car shopping

[tom winter]

on 6/16/04 3:34 PM, Kent McLean at kentmclean at mindspring.com wrote:

> Gentlepeople,
> 
> I'm taking a job as a traveling sales person. My '89 200,
> with 237K miles on her, isn't big enough to hold all the
> samples, so I need a wagon.  Since it's a commission-only
> job, and I won't see a paycheck for 3 months, I'm bottom
> feeding. I was shopping for a mid-90s Passat wagon, but
> here's what I found:
> 
> 1 - 1994 Audi 100 Avant, V6, auto, FWD, 138K miles, needs minor
> work. Will probably trade for my Miata for it. Good: newer Audi,
> clean.  Bad: FWD. Questionable: the automatic.
> 
> 2 - 1987 Audi 5K Avant. Quattro, 5-speed, MC-1. 128K miles.
> Good: Dirt cheap. Fairly low miles. I keep my 200 as a parts
> car (the Eur lights fit). Bad: Older than my '89, mechanical
> condition unknown.
> 
> 3 - The dark horse: 1992 Audi V8, Pearl and black. 173K miles.
> Needs some work. Good: it's my lust car. Bad: not a wagon, high
> miles, and poor gas mileage.
> 
> I'm leaning towards the '94 100 as it's newer and without
> the complication of quattro. The 5K avant would work, and
> if it broke, I could walk away from it.  The V8 is a crazy
> idea that I could be talked in to.
> 
> So, start talking.  Should I go for the "reliability" of
> the '94 100?  Take a chance on an old 5K Avant?  Or be
> stupid and pop for the V8, space-for-samples be damned?
> I'm looking for opinions as to "what would you do" given
> a) the need for a reliable vehicle, b) that can put a lot
> of miles on it, c) with gas at $2.50/gallon, and d) the
> need for samples space.
> 
> Kent
> '89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy"
> _______________________________________________
> quattro mailing list
> quattro at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> 
Kent - I have a 5000 wagon. It's a true joy to drive (it's been chipped, so
It's damn fast), It rules in the snow (I live in Colorado). And I like the
option of being able to lock both the differentials. And it hauls a ton of
stuff. Put a rack with a Yakima or Thule space case or similar carrier on
top and you can haul way more than one person should. That option would work
for the 100, too. And you could do the same for the V8, as well. The extra
wind resistance of these carriers sucks down gas, but it's easy to swap them
on and off of the roof, and just have it up there when you need it (the V8
is your lust car, after all, and a space case would give it a ton of
carrying capacity).

Personally I hate automatics, so that would be a deal killer for me. In my
winter driving experience, while the quattro rules, front wheel drive is
also really, really good if you spend the $$ for top notch rubber. So I
wouldn't make the FWD a deal killer if the 100 is a nice car and you feel it
would be good for you.

Add in $300 for the rack system for the wagons, $400 for the V8 to the total
cost. You'll have to get the towers and other attachments for the V8 new,
but you can score crossbars and the space case (bolt the crossbars onto the
factory rack on the avants with standard hardware) used from the classifieds
or ebay.

Good luck!

Tom