Hey all,
Just joined and have been lurking elsewhere and here for awhile. I’m very impressed with the DIYs and other great write-ups by justincredible, JimmyBones and others here. Thanks to all the good insights on this platform, I found a 2006 black Avant MTwith 66K on the clock. Had it inspected but had to buy it sight unseen and ship it to Ventura, CA.
Well, mechanically and cosmetically, let’s just say it it needed more TLC than i thought. Already did the VCGs thanks to the help here. Fresh fluids, new coolant tank, and steering arm bushings (car had a clank-sound going up and down driveways, etc). Luckily, the engine and drive train seem solid and there is no chain rattle at all, at least so far! Better photos to come as soon as a I can snap a few post-car wash. I (hopefully) uploaded one of the front grill, which prior owner blacked out with vinyl (I think) or some kind of black plastic-dip.
Overall, I want to tastefully clean this car up and upgrade it with performance in mind. Full disclosure: I am somewhat handy but a noob with most stuff on this car. I’m thinking of trexturk dps, JHM tune and then possibly the FI catback exhaust. I live less than an hour from their shop and they’ll do the install for me when I’m ready. Ideally, I’d like to end up with a full 2.5" exhaust and still pass smog in CA. Any thoughts here?
Other goals: the car has some dents on the driver’s fender. Not severe but prior owner tried to work on it to no avail. Per body shop, they can bondo, sand and blend it to match color or I could replace the fender and paint it. Which option would you do, if you were planning to keep the car long term? Not sure which would cost more, but the bondo/paint route was quoted at $550-600.
Last weird thing: per prior (2nd) owner, the original owner bought it for his wife who didn’t like the Recaros (“waaa- they’re too firm” :’() and the dealer swapped them out for a pair from an A4. I’d love to get a pair of black Recaros back in there. How difficult of a swap is that and about how much would you expect I’d have to spend? Luckily, they didn’t f&^% with back seat and it still is the original Recaro set. Thanks for the long read.
http://audirevolution.net/view-album/166/milodub’s-2006-s4-avant
