Modified 1998 A4 - Value?

[sjlversurfer]

Hi All,

Hope I'm in the right forum. Let me know if I need to move this.

After 20 years of owning my 1998 A4, I decided to replace her with a 2019 S5. I will be putting my A4 up for sale, but I'm having a difficult time determining a fair value. There are not many of them around, and even fewer with as many extras as this car, so pricing it out has been challenging. I figured I'd turn to the forums to hopefully get some input from the experts and aficionados who have their fingers on the pulse of the market to perhaps provide their insight.

As noted in the title, the car is heavily modified. Just about anything that was popular to do to a B5 A4 back in the day has been done to this car. Complete stage 3 APR, APR catback exhaust, custom downpipe and hi-flow cat, ceramic heat coatings, EVO FMIC, oil cooler, coilpacks, Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, Stoptech BBK, Valeo e-code headlights with turn signal delete and city lights, Rieger RS4 front bumper, Caractere side skirts, S4 rear valence, 18" OZ Superleggeras, 034 Motorsport engine and transmission mounts, and I think there are probably other things I can't think of right now.

Pearl White exterior with Opal Grey interior. Mileage is 201k. 3 owners, I have all receipts and maintenance records. I just had the driveshaft replaced at nearly $3,500 cost. I will be honest and say the car is not perfect. It is 25 years old and has some items that need to be addressed to be truly perfect, but it still drives well, and is very fast for a little 1.8L engine. I still get compliments all the time.

For reference, functionally, the suspension needs to be rebuilt (can be done under Bilstein warranty) and there is a boost issue that no one can figure out (at least here where I live) - at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle it gives full 23psi boost, but at full throttle it drops to 15psi. Cosmetically there is a dent in the driver front quarter panel from a drunk backing into the car in a parking lot and leaving the scene, curb rash on the wheels. I wanted to get the calipers repainted as the StopTech logo is gone and the black paint has lost its luster due to brake dust. They don't look horrible, but it bothers me. Interior, headliner is sagging, there is a crack maybe about 3 inches long in the vinyl on the driver side seat, but otherwise the interior is in good condition. I have the original floor mats to replace the worn out driver side all weather floor mat.

I don't know how to approach pricing, maybe start at perfect and make deductions for the items that needs to be done, or maybe the market is fixed and there is a max value regardless of all the extras?

I've included a few photos. Sorry it has been raining here constantly so the photos are the best I can do at the moment, but hopefully they show you what the car is like.

I am happy to answer any questions or provide additional detail. Any insight from the community is greatly appreciated!

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[A1 A2 German]

I would say $7k would be tough as these get overshadowed by the B5 S4.

You have some of the worst suck butt issues going on, body damage and a car that doesn't run properly. Honestly if these was local with a straight body, ran perfect, black interior and was local I'd be showing up to take a look. That really sucks about the drunk driver and to buy a modified vehicle to boost...that doesn't boost properly pretty much sucks. You might want to try one more go around on that per a smoke machine (boost leaks), testing the wg or finding a $40 unit on Ebay to swap, clean injector filters, etc, etc, post here on the forums to fix.

The reason why you don't see these anymore is everyone's in the same boat and part them out (unfortunately completely). I watched a super built 2.1L 20v BT standalone B5 Avant on BAT go for $4K...mewh. I sold my professionally shop built, highly documented, calendar/magazine show quality B5 Avant for $8K. I'm not joking, Jopkinit (or what ever they're called) found my ad on the internet and made my their front page news that I was a crack pipe seller asking that.

Another tough issue, you have to find someone that has cash, yough do not have cash and can't get cash, and even with good credit a lender only finances the ~$2500 ~blue book value.

Just a thought, and I know you're looking to move on....grab on oem fender and see what a shop would charge to spray it. You might be surprised at the price, as it saves them alot not to mask and tend to an entire car opposed to knocking out a tiny fender that doesn't even use a quarter of a pint of paint. And, you'll have no down time (they don't need the car). Try tacking the boost issue. And/or, put the car on blocks for ~2 weeks, send the suspension to be rebuilt, respray calipers, swap fender, maybe mask (with tires on) wheels and reshoot. Just saying that's kinda an all in one kinda thing.

As far as cosmetically what the car needs is to pull up to someone's house that's parting an entire S4/A4 and drop the entire black interior into it, I wouldn't change the wheels, kit, anything as sits perfect.

[DonnieDark0]

Previous poster gave some great insight on what you could do, with the right amount of motivation and time. But that is ultimately up to you.

I am always watching the market on older audis from B5 a4s / s4s and B6 A4s.
It sounds like the market sits between $2.5k - $7k depending on the car.
Super clean unmodified B5 a4s in avant tend to fetch higher money in the $7k - $9k range but Sedans average around $4k - $5.5k.

With that being said, modified B5 A4s can fetch money to the right buyer, this usually takes a while to sell, months maybe 6 months if you are patient. It just takes that one person who knows these cars, who is into them and who also understands why to pay for the tastefully modded B5s.

You can probably ask for around $5k, little higher little lower and sell it reasonably fast ( month or 2) but if you get it all buttoned up and fixed, you can probably get around $7k by waiting for the right buyer to come along ( 6 months ).

Up to you though, I hope my post helps you out, I did not mean to undervalue your car, just giving insight into my endless scrolling of classifieds for B5s / B6s on marketplace and autotempest.

[RallyeBourne]

Sound advice already given, but I'll add my $0.02 as well.

