1990 - 90Q 20V in Marketplace - Mauve Color

[Jim Jordan]

Hi,

I continue to be fascinated by the Marketplace ad for this car.  I contacted
the owner by email and his reply was essentially non responsive.  The ad
says the body/chassis are great, the engine turns over but won't run.  The
car is ~500 miles from where I live;  any comments on the efficacy of buying
it to make it a runner?

Based on the "turns over but won't run" comment, I immediately think of a
broken timing belt :-(.  

I asked if he had pulled the codes and got no response, which provokes
another question.  Audiworld says this car displays the codes through the
radio.  Anyone know how that works?  Radio must be switched on?  Unless the
codes have been erased and they're not supposed to be on a California car,
which this is, they should reveal a lot about what's keeping the engine from
running.

TIA.

Cheers!

Jim Jordan