(If you don't feel like reading my story of what happened just skip to the second paragraph) I have a 97 2.8Q A4 with 90,000 miles.
So this past weekend it rained.. a lot. My tires are basically bald and I have been waiting to find a good deal on a wheel/tire package instead of four new tires (which I just did find a pretty good deal too and I was going to buy them.. $450 for non bent, good condition OEM 17" S4 wheels wrapped in 225/45/17 Falken tires and one Michellin with 70-80% thread left. If anyone's interested I'll give you his email, he seems like a not bad seller in NJ). I was driving on a parking lot going down hill and there was someone driving uphill towards me and wouldn't give me any room so I moved out of his way and when I tried to get back into the lane, I lost traction and was going right toward a street lamp. I turned the opposite direction to avoid it and I did but also went into a puddle that did not look close to as deep as it actually was in the seconds I had to make this decision. My car stalled in the middle of the puddle and would not start back up. It would just click once and nothing else when I tried. I'm on stock nonsport suspension and the water was just low enough not to get inside with a door open. My friend and I quickly got out and pushed the car to the side of the lot out of the water. The car still wouldn't start up and I opened the hood and checked that out for a little. It was pouring hard so I didn't want to leave it open too long. My engine and everything around it had some water on it, but it didn't seem like too much. I have a K&N cone filter and it was damp from the water but it was not drenched at all or anything. I waited and waited four hours and the car still did not start up. It sounded like the battery was dying or something but all of the electronics and everything seemed to work perfectly. I jump started the car and it worked.. terribly. It sounded so messed up so I just turned the car back off right away. I waited more hours and went back at the end of the night. The car started up, but still sounded and acted horrible. I did not try to move it at all. I left it there over night and came back the next afternoon hoping that it would be dried out. It started up fine. But the engine made a very loud "clapping" noise like two times a second and never stopped. It sounded like two pieces of metal smashing into each other which didn't seem good so I did not keep it running long. Pressing the gas pedal made the noise faster. My exhaust would randomly smoke a lot but not constant. The car did not change after two days so I got it towed to somewhere to get it checked out. Maybe I shouldn't have waited so long, but I can't change that now. I was told today that the first thing that went wrong was a connecting rod broke. A piece came off of it and was just flying around hitting the oil pan or something which is what was making the noise. The broken connecting rod led to a lot more wrong.
The guys I sent the car to (yes, it was a VW/Audi place) told me all of this stuff is wrong and that I need a new engine... They told me it would cost $4250+tax for a 12v engine installed with 72,000 miles and they would also change the timing belt too (I still had the original one). The car is in great shape and always taken care of, it was bought brand new and stayed in the family, but still is not worth much more than $4000 now. Is $4250 normal? I don't really have any idea how much an engine swap on an Audi should cost. But what should I do? Sell the car? Part it out? Get it fixed..? How much should I expect my car to sell for like this? What new car would you guys get? Another A4? I don't have too much money to spend at all but there is a white 96 12v A4 and a black 97 12v each for $3999 locally. I don't know mileage or anything about them though but I could find out. I looked only for a little bit today and only from dealers and did not find any 1.8ts. Even though it's not stick, I did find a 2001 A8 for less than $7000 though. And a MK3 GTI with mods for $4000. I miss my A4
My car is allowed to stay at their place for about a week. So I need to make some decision by then.
So this past weekend it rained.. a lot. My tires are basically bald and I have been waiting to find a good deal on a wheel/tire package instead of four new tires (which I just did find a pretty good deal too and I was going to buy them.. $450 for non bent, good condition OEM 17" S4 wheels wrapped in 225/45/17 Falken tires and one Michellin with 70-80% thread left. If anyone's interested I'll give you his email, he seems like a not bad seller in NJ). I was driving on a parking lot going down hill and there was someone driving uphill towards me and wouldn't give me any room so I moved out of his way and when I tried to get back into the lane, I lost traction and was going right toward a street lamp. I turned the opposite direction to avoid it and I did but also went into a puddle that did not look close to as deep as it actually was in the seconds I had to make this decision. My car stalled in the middle of the puddle and would not start back up. It would just click once and nothing else when I tried. I'm on stock nonsport suspension and the water was just low enough not to get inside with a door open. My friend and I quickly got out and pushed the car to the side of the lot out of the water. The car still wouldn't start up and I opened the hood and checked that out for a little. It was pouring hard so I didn't want to leave it open too long. My engine and everything around it had some water on it, but it didn't seem like too much. I have a K&N cone filter and it was damp from the water but it was not drenched at all or anything. I waited and waited four hours and the car still did not start up. It sounded like the battery was dying or something but all of the electronics and everything seemed to work perfectly. I jump started the car and it worked.. terribly. It sounded so messed up so I just turned the car back off right away. I waited more hours and went back at the end of the night. The car started up, but still sounded and acted horrible. I did not try to move it at all. I left it there over night and came back the next afternoon hoping that it would be dried out. It started up fine. But the engine made a very loud "clapping" noise like two times a second and never stopped. It sounded like two pieces of metal smashing into each other which didn't seem good so I did not keep it running long. Pressing the gas pedal made the noise faster. My exhaust would randomly smoke a lot but not constant. The car did not change after two days so I got it towed to somewhere to get it checked out. Maybe I shouldn't have waited so long, but I can't change that now. I was told today that the first thing that went wrong was a connecting rod broke. A piece came off of it and was just flying around hitting the oil pan or something which is what was making the noise. The broken connecting rod led to a lot more wrong.
