We have one of the first Audi Cabriolets that arrived in this US. It's been in the "family" since it was purchased in 94.

It has over 100k miles on it and shows it's age big time; it has a few dents, the original pinky purple color has faded on more than one panel and the interior need some love too. Mechanically, it's in pretty good shape however and is beloved in the family.

The question is... is it worth restoring? I got a price of about $11k to do the job, so the car would be in pristine condition. However, according to Edmonds, in that condition currently, it's worth only about $3K.

If we did the restoration, we would keep the car for at least another 10 years. What I don't want to find is that after we spent all this money the future value is... "What were you thinking, dummy!?"

So I am wondering that, given the fact that this is one of the first Audi Cabs ever built, and it will be in great condition in 10 years - what are thoughts on the potential value of these "classic" cars in the future?

 

Probably not worth restoring at that price. However, no car is going to be "worth" the cash you put into it. It is certainly not an investment idea. LOL

To be perfectly honest with you, I'd restore it myself. I like those older cars and they are certainly a lot simpler to maintain and work on. I have an 87 5000S Quattro that I'm going to be putting back together. I've done a total engine rebuild and replaced all the suspension bushings and some major suspension parts since they were starting to rust badly. The body is in excellent shape. Does need paint and some interior work. I figure I'll have about $4K in it by the time I get it back on road in the next few months. I've also done a lot of rust preventative work on the suspension to prevent the same thing from happening again. We've had this car since 1998 and it's got about 278K miles on it. It ran fine when I started the rebuild though. Just smoked a bit. Valve seals were shot. She's got all new rings and bearings. Cylinders were not worn much at all. Certainly within tolerances.

 

[QUOTE=dave944;1507513]Probably not worth restoring at that price. However, no car is going to be "worth" the cash you put into it. It is certainly not an investment idea. LOL

Thanks Dave for the input... never thought of it as an "investment" but more of a I just don't want to lose my shirt. lol

I would love to have the skill set to do body work but I don't really have the patience for that, I can do the mechanical (and love doing it, like you said the older cars are great! but what it need mostly is body and PAINT! And to make it worse it's my wife's baby so if I "eF" it up, I will never hear the end of it. :-)

 

I can to the paint and body work but I just don't have the place to do it at the moment. if I were you, I'd get the mechanicals up to snuff. Even if the paint is just faded, you can buff that stuff up and be fine unless you've got any rusty areas. If no rust, you can get away with buffing it up and keeping it coated with a good wax until you can afford to have someone slap some paint on it.