How about a new old car

[bimmerboodle]

How about an A4 wagon - like this one or this one

maintenance nightmare

not as bad as the hype, especially the pre-'00s. still worse than a suby though

I have a friend who owns one.
Beaucoup $$$$ for stuff like timing belt, clutch, etc. mucho labor to get to that stuff

[ScottyB]

oh i understand....i own one too. i think a huge factor though is if you can do any of the labor yourself. also, i imagine most AWD cars make clutch installation expensive just because there are so many driveline parts in the way.

[.RJ]

also, i imagine most AWD cars make clutch installation expensive just because there are so many driveline parts in the way.

Exhaust, driveshaft and a pair of axles....

Cars are just nuts/bolts and parts, none of it is rocket science. If you have the right tools and are prepared (shop manual, friends, interweb resources, etc) thats most of the battle right there.

[bimmerboodle]

also, i imagine most AWD cars make clutch installation expensive just because there are so many driveline parts in the way.

Exhaust, driveshaft and a pair of axles....

Cars are just nuts/bolts and parts, none of it is rocket science. If you have the right tools and are prepared (shop manual, friends, interweb resources, etc) thats most of the battle right there.

Oh yeah...I wrench all my own shit but some people don't.
Audi seems to have a few extra hours of labor to do everything that needs to be done eventually

[.RJ]

Step 1: Remove Front Clip

[ViPER1313]

Wow, that little thing is really packed up in there :wink:

[bimmerboodle]

Step 1: Remove Front Clip

we have a WinnAr

[Maengelito]

\bingo
look in the expansion tank for ring around the collar
in my car is was blackish
also same type of stuff around the gasket on the radiator cap.
get it good and warmed up, and give it the sniff test to see if you detect a faint coolant odor
look for bubbles in the expansion tank when it is running hard

after my last session at VIR-N, i was really low on gas so i came in early to not fuel starve the car. i drove it around for a little bit, but not nearly as much as a cool down lap. when i parked it and raised the hood to get some more air flow to cool down, i noticed the expansion tank was bubbling. i figured that was a combination of it being crazy hot that weekend, the miata's less than spectacular cooling system and not doing a full cool down lap. think its something more serious like a blown head gasket? i'm not low on coolant, so i dont think its goin anywhere. and for some reason (i guess its the iron blocks) you always get some nasty crap in the expansion tank no matter what. i think evan has the same problem.

[bimmerboodle]

\bingo
look in the expansion tank for ring around the collar
in my car is was blackish
also same type of stuff around the gasket on the radiator cap.
get it good and warmed up, and give it the sniff test to see if you detect a faint coolant odor
look for bubbles in the expansion tank when it is running hard

after my last session at VIR-N, i was really low on gas so i came in early to not fuel starve the car. i drove it around for a little bit, but not nearly as much as a cool down lap. when i parked it and raised the hood to get some more air flow to cool down, i noticed the expansion tank was bubbling. i figured that was a combination of it being crazy hot that weekend, the miata's less than spectacular cooling system and not doing a full cool down lap. think its something more serious like a blown head gasket? i'm not low on coolant, so i dont think its goin anywhere. and for some reason (i guess its the iron blocks) you always get some nasty crap in the expansion tank no matter what. i think evan has the same problem.

I know nada about the miata, but were you running h20 or coolant? I suppose it could boil. If you are not losing coolant I wouldnt worry too much. There is a sniffer test radiator shops can do to see if there are hydrocarbons in the cooling system. There definitely was some blackish gook in the expansion tank from combustion gases .

[Maengelito]

i'm running about a ~70/30 water/coolant with purple ice. and i think miatas always have gunk in their cooling system. from what, i dont know but its a common thing among many miatas.

and the problem i described was when the car was off, so i dont think there was any compression of air in the cylinders

[ScottyB]

Step 1: Remove Front Clip

we have a WinnAr

yeah, and that's the 1.8T. imagine stuffing another 2 cylinders, another turbo, and another intercooler in there and you have an S4 hock:

[.RJ]

imagine stuffing another 2 cylinders, another turbo, and another intercooler in there and you have an S4 hock:

*covers eyes and ears and yells loudly*

[ScottyB]

imagine stuffing another 2 cylinders, another turbo, and another intercooler in there and you have an S4 hock:

*covers eyes and ears and yells loudly*

*steals RJ's air tools while he's blind and screaming*

[Evan]

maeng that has happened to me before, I replaced the radiator cap and it went away AFAIK

[Chris]

Step 1: Remove Front Clip

we have a WinnAr

yeah, and that's the 1.8T. imagine stuffing another 2 cylinders, another turbo, and another intercooler in there and you have an S4 hock:

damn!! I'm never working on my parent's S4!

[Feersty]

Thread Jack in progress!

Hunter, Any cars of preference besides the Outback Sport?

[Hunter]

Well I officially bought a car, here are the details:

2000 subaru impreza outback sport
hunter green
65,000 miles
5spd
$7500

I havent picked it up yet, I just went to go see it today and ended up putting down a deposit until I can actually go pick it up. It's up in state college, PA about 4 hours from nova and was owned by an english prof at penn state. I don't have any pictures now because I don't really own a camera, but maybe I'll have some after I go pick it up (which may not be until next week).

[WRXtranceformed]

Sweet man, welcome to the Suby family =D

[BLINGMW]

HUNTER green, how could you resist! :lol:

[Hunter]

Really I call anything thats green Hunter green, thats the only shade of green that exists in my book.