Possible B5 Purchase

[longlivenacars]

1999-2001 (not sure) a4 1.8t quattro auto.

Has been sitting outside a shop for about 3 years now, and apparently it runs and drives.

Body and interior are clean and well kept, no rust on outside at least

Besides obvious things likes brakes, tires, the car has a slipping transmission.

The shop owner will sell to me for $1000 CAD.

Mileage unknown, severity of trans slipping unknown.

Car is in a corner, so it really is an as is, start it up and drive it home to fix with slipping trans if possible, or tow which I probably will because it has been sitting so long

Are there DIY luck fixes with these transmissions or not? Car would be a daily, so the headache of manual swapping is in not high on the priority list unless the car turns out to be a good one.

Auto trans swap, solenoids could fix it, ideas? Stay away from the car ?

[Cybersombosis]

To save time and energy, I’d find a used trans from another A4 and swap it in. I went through 3 re and re’s rebuilding a trans and in the end it had the same symptoms after replacing basically everything. In the end I found a replacement and that solved it. I personally think $1000 is too much for a car with a failed trans but if you like the car, I’d offer them lower to get it off their lot. If you are getting someone else to do the work then it’s going to cost you a couple grand to get the work done plus trans, but if you do it yourself, all you need is the trans. Where in Canada are you?

[longlivenacars]

Thanks, Toronto Area.

If I can get it down to 500$ I'll probably be back here.

Do yo have any leads on a working auto transmission?

[Cybersombosis]

You’ll have to search local yards for a used one. Find out what year the car is. The tran’s are different from year to year. A 2000 - 2001 apparently use the same trans but the selector switch is different so you can take it from your old one if the one you get is different. Prefacelift 1999 and before may be able to use the same.

[walky_talky20]

You can always 5MT swap the thing, if that's your jam. It's a bit of work, but rewarding.

If the slipping is mild to moderate, I would totally try replacing all the fluid (drain/fill 2-3x) with Valvoline Max-Life. Then follow up by adding some aggressive stop-slip additive if it's still slipping. Worth a shot and not very hard or expensive to try this.

In Canada, I would check the condition of the transmission fluid cooler lines along the bottom of the radiator. They run right past the snub mount. These can get very rusty and even start leaking, even if the rest of the car is very solid.

[longlivenacars]

Thanks, till spring...

I have a full 06 V50 t5 AWD 6mt drivetrain in my garage lol, if you ever can't find anything and it doesn't get swapped into something.

How do you compare the b5 driving and ownership experience to the v50?

[walky_talky20]

Oh, yeah. The V50 is interesting.

- The T5 engine is fantastic. Super flat torque band, spools instantly, pulls in any gear. I literally forget to shift the thing because it pulls so great no matter what you do.
- The seats are great.
- The transmission shifts nice and easy. Like a Jetta. I put new shift cables in mine, and it's really nice.
- Clutch is really light, but I prefer that.
- Volvo Haldex AWD works well, but has a lot of ways it can break and leave you with just FWD. But when it works, it is good.

For comparison to B5:
- Build quality and road feel go to the B5, hands down. The V50 feels like a bucket of bolts in comparison. It's not a Geo Metro, but it doesn't feel solid or smooth like the B5.
- AWD System - B5 again. All 4 wheels hit at once. On the Volvo you never know if you are going to get much power to the rear. It has to "decide". It's really fast, but you can't trust it at the limit.
- Interior, again to the B5 - EXCEPT THE SEATS. The Volvo seats are super great. Rest of it feels like a 2003 Ford Focus. All the switch gear has lousy detents and doesn't feel premium.
- I like the looks of both. The wagon styling on the V50 is particularly cool, I think. Especially with the Dynamic Sport trim pieces.

Basically, I want to take the T5 engine and all the seats and bolt them onto a B5. And if I could get the smooth gear shifts too, that would be perfect.

[A4Qwattro]

- Interior, again to the B5 - EXCEPT THE SEATS. The Volvo seats are super great.

That's the one weakness of the B5s. The seats have zero support. Its like sitting on bench. I always wanted to put the D2 S8 recaros in, but they are too big.

[Gunnarrrrr]

if you can do some welding, you can get it to accept b6/7 recaros. b6-b9 seats are all interchangeable as far as mounting goes.


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[walky_talky20]

I actually have a set of B7 Recaros in my garage to put in my Laser Sedan. Still haven't got around to making the brackets. Someday.