Yes, once again, we have Pontiac versus Ze Germans. But this time, they’re a little more evenly matched: both are AWD sedans with V6s and automatic transmissions, both are rare cars these days, and both will have you combing eBay for parts if the wrong system fails. Sound like fun? Too bad, it’s what we’re doing.
You all weren’t too happy about choosing between two Chrysler products yesterday either. I’m always a little saddened by assertions that a particular car, or make of car, is “complete crap,” with nothing redeeming about it. I just don’t think that’s true of any car. Sure, there are cars I wouldn’t buy again because of bad experiences (looking at you, GM-era Saab), but I can still find something positive to say about even the worst old hoopties I’ve had to drive. Besides, if you hated this choice, just wait until you see what I’m going to make you choose between later in the week.
Grandma’s Acclaim won yesterday’s vote, by a narrow margin, based mostly on its lower mileage and better condition. I think it’s worth the extra $500 as well; that van looks like it was ridden hard and put away wet. Grandma took good care of her car, and it shows. Besides, the 2.5/Torqueflite combo won’t win any drag races, but it’s reliable and easy to maintain.
All-wheel-drive cars are common these days, but back in the 80s and 90s, they were few and far between. But it seemed like nearly every manufacturer dabbled with 4WD or AWD at the time: the Ford Tempo, Mazda Protege, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Camry, Dodge Caravan, and Pontiac 6000 were all available with driveaxles going to all four wheels. Subaru and Audi, of course, made a business out of selling 4WD and AWD cars and did them well. You don’t see many of the others these days; I don’t think any of them sold particularly well. I haven’t seen an AWD Pontiac 6000 listed for sale in many years, and when the next listing was for an Audi Quattro only a few years newer, I knew it was meant to be. So here they are.
1989 Pontiac 6000 STE – $5,500
Engine/drivetrain: 3.1-liter OHV V6, three-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Waterford, WI
Odometer reading: 49,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, but needs a little work
General Motors was trying really hard to run with the Europeans in the 80s, without a whole lot of success. Cadillac went after Audi 4000 and BMW 318i buyers with the Cimarron, which frankly was like bringing a banana to a gun fight. Chevy tried to add some black and red trim to the Celebrity and actually called it the Eurosport – which didn’t fool anybody. Pontiac offered a similar package on its 6000 sedan, called the STE, for Special Touring Edition. It was no match for a BMW 5 Series, which is what GM wanted it to be, but it was a pretty cool Pontiac.
The STE package included the optional V6, originally 2.8 liters but punched out to 3.1 liters by 1989. Front-wheel-drive STEs could be had with either an automatic or a five-speed manual, but the AWD version was automatic-only. Worse, it wasn’t even the four-speed TH440-T4, but the lowly TH125C three-speed unit. This car might have been a whole lot better received if it had a stick. This one has been sitting for decades and has only 49,000 miles on its fancy digital odometer. It runs and drives, and the seller has driven it short distances, but the cooling fan is dead, and it needs some brake work. It probably needs more than that, actually, after sitting so long.
The STE was the top of the 6000 range, which, since it’s a 1980s Pontiac, means buttons. Lots and lots of buttons. It has stereo controls on the steering wheel, which are redundant to the thousand or so buttons on the stereo itself. The climate controls are also a bunch of tiny buttons. The power seat controls are a bunch more buttons in the center console. How many of those buttons still work after thirty years in a barn is anyone’s guess. But it does all look nice and clean inside, at least.
It has a couple of rust spots outside, but the seller includes some underside photos, and it all looks good under there. The paint is shiny, and all the trim is intact. You’d be the belle of the ball at an 80s-themed car gathering in this car, for sure; there can’t be very many left.
1996 Audi A6 Quattro – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.8-liter OHC V6, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Danville, KY
Odometer reading: 110,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Audi wasn’t the first to stick an all-wheel-drive system under a passenger car – that would be Jensen – but it took the concept and ran with it. After changing the face of rally racing with the original Quattro, Audi became synonymous with all-wheel-drive. Audi makes two-wheel-drive cars, but who cares? That little Quattro badge on the back is what we all came to see.
The original Quattro system featured manually-lockable differentials and was available with a manual transmission only, but by 1996 an automatic transmission was available, and the diffs took care of themselves. The funky five-cylinder engine was also gone, replaced by an overhead-cam V6. It’s a more fitting drivetrain for a comfy executive-class sedan, but it’s not as much fun. This one runs and drives great, and has just had its timing chain replaced, along with a new radiator and thermostat.
This one has a lot of buttons on the dash as well, come to think of it. It has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a German luxury sedan, and this is well before the touch-screen era. This is the only clear shot we get of the interior, but it looks good in there.
This pearl-white color was the color for Audis in the 90s. It seems bland, but photos do not do it justice. It’s really pretty in bright sunlight. Personally, I’d prefer dark green, which was the other common color for these, but I wouldn’t kick this one out of my garage. It’s nice and shiny, and rust shouldn’t be a problem; Audi started galvanizing its bodies in the 80s.
Every family crossover has all-wheel-drive these days, but it used to be something special. One of these is an evolution of a legend, and the other is a valiant attempt to emulate it. Neither one will be low-maintenance, and parts for both will be an increasing problem as time goes by. So your mission is to decide which one is more worth the trouble: the one-off American special, or the classic German with a pedigree?