Unfortunately, you will never get what you think it's worth. The fact that you had the car for 20 years and replaced it with another Audi tells me you are an enthusiast, and we tend to both overvalue our own cars and undervalue any we are looking at.

Some notables from what you said...
1). The $3,500 driveshaft is a complete loss to you. I'm sorry, but when people buy cars, they expect them in running/driving condition, and if it isn't, they expect to pay less than $2k.
2). Along that same vein, a lot of the mods would be lost on most people as well. As A1 A2 said, you'd really need the right buyer in order for the mods to add any value whatsoever.
3). For some reason, a sagging headliner immediately puts off a lot of buyers, as it ages the car significantly.

Something that was not mentioned was smog. I see you are in CA (and not too far from me). In order to sell locally, you have the oh-so-fun smog to deal with. And with some of the items on your modlist, you'll have a hard time passing, as I am sure you are aware. Recently, the state has been coming down hard on people selling without smog certificates. Only legal way around it is to register the vehicle as non-op and sell as-is. Which, again, devalues the car.

With all that said, depending on price and timing, I may be interested. My B5 still has a smell to it that I can't get rid of, and have been thinking about selling and getting something cleaner. However, I just recently had to buy the wife a new car, and need to buy a new engine for her old car so I can replace it and sell it for anything remotely reasonable. If everything works out, I would be willing to entertain using the profits from that to take the car off your hands. Feel free to DM me and I'll give you my number and we can chat more.

[sjlversurfer]

Previous poster gave some great insight on what you could do, with the right amount of motivation and time. But that is ultimately up to you.

I am always watching the market on older audis from B5 a4s / s4s and B6 A4s.
It sounds like the market sits between $2.5k - $7k depending on the car.
Super clean unmodified B5 a4s in avant tend to fetch higher money in the $7k - $9k range but Sedans average around $4k - $5.5k.

With that being said, modified B5 A4s can fetch money to the right buyer, this usually takes a while to sell, months maybe 6 months if you are patient. It just takes that one person who knows these cars, who is into them and who also understands why to pay for the tastefully modded B5s.

You can probably ask for around $5k, little higher little lower and sell it reasonably fast ( month or 2) but if you get it all buttoned up and fixed, you can probably get around $7k by waiting for the right buyer to come along ( 6 months ).

Up to you though, I hope my post helps you out, I did not mean to undervalue your car, just giving insight into my endless scrolling of classifieds for B5s / B6s on marketplace and autotempest.

All good! Appreciate the feedback! Value is always subjective, which is why I wanted to ask the question to see what the market would tolerate. I know I'll never get what I put into it, but I'm hoping there is another enthusiast out there who can appreciate what is in the car, and a fair deal can be made. Honestly, I'd be super pleased with $5k. I know there are people out there who have connections, or are great DIYers that could likely get it back in great shape no issues. Thanks again for your insight!

[sjlversurfer]

I would say $7k would be tough as these get overshadowed by the B5 S4.

You have some of the worst suck butt issues going on, body damage and a car that doesn't run properly. Honestly if these was local with a straight body, ran perfect, black interior and was local I'd be showing up to take a look. That really sucks about the drunk driver and to buy a modified vehicle to boost...that doesn't boost properly pretty much sucks. You might want to try one more go around on that per a smoke machine (boost leaks), testing the wg or finding a $40 unit on Ebay to swap, clean injector filters, etc, etc, post here on the forums to fix.

The reason why you don't see these anymore is everyone's in the same boat and part them out (unfortunately completely). I watched a super built 2.1L 20v BT standalone B5 Avant on BAT go for $4K...mewh. I sold my professionally shop built, highly documented, calendar/magazine show quality B5 Avant for $8K. I'm not joking, Jopkinit (or what ever they're called) found my ad on the internet and made my their front page news that I was a crack pipe seller asking that.

Another tough issue, you have to find someone that has cash, yough do not have cash and can't get cash, and even with good credit a lender only finances the ~$2500 ~blue book value.

Just a thought, and I know you're looking to move on....grab on oem fender and see what a shop would charge to spray it. You might be surprised at the price, as it saves them alot not to mask and tend to an entire car opposed to knocking out a tiny fender that doesn't even use a quarter of a pint of paint. And, you'll have no down time (they don't need the car). Try tacking the boost issue. And/or, put the car on blocks for ~2 weeks, send the suspension to be rebuilt, respray calipers, swap fender, maybe mask (with tires on) wheels and reshoot. Just saying that's kinda an all in one kinda thing.

As far as cosmetically what the car needs is to pull up to someone's house that's parting an entire S4/A4 and drop the entire black interior into it, I wouldn't change the wheels, kit, anything as sits perfect.

Yeah, the issues are a bummer. Bad luck really. I see you are in Tempe. Goodspeed did all the Stage 3 stuff to the car and it was dialed in just under 400hp on their dyno. Raised plenty of eyebrows, but had to dial it down for California. I considered driving it back to them because I know they could fix the boost issue, but that is time I don't have. It's going to be super hard to let this go. I wish I could sit on it until a better time, but that is also not in the cards. Looks like you've got a cousin A4 to mine. Really appreciate your feedback though, very helpful.

[OldAudiA4]

It used to be like this with JDM cars like Nissan Silvia's, Skyline's, Supra's etc. They were relatively cheap but of late (I'm guessing due to a lowering in the availability of these vehicles and the age bracket of people desiring these vehicle's having more access to money), the prices for these types of JDM cars have skyrocketed.