91 200 TQ 20V reliability (was no subject)

[Eric Huppert]

Nick,

Figured I'd jump in as I'm procrastinating on the present wrapping "thing".

My type 44 ownership should substantiate my reply:

	1. 87 5000 CS, Car was chipped, sold it to my oldest son for peanuts with
almost 400k on it. He trashed it fairly quickly, but it still ran. (Pulled
chip out to put in car #2 below)

	2. Another 87 5000 CS I picked up as a parts car. Supposedly bad trans, but
was only linkage. Car had 168k, sold that for what I had in it (less than
1500) to my second oldest son. Car is presently in storage at Fort Drum
while he's on his second trip to Afghanistan, will be interesting to see how
easily it starts in Feb when he returns

	3. 90 200 TQ which presently has 320k. Bought this from son # 2 when he
deployed to Afghanistan. Ended up completely doing suspension, struts,
control arms, subframe bushings, tie rods, EVERYTHING! Fixed all the little
things that were wrong. Planned on keeping this for a while, but came across
a ebay steal on a 91 200 20V. Actually sold it to my youngest son who is
still driving it. Sold his 80Q to partially pay for the 200.

	4. 91 200 20V since spring. This car had better than 14k in repair receipts
from a previous owner that obviously had way too much money! Major repairs,
not just little stuff! Done allot of sorting out since I bought, car is very
decent! Wouldn't hesitate to drive cross country, especially since I put the
sport seats in!

5. Just got another ebay 200 20V. Was diagnosed as a bad fuel pump or
pressure regulator. Turned out to be the MM hose, yahoo.. Going to sort this
one out and sell. (Just retired from the military, hoping to flip some cars
so I can delay getting another real job)

My thoughts on these cars...

Drive train is fairly bullet proof. Electrical can be tricky, but if you fix
things correctly the first time (mechanical and electrical) these cars will
last for a long time. Repairs can be time consuming, and require some
patience, but if you're doing the work yourself it's not quite so costly.
Lots of type 44 web-sites on the net (SJM's site is super!) and they
document all of the typical problems and the repair of. Parts are easily
available, but a little pricey.

Have driven a lot of rental cars over the last ten years. Am always amazed
at how crappy they run and how uncomfortable allot of the newer US (and
other) cars actually are. (Well the A8 diesel, also gas and S class Mercedes
in Germany were a touch, I mean allot, better, but a whole different class
of car!)

I was previously commuting to the tune of 40K a year. A new car wasn't
feasible as I would have taken a beating on depreciation for the mileage.
Once I started with the Audis it was apparent that longevity wasn't a issue.
Could pick up a car fairly cheap and drive the wheels off it! (Put 200k on
the first 87). Way cheaper than a car payment, even considering parts and my
time to fix! It also helps I was a mechanic before my last career change!

If taken care of and fixed properly these cars will provide pretty decent
gas mileage and are comfortable... The build quality is substantially better
than a lot of the newer cars (definitely to include the A4's in my opinion
also.

Can you tell I'm pro 44's and I5's? Would like a 95 S6, but a little pricey
for my current financial situation.

Happy Hunting!

Cheers, Eric