Accident damaged 4kq - Advice and Opinions welcomed

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

Hello Chuck......I'm probably just going to confuse you.......Three years
ago my son totalled my nice reconditioned red 86 4kq, and I have looked for
a functional replacement for the car ever since. The crush zones collapsed
and nobody got hurt permanently, so I thought that was a good thing. The
shock of the accident and all the related problems kept me from spending
much time or energy thinking about the car I had just lost. But time has
changed that.

I now realize that I haven't found any other car that is better set up to
hold the road and go around corners and which drives like it was on rails.
That is GONE now.

I probably couldn't have replaced that car with anything that handles
better or as well, outside of a Ur-Quattro.

Lots of owners considered the 1984 4kq to have had stiffer springs than
later models, and the springs lasted longer. I think it had a closer gear
ratios than later 4000's. In my opinion, your 4kq stock was the best of the
4000 series. None of the cars that followed, except the Ur-Quattros,
matched it. Again, that is an opinion.

I realize now that I will miss my 86 as long as I live, and I will spend
the rest of my life trying to get back to that on-rails handling. It was
unique and incredible. This I am sure of, after 3 years of looking.

I'm sorry I let it go, but it didn't make FINANCIAL sense to try to fix it.
That car was really totalled.  In retrospect, it made a lot of emotional
sense to go out and find another one, but I didn't have hindsight working
for me at the time.

So, I took the $2,600 the other guy's insurance offered, plus a thousand
for pain and suffering or something, and then I bought it back from the
insurance company and sold it as a parts car for $500. The tranny was
probably worth that much, as was the recently rebuilt engine. And then
there were all those new suspension parts, and great wheels and tires,
and.....Lots of people benefited  by getting the parts.  And the body had
enough rust lurking under the paint around the rear fenders and doors to
make one wonder how long it would have been able to continue, without
sinking thousands into the body.

But all that is rationalization and financial reasoning and logic and
common sense.

Today I realize that owning and driving a nice 4kq  for about 5 years was a
gift to me, something that made my daily life considerably more fun.

I'm trying to show you a different perspective than just dollars and
cents.  If you spend some time with that perspective, you might view the
choices differently.

I took you with me in a time machine of imagination, to a date three years
from now. And you have some idea about how you _might_ feel later if you
let go of the car right now.  Maybe you will do that, grab the money, and
find another one or a Ur-Q and put your time and money into it. Maybe you
will find another one and keep this one as a parts car. Maybe you didn't
feel the same way as me about how that car handled. But before you let go
of it, try to get in touch with how you value the way that specific car
felt when you were driving it around corners and think about how much daily
pleasure that gave you, before you get too bogged down in financial
considerations. I think that is where the real value of that car can be
found, and if you don't put that kind of price tag on it, somebody else might.

Everybody dies, and you can never go home again. But you can try to live as
long and as well as possible, and driving a nice 4kq can be part of that.

Doyt Echelberger
old geezer in Ohio




 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At 12:58 PM 8/23/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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>Greetings Listers:
>Sorry for the length of this post, but I have some processing/grieving
>to do...
>
>Unfortunately my 84 4kq was damaged in an accident recently (don't ask!)
>and I'm having  a hard time accepting that I may have personally turned
>it into a "parts" car.
>
>The damage:
>Right front fender, hood, core support, lower valence and headlight
>assembly are crunched (need to be replaced to fix it right.)
>Bumper, energy absorber and support are pushed down.  Bumper may be
>bent. Top bumper trim and grill crunched.
>Top-notch body shop says it needs to be put on the rack, smaller shop
>guy I know says he can get it 'pretty close' without a rack ($1100 body
>and paint labor to have it done in the shop).
>
>Before the accident:
>175k miles.  Aside from the AC and a missing window switch pretty much
>everything on the car is complete and operational.
>Car is all original except Stebro exhaust, ATE power disc rotors and
>tire size.
>Interior is near perfect with one small hole in  driver's seat
>(cigarette burn from previous owner?), crack in speaker grill and broken
>plastic trim on seat runner rail.
>All exterior trim is intact, including black plastic windshield trim,
>except rear door handle trim and 3 of the black plastic center caps for
>the wheels..
>It is due for a tune, needs bushings in the rear and for the shift
>linkage and has a crack in the windshield (have used replacement).  Tiny
>bit of rust at paint chips (3 or 4 places.)
>Everyone says the accident is such a shame since it was in such "nice
>shape" otherwise.  Of course as the proud owner I cannot more fully
>agree!
>
>Should I fix it?
>If I sell it as-is would someone else fix it? or part it out?
>Anyone venture a guess how much I could get for it as-is?
>
>If I fix it, I need to know:
>Anyone have a parts donor car?
>I expect hood can come from any 4k?
>Core support and valence need to come from any 5cyl 4k?
>Bumper, fender and headlight parts could come from any pre 85 4k?
>Grill is 84 4kq only?
>Is $300 a good ball park for the used parts?
>
>On the other hand, I have the opportunity to buy a nice '94 90CS.  It
>has 65K dealer-maintained miles and has been "babied" by my
>sister-in-law since it was new.
>I'm told it is in excellent condition but will not know until next week
>when I go to CA to check it out.
>I have some concerns that I will be disappointed with the auto trans,
>non-Quattro and less of the "old Audi" feel than my '84.  Forget the
>A4's, a 94 seems like a "new" Audi to me, having moved from a 78 Fox to
>an 84 4k in 1984 and then to this 84 4kq about 5 years ago.
>
>Maybe it's not as big of a change as I imagine.
>
>It'll be hard to let go of the 84.
>No more:
>"It has FIVE cylinders?"   Or "you really want to buy 5 (spark plugs)?"
>"Why are the back windows manual and the front electric?"
>"Wow, they had all-wheel drive in 1984"
>"This car is almost 20 years old?"
>
>Though I won't miss hearing my 3 year old ask:  "Why does Mama call your
>car 'cracky'?"
>
>She just doesn't get it son.
>
>
>
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