[V8] ROGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! + future prices

[Scott Simmons]

To tie this into the pricing thread, I think that's where the V8's are 
going to go.  Buyers will be looking at the cost and maintenance of a V8 
as compared to an A8.  Soon it will be cheaper to purchase an A8 than 
the V8.  The repair costs for the A8 are, surely, more expensive than 
the V8 but the parts supply, Ooo Factor, and Vroom Factor may outweigh 
that. 

In the end, one has to decide if the car is going to be an investment or 
a hobby.  The A8 would be an investment for awhile: both cars would/will 
need money dropped for big ticket items like T-Belts and Clutches or 
Transmissions, but the A8 has a better chance of recouping that money 
than the V8.  On the other hand, the V8 is a hobby car: there's really 
nothing else fun like it as you get "new age technology" without all 
that funkiness (can we not buy a 911 today without an laptop glued to 
the dash?!) and just enough power to get you around town.  Sooner or 
later, though, the V8's will reach the age where one cannot justify 
another T-Belt job or transmission rebuild. 

Contrary to a previous mention of the 928.  I believe that there IS a 
large cult following for the 928 based on the large number of 
928-specific parts suppliers and collector's groups.  Other one-ups the 
P-Car has are the large numbers it was produced (adds to higher 
used-parts availability) and the little prancing pony on the hood.  
Never question the power of a horse to raise the price of a vehicle, 
even ones that don't deserve it.

As for me, I got my V8 on a trade.  I got the helluva better deal.  Both 
the V8 and the Porsche before it needed quite a bit of work.  Both 
needed T-Belts for about the same amount of parts cost and labor 
involved.  The Porsche, though, was a repaired wreck, needed a paint 
job, needed some new body panels, and was starting to lose some bearings 
in the transaxle.  The V8 needed a T-Belt, the body is rough (but 
straight), and needs a metric ton of little things.  The difference is I 
could justify dropping the money into the V8 because I need a car to 
last me 2-3 years and I have a chance of recouping at least some of the 
money back when I sell it.  It just turned 128k on the clock and I'll 
probably be investing about $2-3k in it, totally.  If I can sell it in a 
year or so for $2-3k, I'll be happy.  I'm taking the "hobby" approach to 
this car as I do on many things in life:  I'm not expecting anything out 
of it.  I'm not expecting, for instance, to get any money back when I 
buy my college textbooks.  When I do get 30-40% back, I'm not lamenting 
on how small I got back but how much more than expected.  Yes, I am 
fooling myself but it keeps me happy! :)

As for this V8, playing with $6k in funds, the question becomes would I 
purchase a very nice V8 or a shabby A8?  The fact that the V8 is 
sparkling clean and pristine bothers me---as I've mentioned before in 
emails.  I'd take a very close look to all the stuff underneath the 
polished exterior before investing more than $3500 (added $1000 for it 
being a 94, 4.2L, and 56k).  The A8 would be tempting because "newer is 
better."  Buying the V8 for half the A8 leaves you half the money to 
invest in repairs, right?  But will the V8 ever be worth the $6k you put 
into it?  *shrug*  Will the A8, that you spent all the money on, have a 
catastrophic failure ten days after purchase?  *shrug*  The type of car 
owner that I am (not to judge ownership types) is the fixer-upper.  I 
like to fix things.  I've had nothing but fun going into my V8 and 
fixing all those little things that were broken (light bulbs, cruise 
control, sunroof, etc.).  Unfortunately, that kind of hobby is rather 
expensive.  I guess I'm avoiding the question.  As the market is right 
now---and in the future---I personally would not pay more than $4-5k for 
that car.  Lord knows how many more grand it'll need to get going and 
lord knows where the market will go for a car that has so few examples 
running on the roads today.

~Scott Simmons





Tony and Lillie wrote:

> Interestingly enough, I watched a truly beautiful '97 A8 in Florida 
> with 124 K go for $5500 recently. A silver/grey '97 with 130K in TX 
> went for $5700. So, they are getting down there.
>
> Tony Hoffman
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Simmons" <indischrot at gmail.com>
> To: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at adelphia.net>
> Cc: <v8 at audifans.com>; <20valve at audifans.com>; "'PRR'" 
> <pineridgeremodeling at adelphia.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 8:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [V8] ROGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
>> I don't mean to be snarky... but... there's a 1997 A8 for just about
>> that price on eBay too.  Granted, it's a little rougher on the edges.
>>
>> Just throwing it out there! :)
>>
>> ~SS 
>
>
>