[V8] About P.T. Barnum...

[Roger M. Woodbury]

No, Ed.  I think you got a great buy.  I would have fallen all over myself
to get at that car if it were next fall instead of this spring. But the
truth is that in order for me to drive that car here, I would have had to
invest quite a bit in the suspension, wheels and tires to make it usable.
It is not so much the harsh ride, but the ground clearance that causes me
concern.  I also am not sure if the window tint would have been acceptable
for  inspection purposes or not, but removal of that would have been minor
unless the rear window would have had to be replaced, too.

My only comment about the cost of any one of these cars is that the price of
a 1994 or 1993 should be around six grand at the outside.  Now most will NOT
have less than 55,000 miles of course, but is a car with supposedly low
miles made in the last year of production worth big dollars if it is beset
by obvious questions?  

To me the answer is simply, no.  It is far too easy to buy one of these cars
in supposedly good to better than good condition only later to find out that
what seemed to be one thing turned out to be quite another.

My first V8 was bought for me by an expert in these cars.  He was someone
whom I had known for quite a long time, and who was in the business of
finding the exotic or at least, the expensive European cars for his
clientel.  He found my first V8, and supposedly had all the necessary
documentation that it was a "real deal" car.  The miles were right, and the
actual history (which was verified) was that it was owned by an army major
general (retired), who was no longer driving.  

It was a nice car.  It had had a bit of damage to the nose, properly
corrected and undetectable.  The price was right.

I drove that car about five or six thousand miles until the problems
started.  At first it was a bit of hesitation going into reverse.  Then it
became a bit of stumble when in reverse, and finally reverse gave out
entirely.  

The pan was pulled down but there was no sign of trouble.  

Eventually, the transmission company that was the only ZF authorized repair
facility in New England came and carried the car away.  It was the first V8
Quattro transmission that they had ever seen.  

The verdict, after a transmission rebuild at 6 grand (including a new pinion
gear that was NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS by itself), was that the transmission had
"been into" before.  The car might have been flat towed or might not.  

Turns out that the car had been hit HARD in the nose, and the restoration
work was so good that even my crack body man couldn't see it. But I spoke
with the body shop in PA that had done the work (after a very long and hard
search), and they said that the car had been hit, but no further details
other than the customer had been VERY demanding.  

So from my experience I am willing to pay top dollar for the "right" car,
but it had better be absolutely right, and that means INTACT, without any
surprises or questions, like "I wonder why the headlight wipers were removed
and the valences not properly finished?", or "I wonder why at 50 some
thousand miles the right headlight sits obviously lower than the left?" or
even, "I wonder why with so few miles the first aid kit has disappeared?"  

I think the green car in Washington might be a better vehicle than the
'94...fewer stories, maybe.

To each his own, indeed.  But remember what Regan said about verifying?

Roger

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