Euphoria2me

For item #19, sounds like your negative power cable. I had the same issue. Put on the turn signal and the car dies? Not a cheap fix.

Hello, this is my first post.

1993 SC300 - 158k miles, paid 1900$ for it.

I am a former Audi enthusiast (TT 225 w/Mods) and still a family Chevy Camaro enthusiast (have a project 69 Camaro and plan on buying the new one next year)

I thought it would be hard to touch the detail and willingness to help in the Audi community, but you guys are doing it right as well :-)

SC300 is red and has just about every problem i've read on here about.

1) Tach and MPH needles black

2) A/C LCD not lit up except for strip of top bar, making it useless

3) Truck lid doesn't stay up

4) Interior pretty much looks horrible, seats cracked, carpet dirty, dash pieces cracked

5) Tilt steering wheel locked in all out all up position

6) Suspension is decent but the car seems to be riding a bit high, will be due for some upgrades

7) Oil is leaking I think from the front of the engine (so maybe timing belt from what i have read) Engine bay looks like someone threw a balloon full of oil in there, not pretty. There is a sticker on the top of the engine that says the timing belt was replaced around 135k miles, so I'm not sure if it is common for them to break again so quickly. (I actually read the forum rules, and will be posting new topics for questions I am seeking answers)

8) Headlights need to be polished, light is not passing through like it should be

9) taillights have condensation in them from an obvious leak somewhere

10) Front passenger fender needs to be replaced

11) Auto transmission shifter is cracked and needs to be replaced

12) I put Premium gas in it at the QT station by my house for the first time, and the car didn't crank when i went to leave. My heart sank. I tried it again and it worked, but for the rest of the trip home it seemed like it wanted to die every time i came to a complete stop. I did get me home though.

13) Passenger door window doesn't seem to want to roll up or down.

14) Airbag light is on

15) Brake light is on

16) Stereo is broken i guess, doesn't power on. Speakers all look like they were removed and then shoved back in. (almost like a 10 minute "return to stock stereo" type of job)

17) Power side mirrors don't seem to be working

18) Ground cable in bad shape (battery wasn't fastened in any way, slide over towards belt and belt rubbed the cable almost in half.)

19) While driving at night, occasionally headlights lights and dash will loose power with right set of blinkers running.

Thats all i can think of / have discovered at the moment. All that being said I still love the car. Since I bought it fairly cheap I dont feel so bad putting some money in it and making it a bit more respectable. I bought this car to be my daily driver, knowing i would have to breath some new life into it.

The previous owners were pretty rough on the SC, and made some horrible home-made fixes I dont wish on any car.

It looks good still, it will still run, and the after-market is awesome. I have always love the SC's and am very excited and pleased to now be a part of this world. I will keep the forum updated with my progress on things, and my experiences with DIY and shop prices/quality of work.

My major future mods I plan on are:

1) 1JZGTE TT swap ( i have so many questions here )

2) Eibach / Koni setup / bushings

3) Would LOVE to drop a Standard trans in it, but dont know if it would blow my swap budget

4) New carpet / and leather seat covers (not sure if I'm going to try and save the 300.00 and go synthetic or not)

Thanks for reading, again happy to be here and very happy to finally be a SC300 owner.

Hey guys. New to this forum. Let me know what you think. My SC400 has 332,000 miles of which I put 304,000 on the car. Bought it off lease in 94. Came with some HOT chrome and gold high end rims (can't remember the brand at the moment, but think they were MHT's). Took the car on a road trip to Detroit and some road salt chipped the hood. I was *BLEEP*ed! Took it to the dealer for a touch up on a day when the east coast service manager happened to be there. The guy could have easily blew me off, but pointed out that the paint was "raining" around the "road rash" which meant it didn't have enough primer before being painted and ruled it a factory defect. End result, new paint job! That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with my 16 year old SC400 Coupe and Lexus.

It's mainly a weekend car now. My son calls it a garage queen, but I drove this puppy everyday for years, even when I owned other rides. I love driving this car to this day. Still runs to 125 MPH stock with no shimmy, straining or huffing and puffing. If you take of it, it will take care of you.

Upgraded the stereo to a Alpine duel amp system. Left in the factory head unit because I didn't wasn't to mess with the dash (I like the incognito look and am old school). Confiscated my son's 12 inch Xplode and installed high end Boston Pro's all around. Running on new BF's on 17's (didn't want the car to ride harder than it does) with some fly silver brushed with polished lip rims. Just replaced the lower right control arm.

Replaced all the suspension bushings about 3 years ago. Replaced the stock shocks with some sport tuned KYB's all around at that time. Replaced the 12 disk CD changer (Ebay). Second paint job about 4 tears ago by a Lexus authorized body shop - (Massapequa) Could have been a bit better on the detail but not a bad job.

As far as repairs goes, with 300,000+ miles, stuff will ware out, but I've only changes the expected mechanicals once. One water pump, one traction control computer ($60 Ebay), break lines, etc. The trickiest was another factory defect with the negative power harnest. Car would die then come back to life. Freaky. Changed the water pump and timing belt at 92,000. Getting ready to do it again. Dealer says if the water pump does not leak, the belt should last. So far they are right but I don't want to push it.

You new SC4 owners can use me as a resource. Due to my miles and overall excellent condition, my Coupe was the first to exhibit some unknown issues that the dealer had not seen until then, but worked with me to diagnose and remedy.

Let me know if anyone out there has more miles and what you experience has been. Share with me your war stories.

I'll post some pix when I have some spare time. Overall, this is the best car I've ever owned! More reliable than my Porsche 928, not as hot as my 930 Turbo but way more practical and inexpensive to own and operate. Blows away all the American cars I've owned. 332,000 on the original power train and going strong! Anybody have a similar experience?