So I bought a 1999.5 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro about 6 months ago. Paid $3500 cash for the car. Car appeared to have some minor issues, nothing too big. After driving it for 6 months as my daily driver, the turbo has failed completely. Took it to a trusted local shop and had them look it over and here is everything that is wrong.

058145703lx Turbo $1300
058133356l Intake Duct 90
034129101b PCV Valve 50
06b133989l Elbow 25
058145712a Hose 90

Turbo is failing, intake boot torn #4, pcv valve, elbow & hose #3 & #14
$2200 with labor

Rattling from rear right wheel, pads shifting, reinstall springs,
$100 labor

8d014515kx Pump $270
8d1422893al H/P Hose 300
Power steering pump leak, h/p hose leaking
$1100 w/ labor

R/ Axle $300
L/ Axle 300
rightcv axle making noise, left boot busted
$950 w labor

400407510p Control Arm $150
Right front lower ball joint
$350 w/ labor

8e0407506a Control Arm $150
4d0407151p ??? $230
Riight front upper ball joint
$630 w/ labor

4b0419801m LF Tie Rod Outter $170
left front tie rod outter
$275 w/ labor

Alignment
$100 labor

8d0698151l Pads $120
8e615301Q Rotor 220
8e0615123a Caliper 300
8e0615124A Caliper 300
Front brakes, right front pads @ min spec, caliper binding wearing pad fast, rotor @ .923 min .906
$1450 w/ labor

Brake Switch Failure
$70 w/ labor

4 Tires, hankook 205/55/16
$440 w/ labor

When all is said and done the total came to $7776.47. Their labor rate is $91.80 an hour. I know I can find cheaper labor and cheaper parts. My main concern right now is the turbo. What is the cheapest way for me to go about getting a new turbocharger? Is there a rebuild kit, pick one off a junked car, find a used one, etc...? Any other adivce would be helpful as well.

 

Fill in your location so locals can help. I can tell you now that I'd do a lot of that and could save you quite a bit in parts and labor...

 

Like Devil said, the only way most people can afford to drive these cars is to do the work yourself. All the stuff you listed can be done yourself. Check out audidiy.com for guides. I would start with the most important repairs, ie brakes depending how bad they are and your turbo then just take it one job at a time. I am in no way a mechanic and I just changed all my control arms, tied rods and I'm doing the brakes next week. It just takes some reading, some patience and of course the right tools. If you get stumped you can always ask on here, there are tons of knowledgeable people around.

Good luck with everything.

 

check out the classifieds here, and on other forums. you can probably get some of that stuff used and save a bundle.

 

Maybe this would be a stupid question but, what exactly leads you to believe that teh turbo has failed? What are the symptoms of your car?
As everyone else has said so far, your location would be helpful, and maybe a knowledgeable audi vet is nearby and he may be able to help and save you tons, and i would check to see if any junkyards around have a turbo and see what they want for it and compare pricing with a new with stores like ecstuning.com, rocketauto.com etc etc....wish you luck my friend....

 

I'm in Chattanooga, TN. I can tell the turbo is completely done because my boost guage was reading the defaulted 5psi for a while where a small whine could still be heard from the diverter till now it won't boost at all. The car is extremely under powered, throws a lean bank 1 and emissions purge flow code, and bogs down at idle when the a/c is left running.

I'm extremely mechanically inclined and can do anything with the right tools and instructions. I was looking at the turbo rebuild kits...how do I determine which turbo I have and if it could be fixed with a rebuild?

 

You have a k03-015 turbo. You can find them online for like $600-$1000 for a decent one. I suggest since you are replacing the turbo buy a K04-015. It has more power and is the same price and a direct bolt-on.

 

Buy the service manual, and get a VAG-COM from Ross-Tech.

 

haha! Insane! If you can make it to Ohio I will help you source parts and do it all for way, way, way less. Except for the tires

 

I would buy another car.....