1986 Audi 4000 S 2.2L 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

If you can find one, I suggest you buy it!!!

Faults:

A/C currently not working.

A bit of paint fade. Expected for a 20 year old car.

Brakes are soft. Needed new brake pads and shoes.

Bought with only 106,000 miles on it.

General Comments:

As close to mint condition as you can get for an 20 year old car.

Some one really took care of it.

Bought it for $1000.00 with only 106,000 miles on it at Habitat for Humanity. It was donated.

Interior in Excellent Shape. No rips burns, Nothing!!

Body has to 1 minor dings and no rust.

Smooth ride, excellent over rough and gravel road.

It is a manual so it has excellent pickup and passing power.

Looks more like a 90's model Audi than a mid-80's.

Engine and transmission are rock solid and you can feel that when you drive it.

My 3 year old son will probably graduate High school before this car dies.

Plenty of parts dealer on-line for this make, year and model.

Hard to find any for sale!!

Get one while you can!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th May, 2004

18th Jan 2006, 14:58

Hello,

I too own a 86 Audi 4000 S. It is in Excellent condition. I recently repainted the car myself so there is no rust or dings in any of the sheetmetal. Instead of bondo I used replacement panels from Audi. The interior is perfect. The previous owner was my High School teacher and he got the car from his mother-in-law. She bought it brand new. The best news behind this car though is the mileage. It burns no oil whatsoever, solid pick-up and I had the car Dyno'ed and it still had the factory rating for horsepower at 92 and the car has 500,000+ miles on it!!. I love the car and I am going to drive it until it dies, which I don't think will be very soon.

8th Sep 2006, 12:24

Hello Folks

I just completed rebuilding an 86 4000S that I have owned since new.

It had 209,000 miles when the cam stopped turning because of lack of oil.

I have been working on this on and off for the last four years, rebuilt everything from the firewall forward, and a few parts behind. No problem finding parts on the web and a few on eBay. You are right I have not seen any for sale except a few parts cars. I guess we have a good collector.

Kevin G, Bellmore, NY.

8th Jul 2007, 21:05

I am trying to sell 86 Audi 4000 runs call 903-570-2177 800.00.

24th Sep 2010, 12:33

Acquired my 1986 4000 S five years ago with 85,000 miles. We are still less than 115,000. Earlier this year covered 2,800 miles on a meandering road trip from New Mexico, via Wyoming to Washington state.

The body of these cars are made from zinc-coated galvanized steel. The car is so shiny inside, out and under the hood, that people think it is new. Part of the success story: no turbo, no superfluous cylinders, no digital accessories and a half-dozen years of refinement in this series (first made in 1980).

If 60% of the energy consumed in an automobile's lifetime is from its manufacture, why aren't we continuing to produce cars like this one? A true economy car, yet an agile, lightweight athlete that is fun to drive as a runabout, a hill climber or a cross-country cruiser.

19th Apr 2011, 06:51

I could not have said that better myself.

1986 Audi 4000 CS Quattro 2.2L I5 from North America

Summary:

Good performer for an Audi fan

Faults:

I have owned two of these now. Keep the first one for a parts car. It's nail in the coffin was the CIS Fuel Distributor.

Headlight switch burned out.

Dash light burned out.

Headlight socket melted.

Cracked vacuum lines all over.

Alternator failed at 230k miles.

Fuel Pump went at 232k miles.

General Comments:

This car is based on the late 70's early 80's Rally cars that won the European 1st place overall races 3 years in a row. The Audi AWD (Quattro) system is to this day revolutionary, and after racing against cars well above it's class for 3 years and brining home the 1st place every time, Quattro was banned from the European Rally races as an "Unfair Advantage".

I'll take all the Unfair Advantage I can get! Bottom line, other than the super rare and pricey Audi Quattro Coupe, the 4000 Quattro is as close as you get to the real Rally car. Very light at a mere 2800lbs, it has a short ratio 5speed tranny which gives it a lot more git-up and go than one would expect from a 115hp, 136tq engine. The engine is known in the Audi circles as bulletproof. The lower end is said to be stung enough to handle up to 600HP, and people have (after some serious mods) taken the stock 10V engine to 300HP.

The interior is pretty basic by today's standards. It was nice in the 80's when leather on the seats, doors panels and the steering wheel were a cool thing. The controls are pretty easy to find and do what you expect. The most annoying thing is that the car was not offered with intermittent windshield wipers. You have 3 speeds to chose from, that's it!

On the outside the car looks sort of cool and in a way classy. 2 of the biggest problems is the clear coat that Audi used to spray over the paint. On both cars I have had the problem only on the doors, the hood and fenders are not effected. When damaged, it starts to peel and over time becomes very ugly. The other major beef is the lighting. The headlights on the US model plain out suck! The Euro models have a semi-projected beam that can actually make light at night. The US model scatters the light and as a result long distance visibility can only be attained with a pair of Rally-looking KC lights mounted on the bumper.

The car is what one would call an electrical nightmare! For whatever reason, Audi did not use heavy enough gauge wire in a few places and the common area of failure is in the headlights. Heat created by the resistance of lightweight wire and low capacity circuits causes the headlight switch to melt about every 10 years. Headlight sockets too melt down over time.

Reliability-wise the car is very basic so there is little to break. They are very solid and go for ever. My first car was dubbed "The Unstoppable Audi", for all the abuse and hell it went though delivering Pizza for while, being raced on gravel roads, taking jumps over railroad tracks etc... The drive train on these cars is absolutely bullet-proof. Both engine and tranny can handle well over 3 times the power that is in the car.

One thing that does suck is that when something does break, expect to pay 2-3 times as much for it as you would think. 4 calipers with pads cost me $1000, the fuel distributor that went TU on my first car runs about $1500 from the dealer. Fuel pump cost $300, ended up with an aftermarket one for $190. Parts are not cheap! Work is even worse. Unless you find a mechanic that knows and loves this car, you are going to pay an arm and a leg for some guy to learn the backward ways of Audi.

All that being said, it is an awesome handling and performing car! I hope to turn my second one into a Rally racer with the Oregon SCCA rally club!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th May, 2004

27th Jun 2005, 13:12

I just wanted to say that these cars are NOT expensive to fix. The original author didn't try junkyards for parts. That is where you can get good deals. And working on these cars yourself is SUPER EASY. Audi has created a very easy car to work on.

I'm not sure what the author is talking about for brakes. I bought brand new Brembo rotors and pads for about $150.