't have any rust problems at all.  The only damage
salt has made so far was the muffler; I had to get a new muffler ($375
at the Audi dealer; Midas was trying to rip me off by charging me $425
... the dealer beats Midas, at least in this area) after last winter.

One nasty thing around here is that they mix salt (to keep water from
freezing) with fine (although sometimes not fine enough) gravel (to
improve traction).  The problem is that the fine gravel hits the
windshield (chipping it) and the front of the hood. There's a few
nicks on the hood, but as somebody pointed out before, the paint goes
away and then you have the galvanized zinc layer that doesn't rust.  A
little touch paint helps, but if you're a picky customer, you may want
to look for excessive nicks.  I had to replace a marker light too
because it was perforated by a fast flying pebble.

Mechanically the car has not had many problems.  Power train has
worked impeccable.  Brakes had one problem: warped front disks at
30,000 miles, replaced at no charge.

Most of the non-scheduled visits to the dealer were to fix electrical
problems.  These are the things I remember: Heated seats, radio, front
power windows, instrumentation light bulbs, and cruise control.

In other words, based on my experience I'd say watch out for electric
problems.   They could cost you a bundle.

If you have more questions, let me know.

Ramiro