The guys I sent the car to (yes, it was a VW/Audi place) told me all of this stuff is wrong and that I need a new engine... They told me it would cost $4250+tax for a 12v engine installed with 72,000 miles and they would also change the timing belt too (I still had the original one). The car is in great shape and always taken care of, it was bought brand new and stayed in the family, but still is not worth much more than $4000 now. Is $4250 normal? I don't really have any idea how much an engine swap on an Audi should cost. But what should I do? Sell the car? Part it out? Get it fixed..? How much should I expect my car to sell for like this? What new car would you guys get? Another A4? I don't have too much money to spend at all but there is a white 96 12v A4 and a black 97 12v each for $3999 locally. I don't know mileage or anything about them though but I could find out. I looked only for a little bit today and only from dealers and did not find any 1.8ts. Even though it's not stick, I did find a 2001 A8 for less than $7000 though. And a MK3 GTI with mods for $4000. I miss my A4
My car is allowed to stay at their place for about a week. So I need to make some decision by then.
Senior Member
you should be able to sell your A4 the way it is for $1500 fairly easily....
If you buy a motor from a junkyard for about 500$ then all you would have to pay is labor...figure a good 15-20hrs @ about $85 an hour...
I would say forget about your Current A4....you could also patr it out and make some pretty decent $
I would say at the least if you do buy a new A4 make sure it is manual and quattro....
If you want to mod you'll need a 1.8T...
If you don't have the cash to buy and upkeep a new to you audi it may be the time to leave the family till you have some additional $
remember that if you bua a used 4k$ audi, you will prolly have to put an additional 1-2k$ into it
don't even think about tossing 4250$+tax into your car....
Im sorry to hear that you broke your connecting rod....I am not even sure how that happens in a 12v....I swear those motors last forever!
well, if you are staying in the family, now is the time to upgrade to a 30v or a 1.8...
hope you get everything smoothed out!...good luck car shopping!
before buying a car, defintely spend the $100 bux to have your audi mechanic fully inspect it...and also do a carfax if the seller doesn't have one for you....
make sure all maintenance has been done to the car prior to sale...and remember that you can usually talk a used car salesman down 500-1k$....
if you see anything that looks interesting in the classifieds post it up in the off topic section for some advice...all used cars have problems...usually many more than the seller will admit...
gl!
If you buy a motor from a junkyard for about 500$ then all you would have to pay is labor...figure a good 15-20hrs @ about $85 an hour...
I would say forget about your Current A4....you could also patr it out and make some pretty decent $
I would say at the least if you do buy a new A4 make sure it is manual and quattro....
If you want to mod you'll need a 1.8T...
If you don't have the cash to buy and upkeep a new to you audi it may be the time to leave the family till you have some additional $
remember that if you bua a used 4k$ audi, you will prolly have to put an additional 1-2k$ into it
don't even think about tossing 4250$+tax into your car....
Im sorry to hear that you broke your connecting rod....I am not even sure how that happens in a 12v....I swear those motors last forever!
well, if you are staying in the family, now is the time to upgrade to a 30v or a 1.8...
hope you get everything smoothed out!...good luck car shopping!
before buying a car, defintely spend the $100 bux to have your audi mechanic fully inspect it...and also do a carfax if the seller doesn't have one for you....
make sure all maintenance has been done to the car prior to sale...and remember that you can usually talk a used car salesman down 500-1k$....
if you see anything that looks interesting in the classifieds post it up in the off topic section for some advice...all used cars have problems...usually many more than the seller will admit...
gl!
Man I am sorry to hear that, where in Jersey are you from (you said that the guy you were looking at the wheels from was in Jersey) and what dealership did you bring the car to? I don't know what your car is worth with a hydrolocked motor but the car without any problems isn't worth that much so your best bet would probably be to part the car out. I picked up my 96 in awesome shape with 113,000 miles for $3,000 so $4250 for a used motor swap is more than the car is worth. Parting it out could get you a decent amount of money, in fact there are probably parts that I would be willing to buy from you if you are local (I don't want this to sound like I am trying to make you part your car so I get parts I am just saying that there are people out there that would pay for some parts). Do you have full coverage on the car, if so put in a claim.
Thanks for the replies. I'll see what I can do about a cheaper engine swap if possible. I wouldn't even really consider buying an Audi that is not quattro and manual. I don't care much to mod it, but the ability to do so with the 1.8t would be nice. Looks > performance with these cars IMO (no I'm not a ricer that tries to make my car look faster with body kits and stuff when its not, just look a little nicer). I'm aware of all of the research to do before buying a new car. If I'm not fortunate enough to stay in the Audi family, I'll at least try hard to stick with a good VW. (Dubbin til death FTW)
I live in Bethlehem PA, not NJ. That guy lives about an hour to an hour and a half away from me. I don't think my insurance will help me with this
I live in Bethlehem PA, not NJ. That guy lives about an hour to an hour and a half away from me. I don't think my insurance will help me with this
I just checked around and most insurance companies will cover a hydrolocked motor even with a CAI installed. It is certainly worth your effort to get them to pay for your damages, that is what you pay them for. After all driving through a high puddle is just like driving into a deer, just the damage happens on the inside. Of course if you don't have full coverage then it is moot. Would it be covered under collision or comprehensive? If you hit a deer it is covered under comprehensive so I don't know.
1st Gear
If you try to make a claim, I would put the stock intake back on. They might take care of it if you were run off the road like that. Of course if they do cover it, they might just total it.
I'll put my stock intake back on and look more into this.. Thanks
I called my insurance company and they said that kind of thing usually is covered! They will send an adjuster to check out the car some time within a week. Unfortunately, I will not be able to put my stock airbox back in. If I am covered, I kinda doubt they would get it fixed but having my car totaled is not such a bad thing. I will keep you updated. Thank you very much for the help.