[V8] Well, the verdict is....

[kneale at knitknacks.com]

I recall telling you a couple years ago, right after we acquired a 2002 S8,
how great we both think that car is compared to the V8.  You should stop
drooling over your computer screen and go drive one.  Just don't hold your
foot on the brake and press on the accelerator at the same time.  You don't
get any jump start when you release the brake because the DBW system
doesn't let it happen.

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Roger M. Woodbury rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com
Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 07:47:40 -0500
To: v8 at audifans.com
Subject: [V8] Well, the verdict is....


The auction on eBay for that very nice looking 91 20V Avant with just a tad
more than 100,000 miles is over.  It sure is a pretty looking thing, all
washed and shiney, with its black over grey color scheme.

 

It passed at auction at $6500.  Not one penny more.  And frankly, for a rust
belt car, I would have to say that was PLENTY.

 

But $6500 also seems to be the upper edge of the Type 44 automobile.  That
should mean that ANY very, very nice V8 will be not more than that because
from my observation anyway, the value of a 200 20Valve Avant seems to be
higher than any other Audi, except for a comparable S4/S6 Avant, which is an
entirely different car (that is far more ugly). 

 

I'll bet that the guy's reserve for the '91 was something north of seven
grand..seventy-five hundred was probably the threshold, and that was a log
way from reality:  the market for these cars is slim and dwindling, be they
200 20Valve or V8 Quattro:  not many people understand the concept of value.
A 100,000 mile '91 Avant Quattro has at least 150,000 dependable miles
remaining, assuming that one doesn't mind having to shift gear manually.
But the cars are as fully automatic as far as passenger comfort and
drivability is concerned as any newer station wagon, with the added benefit
of being so old that mundane things like excise taxes and insurance premiums
are very, very cheap.

 

Maintaining one of these early Audis will require the sourcing of a
qualified independent mechanic because as a general statement the franchised
dealer has no mechanics who were of legal age when these cars were built,
never mind who know how they work.  

 

I had a conversation with a confidant yesterday.  He suggested that next
year we should go out and buy a new car.  Truth tell, he knows nothing about
my bizarre fascination with twenty year old Audis.  Nevertheless, when I got
home instead of doing some sort of productive work on the computer, I went
car shopping. What I saw surprised me, and frankly, has made me think a
little.just a little mind you.

 

What I found was 2001 Audi S8s with fairly low miles, now down below ten
grand.  Now, a one or two owner S8 with intact maintenance history in the
newer body style is VERY attractive at ten grand.

 

2002 Audi S6 Avants in the low teens. There is one in Shokan, New
York..(maybe a wreck that Shokan rebuilt?) that can't find any buyers at
eleven to twelve, and although the miles on most of these S6 Avants are
pretty high, still in terms of value they are getting down to where they
might be attractive.  I might be able to sell my wife on the idea of
upgrading her 100CS Avant..well:  no:  I think we will restore THAT car and
keep on trucking with it.

 

All of which brings me around to the idea of having an S8 instead of my
current V8.  

 

Let me begin by saying that I really LIKE the S8.  It is the right
everything for me.  Right now there is on on eBay out in Idaho or someplace
like that that has genuine two plus two seating, and even though it is
black/black and too gushy inside, it is so horny that I am sitting here
trying not to drool over my keyboard.  I'll even forgive the brain dead
owner for limo tinting the windows.  (Limo tinting unless done by the
factory mean that a car won't pass safety inspection in Maine).

 

Sigh.  But the truth is that I have no need nor real reason to do other than
drool. I LIKE my V8 and it does everything that I need it to do.  I still
have a few little things to get done to it that have been waiting for me to
get around to since I bought it, two years ago.  This spring I'll sort out
the ABS brakes, and replace the front strut bushings.  I will also fix the
heated seats, I think, although I don't care about them as much as my wife
does.  I need to replace the right rear corner tail light as there is a tiny
crack in the lower corner of it that was there when I bought the car..hardly
noticeable.  The headlights are good enough, and I don't drive much after
dark now anyway, but I would like to source some Euro headlights for it.
And the biggest item of all is the friggin' wheels..never liked the flat
disc wheels anyway, and last winter I lost the center cap from the right
front wheel, which various folks have told me happens all the time. 

 

So instead of shopping for a NEW car, I have decided to continue to fix my
old one.  Right now, I am in between. The tires on my car are quite new
Michelins and I really like them.  They are on the stock 15" wheels.  

 

In October I had to replace the tires on my wife's 100CS Avant.  I bought
some Dunlops that were a great deal and had a rebate making them even
greater (read:  cheap).  When the wrench stripped off the old tires from the
neat, super light Fuchs wheels that were on the car, he discovered that two
of my precious Fuchs wheels were cracked.  OUCH!  So, I had tires for
fifteen inch wheels and not enough fifteen inch wheels to put them on.  Then
he remembered that out in back of the shop he had this '97 A6 Avant junker
that had come in with nearly new Dunlop Graspix tires on the OEM A6 wheels.
I paid $400 for the four, and I think they were put on just before the car
was junked and had very, very few miles.  And I learned something:

 

The sixteen inch wheels and Graspix tires have transformed the appearance of
my wife's 100CS Avant:  it now looks like a more modern car.  The car
actually looks great with the sixteen inch wheels.

 

All of which has prompted me to look around for some sixteen inch wheels for
my V8.  I have two years left before I can even think of replacing them, but
I think that I'll have the wheels here ready to go by that time.  And I'll
keep the V8 until I can use the 16" wheels..unless by the time I need new
tires that nice looking S8 has dropped into the $7500 range, of course.

 

Roger 

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