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I just bought my old S4 5-speed back 20 years after I sold it!!!
It's true, my baby has come back home! I originally bought the car in 1996 as a bone stock Marine Blue over Tan 1988 S4 5-speed that was well optioned with Sport Seats, Sport Suspension, Limited Slip, Rear Air, etc. I tastefully upgraded the car by replacing the stock 16" wheels to the 17" Cup 1 wheels with painted center caps, Autothority chip, deleted the rear muffler, Momo Steering wheel with Porsche horn button, and I added the rubber radio antenna to the roof but never got around to adding the aero mirrors to complete my "GTS-look" updates. Unfortunately, a short two years later in 1998 I had to sell the car because I had gotten married the year before, bought a house and was starting a family so other priorities were prevalent at the time. I have never forgotten about it and I finally decided to track it down. It has gone through 3 owners since I sold it and although I have moved 800 miles away since then I managed to find my old car was only 100 miles away from me! After contacting the current owner nearly 6 months ago, I have stayed in touch with him and I finally convinced him to sell it back to me. I just picked it up this past weekend and I feel like I have turned back the hands of time!
It sounds and drives exactly the same as I remember and the leather still smells the same, although cosmetically I have a bit work to do for it to look like I remember 20 years ago. The clear coat is a bit faded in places and I doubt a compound/wax will do it so a proper paint job will be in order. I'll need to replace the dash due to some cracks and the rear panels have shrunken so they will need to be replaced as well but nothing major. All I have to do is spend a few bucks to bring the cosmetics back. If I could only make myself look like I did 20 yrs ago nearly as easily as ordering some new parts!
First things first: Timing belt/tensioner/water pump, fuel lines, change all fluids, full tune up, pads & rotors, etc to ensure reliability, then I'll worry about the cosmetics afterwards. I have been having lots of fun reading through all the info on Rennlist (after I reset my long-forgotten password!) after all these years. I have been out of the P-car game for a long time but it is great to see that some of the same companies that I used to do business with are still around supporting these cars along with several new companies as well. The sheer amount of info and support available now that these cars have aged is quite impressive! I thought many of you might appreciate the story, so that is why I decided to share.
Thanks for the kind words guys! It sure is fun to have come full circle after all this time. I called the guy that I sold it to and he kept it for 11 years but had to sell it when he moved and could no longer keep it in the garage. This must be about when the evil sun began take it's toll on the paint and interior. I can only assume the next owner kept it outside due to the UV damage. I ran a Carfax to see if there was any recent records of where the car was and that's how I learned that it was registered in a county 100 miles from me and it listed a title number. I researched the title number to get the name and address of the registered owner, then googled the owner to find a phone number and called and left a message. I didn't hear anything back for a while and I was not positive that the number I called was even correct, so my last resort was going to be to mail a letter to the registered address. Luckily about two weeks later he actually called me back! He told me that he bought it because of the rare options and he planned to fix it up someday. He drove it 700 miles to his place and the car has basically sat outside in his yard waiting for him to fix it up, which had not yet happened when I got in touch with him. I eventually convinced him that the car would be better off long term if it were back in my hands.
Really cool story - kind of like the one where I was looking for my dad's car except you actually found and acquired yours. I love the thrill of the hunt! Congrats on getting it back, beautiful car.
04-18-2018, 12:15 AM
I just bought my old S4 5-speed back 20 years after I sold it!!!
