[V8] Follow up on the 'New' V8Q - Miles of Smiles (very long)

[Michael Larosa Jr]

Congrats Dave,


Scroll for answers to some of your questions...


daves745t at optonline.net wrote:
> I finally have some time to sit here, reflect and write about my 'new' V8Q. I don't know how closely the Board follows the V8Q market, but I had been following it quite closely as my research led me to really focusing on this car. I live in northeast NJ, and had been combing the classified/marketplace sections of various audi sites, as well as cars.com and autotrader.com.  I had some preliminary conversations with a two-owner '90 V8Q in Lebanon, NJ - seemed to be a very well cared for car at a good price.  But it sold before I had a chance to move beyond the email phase. Hope it went to a good home - anyone here buy it?
> 
> Then another one popped up on autotrader advertised as being one owner with 52,266 miles and documented service history for $7500 - negotiable. Hmmm, now that sounded interesting, but probably too good to be true. Maybe the seller forgot a "1" in front of 52,266. Turns out that a young guy's (late 20s/early 30s) family is friends with another family (Sting Ray Auto) that deals in used cars. This V8Q was traded in at Inskip Audi in Rhode Island. Inskip blew it out to Sting Ray, this guy happened to be there Sting Ray was unloading it and basically bought it on the spot purely based on its condition and not knowing anything whatsoever about Audis. After the impulse purchase he decides he doesn't need a third car, especially b/c he already has two boats. So he puts on autotrader.
> 
> I'm sure your asking how I know this - well I made a lot of phone calls. I spoke to the dealership who confirmed that the V8Q was bought there, serviced there and traded in there for another Audi.  They also confirmed the sale to Sting Ray Auto. (The car also has the original bill of sale in the glove compartment). The seller gave me the name of the owner, I looked him up and called him too.
> 
> The original owner was somewhat surprised at the reason I was calling, but was glad to talk to me.  He'll be 83 years old this year!! So doing the math, he bought this V8Q when he was 68! He said that the car never gave him a lick of trouble. I asked, why then did you trade it in? He very matter of factly told me, 'well, I just kind of wanted something new.'  I thought that was the best answer ever and I can only hope that when I'm 82 I want a new car. Anyway, he told me he just drove it around town a little bit and took a few weekend trips with it. The dealer service records confirmed the mileage too (basically the stamped Audi booklet). He told me his relatives were upset with him for trading it in, but he couldn't be bothered. I have a feeling that Inskip Audi didn't pay him squat on the trade. I asked him, but he said he couldn't remember.
> 
> When the indy mechanic did the PPI he told me it was worth every penny of asking price and to call him if I ended up passing on it. However, the seller stressed that $7500 was very negotiable when I spoke to him on the phone.  On my part, I was primarily concerned that the fact the car had not been driven as regularly as normal could also be a negative - brittle rubber, dry rot, etc. Plus there is no record of the timing belt being changed and it may also have the original water pump. So based on that, even though the indy mech said there were no cracks in the belt at all and no funny noises from the water pump, my intention was to replace them straight away if I bought the car, along with all fluids and do a tranny flush.  The windshield also took a rock and had an annoying crack right on the driver's side and the tires were just OK.
> 
> I kind of have a $2000 dollar rule with 'New' used cars - that when you get them, regardless of how well they've been maintained, and send them off to be checked by your own mech back home, you'll inevitably sink about two grand into it. So based on that, I explained my logic to the seller and offered $5000 with the incentive that I was not kicking tires and could make it happen this weekend.  He came back with $5500 and I took it, as long as the car was in the condition I was led to believe.
> 
> So at 5am, my buddy Al picked me up - first to drive to Holyoke (sp?), Mass. to buy a 1970s Husqvarna dirt bike for him to restore and then back down and over to Rhode Island for me. Well, as we approached the car, Al (who knows nothing about Audis, but quite a bit about cars in general) says, 'Geez, the damn thing looks new.' And it really did - not a dent, ding or scratch on it. Obviously stored indoors and from the feel and gloss of the paint, regularly waxed. Other than a little curb rash on one of the wheels, a little peeling of black on the bumpers (is that common?) and one rock chip, there was not a blemish that I could see.
> 
> Inside, based on the exterior condition, I was surprised to find some fairly significant wear on the driver's bolster (does Audi leather hold up well?). But then I thought about this older gentleman getting in and out of the car and how that could easily put a hurt on the bolster.  The back seat literally looks like no one has ever sat in it and the front passenger seat's condition wasn't far from the rear's. The car fired up immediately and the engine just purred. All electrics (except, as I would soon find out, the damn dashboard lights) worked - radio (stock - got to check whether amps/speaker replaced), sunroof, seat heaters, cruise control. And, although the ride home was dark, I thoroughly enjoyed the sound of the engine and the V8Q's feel on the road. Even though I promised myself to take it easy going home, I ended up cruising between 65-75 and on one stretch threw caution to the wind and slowly depressed the gas and watched the speedo quickly climb to 90+ (with ple
n
> ty more) before I lifted off. Right then Al, who was following me just in case, called me on my cell to ask what the hell I was doing.
> 
> As far as the dark dash goes, the young guy never even registered the car and only drove it around the block to keep the battery charged. I called the original owner to thank him and tell him that I ended up purchasing the car. I asked him about the dash and he said that years ago he stopped driving the car at night or in the rain so he never noticed. Made sense to me.
> 
> (Today, however, I found a spot of rust about the size of a pen point under that inch-wide piece of metal inbetween the trunk and bumper. It's where the metal curves under and you can see that there was a chip there for some reason - Rrrrrr! To get at it properly I'd have to remove the rear bumper. Double Rrrrrr!)
> 


that's an easy fix Dave,  The bumper slids off with I think 4 or 6 bolts,  jack 
the rear up as high as you can, put it on jackstands, take a look behind the 
bumper with a flashlight,  spray those bolts liberally with pb blaster or 
someother kinda stuff.... then ivestigate your lights issue for a few hours :)

Know take a crack at those bolts,  try not to break them if at all possible :)

Once you get them off, the bumper will slid of the back off the car,  know you 
have a bunch of little acorn type nuts holding the metal strip on, remove those,

Know you can check out that rust issue.  I ended up taking a grinder to both of 
my old v8's and stripping that area completely, carefull not to go onto the 
vertical part of the metal.  My v8's where gold, so I used a nissan maxima gold
spary bomd, since the area was only seen by reflection on themetal strip it came
out great :)

I'll let the other more electrical type guys here help ya with that one :)


Mike,

> So the V8Q now has a whopping 52,489 miles on it, I'm thrilled and feel very fortunate to have found it and this Board to help me learn more about it. 
> 
> Cheers,
> DaveM (since there's a lot of Daves here already!)
> 
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     _/_/_/  _/    _/  _/     _/      Mike LaRosa
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