I am a wimp (door handles, window switches, rust)

[Huw Powell]

>     HuwP> And a cheap fix
>     HuwP> will just be a waste of money or worse (you either won't get
>     HuwP> it back or the car will eventually rust worse)
> 
> This is why I wrote to the list.  Everyone seems to think this.  Why?
> I can see how shops could screw up whole paint jobs, but making existing rust
> spots worse?

because the "cheap" fix may not stop the rust from continuing at all. 
The car will be pretty for a year or two and then the patch will start
to disintegrate, perhaps even faster than the original rusty metal would
have.

> 
>     HuwP> You may be likely to get more $$ for the car eventually in
>     HuwP> pieces anyway - as time goes by the 4kq market is going to
>     HuwP> be more and more focussed on rust-free examples, I think.
> 
> Well the car's mostly bug free now, it'll need bushings and such and
> maybe 10 hrs or so from my clumsy hands to fix odds and ends.  Hmm, so
> are you suggesting parting it out?  Or was this a comment about
> getting it repainted?  What kind of prices are people seeing for late
> model working 4000KQ's anyway?

They are just not worth much.  They were selling for about $3k and under
7-8 years ago when I bought my coupe.  Trouble is, the book value is too
low to allow room for a "bug free" car to be worth much more than a
"typical example."  So what then matters?  The body.  As was just
discussed at length on the Ford Truck list, everything else is
replaceable.  Most buyers of an old vehicle would rather see pristine
sheet metal than every single power window switch or a rock solid idle.

when i looked up book on my '89 90Q, retial was about $5k, and those are
galvanised, newer, and slicker.   The "cool factor" demand for old 4kq's
may exist, but it is not for high dollar vehicles really.  It's for
beaters.

> 
> Oh another question: the car came with a fifth alloy wheel so when
> one of the tires ended up picking up a nail, I had another identical
> Toyo Proxes mounted on the spare wheel.  Had the punctured one plugged
> also so I now have 5 tires (I am confident about the plugged one now, but
> couldn't risk it before a road trip).  How should I rotate these on a
> quattro?  I want all five to get even wear.  Alignment seems OK with
> no noticeable uneven wear on tires.

front to rear & vice versa, leave spare out of it, methinks.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/