What's a 2.8 B3 Coupe quattro worth these days?

[K Simmonds]

I'm asking this for a good friend of mine who I work for when I'm functioning. He's picked up an N reg 2.8 Coupe quattro that's pretty tidy body wise, nice and straight with no obvious accident damage, underneath is all very solid, good subframes, straight sill's/jacking points etc. The car has been dry stored since it blew up in 2006, it is quite literally a barn find.

However it needs a new AAH engine as the current one it totalled and someone has done some bizarre things to the fuel system under the car so it needs a fair bit of work just to get it running, he's got a decent replacement AHH engine and the missing fuel system component's so that's covered. But given how rarely these cars come up for sale doesn't know how much money is worth sinking into the car. It also need's obvious stuff like door trims, a pair of new wings and new brakes all round as well as probably a lot of other perishable stuff.

He's considering really going to town on the car and doing a full restoration, high standard respray get the air-con working, everything, it's got a grey cloth interior in very good condition with Walnut trim, no sunroof and I think it's fairly low millage around 100K but would have to check that.

What are these cars fetching these day's? I've guessed at about £8K for a nice one, is this the right sort of ball park? Their really hard to value as there's so few of them in the UK and one can't really use European prices as a guide.

The car is not for sale so please do not ask, he's in the trade but is considering keeping it for himself as it could be a really nice car and one to keep long term.

[Tractor Dave]

Sadly, not as much as you think Kit.
There is one for sale in Northern Ireland with full black leather. Been for sale for ages. Down to around 7k last time I looked. One sold in Scotland about 18 months ago for £500!
I'm mint condition I would say 3-5k. But might take a while to sell.
I have a 2.6 cabbie I'm breaking here. He can have all the brakes and anything else he needs for mates rates.

[K Simmonds]

Cheers for the reply Dave, I'll let him know about the brakes etc as he could well be interested and your not too far away, are the wings any good and available? I've advised he fix it and hang on to it as they're sure to appreciate in value at some point, I'm not that surprised they don't fetch good money ATM as everyone wants an S2, not a 2.8 V6 that can't easily be tuned to produce serious power.

They fetch pretty strong money on the continent but as it's RHD that really limits the market to the UK.

[Tractor Dave]

Wings are rusty. Pass my details on

[K Simmonds]

Will do mate, thanks again for the response.

[Bowie69]

£500 as it is I'm afraid, the paint will be what makes or breaks a car like this, as that is a £2K cost alone... on a car maybe worth 5K if absolutely mint?

[K Simmonds]

Cheers Bowie, think he paid a grand for it as it's pretty dam tidy as old Coupes go, I don't doubt that was a bit expensive. Yeah, paint will cost about £2K that's at trade rate so not worth doing really if it's only going to be worth £5K given all the other work he'll need to do, given that the existing paint isn't bad, the wings aren't horrendous. I've already told him to whack the new motor in it and get it driving to make sure the gearbox etc is all okay then stick it in the back of his shed for a couple of years.

[Tractor Dave]

Cheers Bowie, think he paid a grand for it as it's pretty dam tidy as old Coupes go, I don't doubt that was a bit expensive. Yeah, paint will cost about £2K that's at trade rate so not worth doing really if it's only going to be worth £5K given all the other work he'll need to do, given that the existing paint isn't bad, the wings aren't horrendous. I've already told him to whack the new motor in it and get it driving to make sure the gearbox etc is all okay then stick it in the back of his shed for a couple of years.

Good plan. Values of these can only really go up from where they are now.

[oollit]

Are the 2.8 B4's worth about the same money?

I picked one up for a project a few months ago. It needs a rear subframe, fuel pipes, brakes and a full respray.
It has had a top end rebuild so engine should be ok. Only paid £350 so I should get my money back out of it if I decide to sell after its finished.

Rear subframes seem scarce, other than a few people selling refurbed ones for £450-750.

[Lago Blue]

As time goes by, peak hp numbers are of increasingly less interest to me personally vs. more powerful low-speed response (a.k.a. drive-abilty), reliability and very low overall costs. Given those wants, one has to love the bottom-end grunt of good ol' VW SOHC architecture. I think the value of such a car (least what this observer can put down on paper and sum up vs. a theoretical S2), while not reflected in its immediate potential resale price, is as follows. The avoided capital costs a newer or more sought after car would require, the lower maintenance needs / higher reliability of a simpler naturally-aspirated engine, and the potential economy and parts availability of a much more numerously produced engine.

