Thanks so far with all the help!! (89 quattro 100)

[Beatty, Robert]

-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Karapasas [mailto:nk9 at acsu.buffalo.edu]



Hi all...
thanks for all the help so far. Here is the scoop on the car I am looking
at:
89 quattro 100  (manual tranny) with 98.5k on it for ~$2000/obo

I took a look at it yesterday and outside of a few surface dings, the body
was good. One of the rear windows didn't work. There were a few internal
cosmetic issues... what concerned me is the following...

1. Do engines in this vintage normally idle rough? (put put put put
sounding...)

NO.  Something wrong there.  Perhaps just O2 sensor or perhaps a vacuum leak
someplace.


2. The shifting was REALLY loose... and if I shifted too "quickly"
(according to the owner) a flashing oil can symbol would come up on the
display  for a few seconds...

That sounds more like low oil.  If the car is down over a qt and you shift
or stop/turn hard, you can get the low oil symbol.  Thats a big warning flag
of not paying attention to the car.

3. The owner was another student who had it for a year.... no maint.
records, it was bought by the previous owner at auction. He is leaving for
china in a week and needs to sell the car.
When I asked about the timing belt his response was "what is that?"

Should I even bother talking him down or should I just give up on the Audi
dream...


Nick k.

As I am on my 3rd type 44 (all turbos), I would say pass on it unless he
wants to give it to you for about 500$.  Thats all its worth really.  For 2k
you can get a 5ktq/200tq that would require as much work, maybe a little
more.

If you need good dependable transportation but your on a budget, I would
have to say, the type 44 is really not for you unless you have an
outstanding pick-n-pull junkyard in your area.  The pentosin problems on
this car are legendary and nevermind the doorhandles/doorswitches and other
well known problems.  Don't get me wrong here.  I absolutely love my 86 5ktq
and the 89 200tq wagon I have, but they require plenty of TLC and a bit of
$$$ to go with that.

If you have 2k to spend on a car and want a fun Audi to drive and dont need
quattro, I would buy a Coupe GT.  They are one of the best handling front
wheel drive cars around, the motors last FOREVER and there is plenty of
small mods you can play around with to increase the cars performance without
breaking the bank.  I still miss my 86 coupegt it was a blast to drive.

Another possibility is a 4kq, however I don't have much experience with the
4k and wouldn't be able to tell you what to look for in particular for that
car.

Good luck

Rob

86 5ktq
89 200tqa