[V8] Interesting V8

[Roger Woodbury]

Well, as I said:  Interesting V8.  

 

And Maybe, just MAYBE if I had a few grand lying around without any friends,
and maybe, JUST MAYBE if I had the big barn enclosed and decided when
looking down the muzzle of things that I did in fact want a spare V8, then
Maybe, just MAYBE I'd try to pull the trigger on this one.

 

Here is the thought process from Roger's Odd Mausoleum of Random Auto
Minutiae and Useless Facts.

 

1. + THE CAR IS BLACK:   I find the V8 particularly fetching in black.  

2. - The CAR IS GRAY INSIDE:  I DON'T want another gray interior. 

3. + THE CAR MAY HAVE LESS THAN 100K ON THE ODOMETER.

4. - THAT MIGHT BE " ODOMETERS", SINCE THE SELLER ADMITS TO THE CAR HAVING A
CLUSTER CHANGE.

5. + The odometer change might be a plus, and indicative of greater things.
What could cause a cluster change in a V8? The answer is quite a lot of
things, most of which are minor.  For example, instrument panel lights could
have failed because of a failed rheostat (I HAD that happen to my first V8).
The dealer's only fix would have been what the Audi manual said, which was
total replacement.  If under warranty, that is what would have been done.
If out of warranty, it would have been $900 plus core.  Most people going to
the dealer to have this car serviced would have paid the money, and perhaps
not even thought about how expensive it was, since it would have been the
WHOLE display.  

 

Now, let's suppose that the instrument cluster replacement was done with
owner's money.  It might.it just might be indicative of the level of
maintenance and general care the car has received throughout it's less than
100k miles.

At least that's a theory.

6. +/- The rear seat cargo nets are saggy.  I hate to see that.  A seller
desiring to sell this car for profit could easily fix these.  A seller who
doesn't give a rats ass other than just to sell the plug for more than he
paid for it, wouldn't give a rats ass, either.  An owner who had come to the
decision that it was time to sell the dear old car, wouldn't notice.  An
ANAL seller like me would have had those nets super tight, and hoped that no
one asked about the last timing belt service.  Get my drift:  these saggy
nets mean nothing.  I Just don't like to see them.

 

I just had both windshield washer pumps replaced in my V8.  I needed to have
at least ONE windshield washer working at this time of year, and I do NOT
plan to park the car for the winter.  Sooo, I pulled the lever and took it
to the wrench and had the wrench replace both pumps.  Both pumps were dead,
and both were OEM, so it was about time.  Now, MAN:  do I ever have
windshield cleaning!  

 

While I was underneath the car, I noticed that I have a little fresh oil
leak from the front of the engine. Grrrrrrrrr:  I fear the worst, that it is
a front crank seal.  It isn't much yet, but eventually I will have to sort
that out, but for at least another ten or fifteen thousand miles, I think
the car is set.  And it really is sweet and smooth, and quiet and powerful.
Left to do is the install the new cruise control module, which I will do,
and the ABS final trouble shooting which will be done some time in late
spring, perhaps.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE my V8?  Best of all, my wife
LOVES my V8, too, although she is tends to drive to fast.suddenly she will
look down while passing someone and see the speedometer swinging up past 80!
Pretty funny if you knew how cautious my wife is about speed.

 

So, the fleet is in good fettle.  The V8 is old but has relatively low
miles.  Even allowing for the year that I was without an odometer, the most
that I can compute that the car has on it is 78k.  Oh, I suppose it might
have 80k, but I don't think so.  The only underpinning sort of work that the
car will need in the foreseeable future, will be front struts and bushings,
but not for at least ten or fifteen thousand miles.  That could be two years
at the rate we are accumulating miles.

 

My wife's C4 Avant is mechanically as perfect as it can be. We've done ALL
the hard, wear stuff, and I mean ALL. EVERY rubber grommet, gizzie, link,
strut, hose and bauble from engine compartment to tail pipe has been
replaced, and any that haven't are sitting in the wrench's parts room
waiting for the car to go in for service in the spring. At 150k the car
needs to have its exterior repainted and some of the trim pieces replaced,
and sooner or later the a/c compressor will need to be replaced because it
has pretty noisy bearings.  But once those items are done the car will be AS
NEW, and ready for the next 150k.  30,000 miles to timing belt, and that
will be four and one half years at least.

 

The truck is a forever truck.  It's an '97 now in its second Maine winter,
and is pretty much AS new.  90,000 miles and it will get more and more use
as we start to build the new house, but basically, the GM big block won't
fail for a long time.  

 

So you see, the "fleet" is all set, and I see no reason to anticipate
replacing any of the daily drivers for a LONG time.

Now, of course there is reason to think that I might "need" to have another
V8 for the odd part that is NLA.  Maybe.  But a really NICE example for
three grand or more?  I don't think so.  Although there are reasons why.

 

1.        Let's just fantasize and say that the C4 Avant suddenly suffers
terminal engine syndrome at the precise time that the transmission fails.
If there as a relatively low mile V8 lying around, that would be an
excellent reason to do a V8 to C4 engine swap, wouldn't it?  And even if
that was done, the cost of the swap would be less than the new(er) A6 Avant.

2.        The re-engined C4 would be far less to insure and register than
anything else.  \

3.        There is absolutely nothing wrong with the '94 Avant that another
seventy five horsepower won't cure.

 

But what happens if none of these things happen, and the fleet just keeps
chugging along?  I can't seem to get excited about buying anything that is
newer than what I've got right now.  The only Avant that might make any
sense would be a newer, lower mile A6.  An S6 is out because it isn't
needed, and the lower stance and wider tires will complicate use by an older
woman in Maine, in the winter.  Also it will be MUCH more expensive to
service than the old C4.  

 

The V8 has NO replacement.  I want nothing other than that, and if it dies a
catastrophic death and I can't replace it with another one, I don't think I
will even think about another car of that sort.  Maybe a Smart Fortwo.

 

So, what's a terminal car guy to do?  Eventually there will HAVE to be
another car.  Like the guy with sixty seven guns, I NEED ONE, I NEED ONE.  

 

Not to worry. As my late Mother used to say, "Roger: there is ALWAYS another
car.".  

 

She was right.  And there is.  And like the V8, it is one of "The Best Cars
Have Always Been Built".  And I know almost everything about them that is
needed to know in order to own one and survive the experience.  Such as
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER jump start one, battery to battery.  And ALWAYS, ALWAYS,
ALWAYS get the friggin timing belt, tensioners, and gizzies replaced at 60k,
and then the belt tightened 1500 miles later. ALWAYS. 

 

Oh, and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER change wheel sizes, and if you are looking at
one that has had seventeen inch or bigger wheels put on, run away. 

 

And some other things that I don't want to bore anyone with for now.

 

Ah, yes.  I'll pass on the nice V8 for now.  It's nice, but I don't NEED one
like the gun guy needs his guns, and the, ah.well, I.ah.need another.well,
AFTER the new house gets built, and the new barn is up and enclosed, and
Michele's new kitchen is cooking stuff and she is singing again..

 

I'll find another Porsche 928S4.  

 

I think that's next... again.

 

Roger