Here's some preventative, performance and possible fuel economy tips (almost all are inexpensive and D-I-Y) and encouragement to pass along to your V6'd friend:

A suggested V6 reading list:

https://www.s2forum.com/forum/member-s-area/guides-and-top-tips/2084564-a-12v-primer-resources

Some achievable by anyone V6 air/fuel delivery technical improvements and the net resulting economy:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/12v-v6-discussion-52/my-big-fat-green-diy-maf-housing-mod-2788251/

[K Simmonds]

Are the 2.8 B4's worth about the same money?

I picked one up for a project a few months ago. It needs a rear subframe, fuel pipes, brakes and a full respray.
It has had a top end rebuild so engine should be ok. Only paid £350 so I should get my money back out of it if I decide to sell after its finished.

Rear subframes seem scare, other than a few people selling refurbed ones for £450-750.

Is it a Coupe? As if so it’s a B3 mechanically. Audi never really built a B4 Coupe, just gave the B3 car a bit of a face lift with a different bonnet and lights, the V6’s all got an S2 style front bumper.

If it’s a Coupe then rear subframes are notoriously hard to find now, the B4 Saloon/Avant quattro rear subframes aren’t quite so scarce as their interchangeable with early B5 quattro’s as well seemingly less rust prone.

I do have a Coupe quattro rear subframe that needs a couple of patches welding in, I was planning on doing it one day either to sell or for a potential project, not looked at for quite sometime so it’s probably dissolved by now despite being in the dry.

[Bowie69]

Audi never really built a B4 Coupe, just gave the B3 car a bit of a face lift with a different bonnet and lights, t

That's kinda true, the rear diff setup changes with the advent of B4, with the longer nose, as I understand it.

[K Simmonds]

As time goes by, peak hp numbers are of increasingly less interest to me personally vs. more powerful low-speed response (a.k.a. drive-abilty), reliability and very low overall costs. Given those wants, one has to love the bottom-end grunt of good ol' VW SOHC architecture. I think the value of such a car (least what this observer can put down on paper and sum up vs. a theoretical S2), while not reflected in its immediate potential resale price, is as follows. The avoided capital costs a newer or more sought after car would require, the lower maintenance needs / higher reliability of a simpler naturally-aspirated engine, and the potential economy and parts availability of a much more numerously produced engine.

Here's some preventative, performance and possible fuel economy tips (almost all are inexpensive and D-I-Y) and encouragement to pass along to your V6'd friend:

A suggested V6 reading list:

https://www.s2forum.com/forum/member-s-area/guides-and-top-tips/2084564-a-12v-primer-resources

Some achievable by anyone V6 air/fuel delivery technical improvements and the net resulting economy:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/12v...g-mod-2788251/

Thanks Lago, those links are much appreciated… As I’m getting older I have to say I’m inclined to agree with you, I’m actually quite a fan of the 2.8 V6 engine myself, while not earth shatteringly powerful they’re highly reliable if maintained properly and have loads of torque and plenty of bottom end grunt. Plus they will go pretty well if you do want to make serious progress, 174BHP isn’t exactly short of power even by todays standards.

Anyway will check out those links myself as I have C4 100 Avant quattro with an AAH engine I’m going to be using as my daily driver once I’m safe to drive again… Started fixing my mountain bike by the way, going to be ordering all the bits this week.

[K Simmonds]

That's kinda true, the rear diff setup changes with the advent of B4, with the longer nose, as I understand it.

The car my mates got is a 1996 model so one of the last built, I’ve had a really good look underneath and it appears identical to my 1990 S2, same size gearbox, prop and diff as far as I can see though I haven’t actually measured anything, it does use different ratios in the final drive so not interchangeable with 20 valve CQ’s but is otherwise the same as far as I know.

[K Simmonds]

Yeah, just checked and all five speed Coupes use the same gearbox, prop and rear diff, all be it with different internals and varying driveshaft flange diameters. The six speed S2 uses a different length prop due to the longer gearbox, the rear diff is the same though. Only B4 Avants/Saloons got the latter long nose rear diff with an extra front mount going to the chassis.