RE: 87 4000q advice, and new brakes

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> 1. I spotted a nice black 4000q for sale up here. 1987, 80K miles, very
> clean. The car came up from Georgia to NY via a wholesaler. Contacting
> 
Congrats Osman!  An '87 model, southern car with low mileage is pretty
likely to be a keeper.  IMO/E the 4k is a much more straightforward car than
a 5k/200 ... it is more likely that you'll be able to spot any problems with
the car without too much trouble.  I would recommend that your focus be on
looking for signs that the car has more miles than the odometer states ...

> b. Hissing noise that appeared to be coming from under the ashtray. At
> idle, the noise was louder. Under accleration, the noise was quieter.
> Are the diff locks vacuum operated? What the heck is hissing in there?
> 
The diff locks are controlled by vacuum and Audi didn't provide a lot of
"service loop" in the lines.  When you pull the console (say to do a heater
core) it takes some doing to get the connector attached to the back of the
switch.  This means that you may well find that the diff locks don't seem to
work.  

> I was surprised at the difference between my 200q and the 4k. Wow..even
> with twice the mileage my 200q has less rattles and is much smoother. 
> 
... this may be a sign that the car either has more miles than the odometer
might indicate or that it was not well treated.  My '85 4kSQ has over 210K
miles now and the interior is as tight as can be.  The 4k is a lot lighter
than your 200, so it is likely to be less "smooth" due to that ... I think
of it as the 4k is a much more "tossable" car. :)  The other thing that
might make a difference is that the 200 has a bit more sound deadening
material ...

Given that your goal was to get a car that would be "cheaper to keep" than
your recent experience on the 200 ... there's little doubt that a _good_ 4kq
will do that; but, to play Devil's Advocate a bit here ... think what sort
of fixes you could do to the 200 for the same $2800 to make it more robust
...

Good luck with the car Osman!

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)