what would you rather have?

[Jason Kohls]

On 10/28/05, Tihol Tiholov <t.tiholov at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd get the sedan, providing you've driven both cars and like them about the
> same.

Haven't had a chance to drive the Coupe; its in Toronto (I'm in
London) but a friend of mine in TO (who's an Audi driver) is going to
check it out/test drive it for me and let me know.  The 90 drives
great but again, I'm comparing this to a Sonoma :)

> Also, I hope you had it inspected by a good mechanic, who knows
> Audi's.   Main reason - lower odo reading and similar price.  Most important
> - has timing belt been changed recently?

The 90 has had the timing belt changed.  My only concern is that the
90 seems to have been neglected.

It was bought as a winter car over a year ago and he lets it sit until
the snow flies.  Needs an oil change badly.

The alignment is pretty bad and theres that famous "lifter chatter"
until it warms up.

Theres a dent in the spoiler (cosmetic, I know, but you can't really
do much about this) and theres a big crack at the bottom left of the
bumper cover (where the foglights are -- is this the valence?) which
is too low for a trailer hitch so it could be a curb hit.

Theres a little bit of rust underneath (mainly by the God-awful
exhaust job that was done to repair a hole) and was serviced by, IMO,
a bit of a "hack" for a mechanic.

CV boots have a tear in them; I hear thats a lengthy job labour-wise to replace.

He's never done undercoating at all.

The lower plastic trim pieces on the door panels are curling up at the
corners at coming off; my friend says that you'll never get those to
stick down, they need to be replaced.

My concern is that while the 90 may be the better drive, I'm buying
"as is" and there may be more work that we didn't uncover (my friend
is mechanically-savvy).  The seller said that if he's selling
certified, then he's quote, "going to make some money on this car". 
He said that he sold it in the spring (financing fell thru) for $6000
as is, in pretty much the same condition (like I said, hes not driving
it) but I'm not sure if the market value around here may be a little
inflated compared with Toronto for lack of availability.

The Coupe on the other hand, was owned by the dealer's son, which
means it's probably been well looked-after.


>  1. $500 is a lot for brake parts.

I priced them through altrom.com.

Specifically (CAN dollars):

Rotor 	276 x 25mm 	895 615 301 B 	$91.10
Rotor 	276 x 25mm 	895 615 301 B 	$91.10
Front Pads - Pagid 	 	D899 P 	$205.90
Rear Pads - Pagid 	 	D222 P 	$62.80

>  Not sure what you mean by replacing the hand brake, ususally new cables
> would suffice - 2 at 30-50 bux each.

Ya, the cable is gone.

>
>  > ...  The exhaust is going to be an issue in the next year or two as well.
>
>  An exhaust shop could make you a custom system for much les than OEM.  A
> few years ago I had such system renewed for less than 200 bux on my 1988 Typ
> 89.  Aftermarket catalists are cheaper and even higher flow.

I figured I would go this route.  I have to do an emissions test but
I'm not too concerned, which is why I'm going to hold off on that
work.


>  Milage is too high for my taste.  Better be ready to work on that car -
> waht about suspension bushings (there are MANY of them), shocks,
> transmission and engine oil used, body creaks, esp. rear hatch ... ?

Thanks for tips; I'll get my friend in TO to check that out for me.

>  >Spec/review wise, I've heard really good things about the 90 and so-so
> things about the CQ: anyone care to jump in?
>
>  The 90 is a very nice relaxed ride, the main complain being lack of
> sportiness - vague steering feel, slow responsiveness, etc.
>
>  >I'm new to the Audi game ...
>
>  Need to learn the cars, have a tech manual, some time and desire to do your
> own work.

Definitely going to be doing some of this work myself and looking forward to it.