[V8] Audi 5k parts needed

[Jay M]

Wow George...that sounds like one hell of a trip. I guess things could have been worse...anyway glad you made it home safely.
 
I just picked up an S6 Avant last Saturday (I caught wind of the car thanks to the advertised link in one of the email messages I saw posted here) and my journey was about 700 miles round trip. The scenario you mentioned about your return trip is always in the back of my mind whenever I pick up a used car and drive it home. Fortunately, my round trip journey was uneventful (especially the 350 mile ride home with the "new" Avant.) 
 
Last Saturday morning I picked up a rental car (one way rental) at my local airport about 20 minutes from my house, drove the 350 miles to the seller's house, inspected the car, test drive, paid for car, signed title, etc. and the seller (and his wife in seperate cars) were kind enough to follow me to their local airport about 30 miles away so I can drop off my rental car & drive my newly purchased Avant back home. The car is now resting comfortably in its new garage!
 
Jay  
 
> Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:36:17 -0500
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> From: gselby4x4 at earthlink.net
> Subject: RE: [V8] Audi 5k parts needed
> 
> Here's my long distance pickup story:
> 
> Looked at a BMW 325iC on eBay, was 2nd highest bidder. A week later, 
> car is back up for auction. I email the guy, ask why the first sale 
> fell through, and he said bidder never contacted him. So I bid, and 
> get the cheaper than the first time. So I email the guy and ask him 
> if he can pick me up at a hotel the next weekend. He says sure. Car 
> is N of Baltimore, I can fly to Baltimore, take light rail as far 
> north as I can go, there's a hotel at the end of the line he picks me 
> up the next morning, I drive car home. I call and reserve flight, 
> make hotel reservations, and e-mail him back along with my phone 
> number to finalize details. I never hear from him until the day he's 
> supposed to pick me up, and he asks if I'm in Baltimore.
> 
> I reply heck no, I never heard from you again, so I assumed the deal 
> was off. However he says the deal is on, so I tell him I can drive 
> up right then in my 300E, meet at the same hotel the next morning, 
> I'll drive the BMW home, fly back and pick up my MB (I really wanted 
> the car, I had a 318iC automatic, the new car was a 325iC Sport, 
> manual, new black paint on tan interior.) So a day later than 
> originally planned, I'm there, he shows up on time and everything is 
> groovy. Turns out he's selling the car for his cousin, and didn't 
> return my e-mail because he was in the hospital for cancer 
> treatment. So things are sounding better (for me.) We get to 
> cousin's house and car looks just as advertised, runs as 
> promised. Cousin is selling car due to legal troubles, and can't 
> leave the state. He offers to sell me an extra set of wheel and 
> tires (18", I really didn't want anything bigger than a 16" for this 
> car, 18's just don't look right to me) but I decline. I pay and 
> leave. I put the top down, start cruising home to eastern NC. I 
> make it past DC, just at dusk cruising along I-95 at 80 mph and BOOM, 
> one of the back tires explodes. I pull off the road, a couple of 
> people stop to make sure I'm ok, and I go about changing the 
> tire. Then I discover the wheels have locks, and I don't have the 
> key. I call AAA, they send a guy and I figure everything is OK. He 
> says normally this wouldn't be a problem, but today I don't have the 
> wheel lock remover in my truck, and can't go back and get it. By now 
> it's 7:30 on a Saturday night, and all the tire shops in the area are 
> closing. We make it to one that's closing down, but will be open the 
> next morning. I ask if they have tires in the correct size, and they 
> reply they do, so I get a hotel, and await the call in the morning.
> 
> Wake up next morning to a call my car is ready, 2 new tires on, all 
> wheel locks removed. I get there and they put tires on, but they 
> aren't the right size, but I want to get home so I take it. I get 
> another hundred miles down the road to Petersburg and the car starts 
> shaking really badly. I pull over and discover one of the front 
> tires has a huge bulge, could have blown any time. So I stop and put 
> the spare on. Now I'm driving 55, don't want to chance going 70. I 
> get about 30 miles from home, and the car starts shaking bad 
> again. Pull over, another tire bulging. I'm out of spares, it's 
> rural NC with no tire shops open on Sunday, so I let a bunch of air 
> out of the tire to reduce the bulge, and drive home slowly. About a 
> mile from home it starts shaking bad again - the spare is now 
> bulging, but I make it home OK. Whew, who would have thought 4 
> tires would go bad on one trip?
> 
> Anyway I e-mail the cousin and ask how long the tires have been 
> sitting - he replies about 5 years. Doh! Would have been cheaper to 
> buy the extra set of tires and wheels he offered me at the house than 
> it ended up being with the hotel, and 2 tires I had to buy that I 
> ended up not being able to use, not even as a spare (wouldn't fit in 
> the space in the trunk.)
> 
> My return trip to pick up the MB was uneventful.
> 
> George Selby 
> 
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