[V8] 92 V8 on eBay

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Funny that I didn't see this when I looked at first.  Probably because it
failed to pass through my V8 Screen...that's the little mental device that I
have installed to screen out the basically undesirable from the maybe
desirable classes.  Here is why this car didn't make it.

Whenever I look at an Audi that I might like to have, I look for the obvious
things that might spell trouble.  This '92 has been painted.  Painting
doesn't necessarily make it bad, but it does deserve an explanation.  I sold
my '93 V8 after it had been painted, but my car had had acid rain damage to
the hood, roof and rear deck and I knew this before I bought it.  The damage
was revealed to me by the selling dealer, and I had even kept the selling
dealer's statement up to the time that the V8 left here.  And it was an
authorized Audi dealer who sold me the car.  This '92 has been painted and
Carfax says that was an accident.  The car automatically fails the first
screen.

Second, I look at the interior and MUST see some interior pictures before I
will even inquire about the car.  One thing that I look for first is the
cargo nets on the front seat backs.  If they are pulled down or hanging,
then the car has been used, and it seems likely that the car indeed has
earned its striped.  This may or may not mean anything, but from my
experience if these nets are not distended, then the chances are reasonable
that the rest of the interior may be in good condition, and it is even
possible that the car had only one or two occupants the majority of its
life.  It is possible that these nets were replaced, but unlikely I think,
as that would require some money be spent and I think that most of these
cars are just being sold for a little profit, or to get them gone before
something needs to be done to them...timing belts or hydraulic pumps or the
like.  So if the nets are tight, I look at least a second time.

Show me the original books and some records and I start to open both eyes.

Show me all the original keys (VERY rare), and I start to hyperventilate.

Show me a folder full of work orders documenting the service history of the
car over its immediate past fifty thousand miles, and I salivate.

Show me an accident history, and I go back to sleep...and start to dream
about wooden boats....

Roger