People who think offering crap like this Pontiac for $5500 is OK. Both of these are shit deals but a nasty old, barn car of zero significance?
Who is buying this crap at these prices? The entire car market makes me want to vomit.
If I had to choose one of these and face the inevitable wrenching and repair expenses, I’d go with the Audi — at least I’d be sinking time and money into something I’d actually enjoy driving.
80s GM interior design has not aged well, and this 6000’s 3-speed auto is a non-starter. But I have fond memories of a Passat (S4 cousin) I owned for 180,000 miles before having to reluctantly put it down.
I like that you try to find the good in every car. You live by the code, WWJDD. What Would Jim Douglass Do? I go Audi this time, though that 6000 is one of the better looking cars of its time. I’ll always remember the Car and Driver cover with the 6000 STE getting air and the one word tagline. ACHTUNG!
I did like the looks of the six-headlight front end of those Pontiacs, but I think Audi knew what it was doing with AWD a lot better than GM did at that point. (Probably still does.)
So, despite my dislike of VWAG after some personal experience, Audi gets the vote today.
But in my personal experience, a FWD ‘ 89-ish Olds 88 even without dedicated snow tires, was enough to get around fairly hilly Cleveland without getting stuck.
Braking traction is really more important than motivating traction. And either candidate needs good tires, when those conditions occur.
Those Pontiac 6000’s were garbage.
The LE didn’t have the buttons on the steering wheel, and the horn cover was prone to fall off.
My mom had an 86 6000 LE, in that color, and we were rear-ended at a stop by a Toyota pickup going 70 mph. The horn cover came off and broke my mom’s nose.
Since the car was only 2 years old, the insurance decided to try and fix it. The car never rode right from that point forward, and the paint *never* matched. It took 2 years to try and get it right, and mom gave up and bought an 88 Buick Regal instead….
and then it blew a rod climbing Grocers Grade in California at less than 20k miles, in 100+ degree weather.
Mom always said that Buick was pretty but terrible.
“ …the cooling fan is dead, and it needs some brake work”
I was thinking for $5500, that Pontiac better be perfect. It’s not, so I voted for the Audi.
I guess if I’m going to be searching for parts I would prefer it be to a cool desirable vehicle instead of a rare because no one wanted it Pontiac. Audi for the win
Both of these cars are in shockingly good condition aesthetically. Although rust spots (however small) on a car that was barely driven is a concern. I actually liked the 6000 STE when I was a young ‘un, it was at least the most interesting of the J-body cars. (But for a little more money the larger C-body cars were much better, although none of them were Pontiacs IIRC.)
On the other hand, my uncle had an Audi of a similar vintage, and that thing was an absolute shop queen. There’s a reason why you don’t see a lot of mid-late 80s Audis or Pontiacs around. But I do like seeing them!
The Pontiac 6000 SUX….er….STE is kind of a neat time capsule, but for $1000 less and in seemingly better condition, I could have fun with a modern-ish Audi. Winter beater, perhaps?
Then I’d likely spend the thousand clams on whatever broke on the Audi.
The 6000 time capsule needs to stay closed a little longer, methinks. GM ’80s nostalgia still brings more ‘Ugh, this is how we lived?’ in the same vein as smoking indoors versus ‘My idealized childhood world without flaw’ that certain generations now seemingly fondly idealize.
The Audi still presents as a modern car.
The Pontiwreck would only look good as a background car in a movie during an 80s flashback sequence.
If the Poncho was in good running condition, with the cobwebs shaken out, it might win me over on the test drive. But it would have to be really sharp.
The Audi’s fresh timing chain is probably worth half the aaking price. Still, I’d miss the 5-banger.
The GoooSTE was a great effort by GM for those days, but it ain’t no Audi, and I have to think lots of bits for that car are polished unobtanium at this point. So German for me, though I am SURE there is plenty of potential regret involved in an ancient Audi too.
Not even that shitty Pontiac could get me to vote for a damn Audi.
This was easy- Audi is the nicer, better car (although w/ higher repair bills, etc) I have grown fonder of the 6000 and similar platforms due to this site. It will run badly longer than other cars will run at all. I miss Pontiac! That Audi will be a lot of fun to drive
I had a ’93 100 CS FWD 5MT in this same color. It IS a fantastic color choice.
And if an Autopian happens to buy this car, I think I have a bottle of touch up paint they can have for the price of shipping!
Always liked the 6000STE, especially the earlier ones. But wow, looking at these two side by side really brings home how much more advanced and skillful the Audi’s design is, outside and in. I can’t even consider the Pontiac next to something so thoroughly superior.
I came into this READY to vote Pontiac. It is very 80s cool, it is a real color, the design is pretty neat, the mileage was low, it is probably cheaper to maintain…
but then…
that Audi…
It is gorgeous. So incredibly clean. The color is so perfect for the car. It looks cared for and you only do that kind of work on a car that has been driven. I mean, look at the well installed CarPlay/Android Auto touch screen tucked onto the dash! This is a car that was used in a real world way.
I don’t know what world we are in, but I am going to say, to me at least, the cheaper German option feels like the safer choice. I worry that Pontiac would be a basket case of cheap plastic bits that you can’t find anymore.
Pontiac all day long. Never understood the appeal of most Audis and have not enjoyed them the handful of times I’ve driven them.
I’ll deal with the GM risks and enjoy a rare survivor.