Copart - Warning! Long Read!

[Jake]

Sorry for he long post. I will try to condense it as much as I can.

My son has just purchased his first car. A 2012 Audi A4 Quattro, 2.0 TFSI engine, 160K miles. Not my choice of car but he liked the looks and the AWD. We bought it from an auction site and it is an As Is sale. The drive home reveled the probable reason for the sale at an auction. Low oil pressure at idle. Research shows this is a common problem for this engine along with oil consumption. I decided to throw some money at it and see if it was anything simple. Replaced both oil pressure switches ($25 Each), still have the problem. There was what I thought was higher than normal negative crankcase pressure, replaced the PCV valve($70), still have the problem. Well, might as well replace the oil pump ($450), Still have the problem. There is a common problem with the "Balance Shafts" that is probably the culprit and I will let a shop replace those. Oil pressure light was off as long as the engine was over 1000 RPM, and it had 25 psi at 2200 rpm. I made an appointment with a good Audi shop about 110 miles away. I figured the oil pressure was ok at highway speeds so thought I would drive the car there, bad decision. 6 miles from our destination, the engine died and would not crank over. I had it towed to the shop ($180) and they informed me that the engine was locked up!  Estimate of $7500 to $8500 for a used 150k mile motor installed with 6 month warranty.  My son purchased the car for $6000, add the parts we installed and we are over $6500 in it. The car might only be worth $8k -$9k.

This is where the Copart question comes in. Does anyone have any experience or know anyone who does have experience with Copart? My thought is to purchase a crashed car, and simply install the motor from that car to our car. I figure it was a running engine when it got in the accident so it should be good to just install it. I would look for a rear end or side damaged car. I would also run a Carfax on it to see the service history because there is a history of bad timing chains on this engine also. Hopefully find on that had them replaced.

Is there any hidden fees on Copart? I believe it will cost $99 for a limited membership for a year. There are 3 locations here in MN.

I am also thinking of just pulling the timing covers off and see if it is the balance shaft that is locked up and replace those ($500), but there could be problems with cam bearings. Depends on the reason for the lock up and what went through the engine.

 

Not sure what direction to go in. It is now winter and I do not have a shop so doing it outside is out of the question.

Any thoughts or information on how Copart works and what kind of money a car from there would cost would be appreciated!!

Sorry for the long post!

 

Brian

[Steve G]

Good cars at copart get sucked up by the car flippers that build death traps.. carfax is not even close to accurate, just because it’s hit in the rear does not mean anything else is good. You will be surprised how high a car sells for at auction and if you are a private purchaser your cars to choose from will be limited. I had a beautiful Camry xse that totalled and it sold through copart... whoever purchased it must have been furious when they found out the transmission was bad. Do lots of research before before going down this dark path..

[Rob Peters]

Are there any u-pull-it lots near you.  I am sure other models may have the same engine.

Did your son buy it from a private party or dealer?  Some states have Lemon Law's on the books.  You may be able to at least get his money back but maybe not after all of the work you did trying to repair it.  Pennsylvania does have a lemon law.

rob

[Andy's Auto]

There is a fine line between a high mileage Toyota or Honda versus a VW product. I get the 1.8s and the 2.0s in my shop daily. Veedub/Audis are my oil leaking, timing chain stretching, can't hold it's own coolant kinda car. Not hard to work on if you have the right tools, and by 2005, the 13mm bolt was mostly a thing of the past. Now it is Etorx, torx, and even more Etorx. 

My advice is get rid of it and go for something a little more Japanese. I always tell my customers that European cars are like condoms. Things you buy new.

[420ponies]

I don't care who you are, these cars are cool to have!!  If it were me, I'd check around to the various salvage yards for your application.Some places pull these motors,(ecu's with them) ,so the customer just installs the complete setup. Even if it's a day trip away, you know what your getting. I use to get on the salvage yard network back  in the day, and could find what I was looking for within a couple of days. The drive was worth it every time!!

[Jake]

Hey kids, Thanks for the replies!

Steve - I really don't want to flip anything, just pull the motor and either part out the crashed car or sell it to the scrap yard depending on the damage of the car. I know there will be no guarantees that the motor will be any good.

Rob- unfortunately this was an as is sale from an auction site. The auction site is very close to the Copart yard so I would imagine that the auction site bought it from Copart and just resold it.  No pick and pull yards close that I know of. We have 2 salvage yards close to our small town, hour drive to anywhere else.

Guess I should start calling around.

Andy - I wouldn't mind getting rid of it but he has to much invested to just junk it out. The only way to not lose as much is to put more money into it. That doesn't really sound like it makes sense, but 6 grand is a lot to throw away.

420ponies - Yes it was a cool car right up to when it locked up!  😃 (Still is a cool car)

Are there deals to be had on Copart?  It looks like you can go to the yard and inspect the cars but all of the Copart yards are 5-6 hours away. If I did that I could at least get a good VIN for a Carfax. Sounds like you can't trust Carfax 100% also though.

Let me know you thoughts kids!

Thanks,

Brian