[V8] What's it worth?...was '93 V8 5-speed

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Ricky:  I don’t believe there is any such thing as a TRULY “mint” V8 at this point of time.  There are very nice ones, of which probably mine is one, but a TRULY MINT V8 would have to be in the hands of the original owner, with documentation to that fact, and EVERY work order ever issued on the car, so that it could be ascertained that it was perfectly maintained over the years.  I doubt such a vehicle exists, although there are a few that pop up every once in a while on Craigslist or eBay, usually from the son of the original owner...there was one like that a couple of months ago, I seem to recall.  

It seems when exceedingly nice ones pop up, if you ask some questions, the details become a little fuzzy.  The biggest killer is looking for any details about recent maintenance, and often those records are just lost, burned up in the garage fire, stolen by the exwife, eaten by the dog....yada, yada, yada.  

Another thing is there is no guarantee that the mileage shown on the odometer is anywhere near the actual miles covered.  Audi speedometer and instrument clusters are a weak point, although speedometers can be easily overhauled by several sources, including one who is right here on this list.  I would be very suspicious of any V8 with less than 100,000 miles now.  Carfax or no Carfax, there are too many ways to cheat on miles and it is pretty easy in one of these cars to do just that.   It seems the only way to tell whether or not a given “mint” car, really is, would be to do a very detailed prepurchase inspection.  That would entail putting the car up on a lift, taking the cladding off the engine and looking at the timing belt and all the front end seals, checking condition of brakes, brake lines, and on and on.  

When I bought my current V8 it had 66,000 miles showing.  Naturally, the first thing I did was take it to the mechanic and we found the belt to be quite soft and probably was original.  The engine was exceedingly clean although did not seem to have been cleaned with fury, as there were no little pockets of gunk anywhere in the engine compartment or around the engine.  Shortly after buying it, the speedometer stopped working, and I had it removed and sent it off to be rebuilt.  Once back it came back with the same miles as when it failed, but I KNOW that I put on at least four or five thousand miles with it inop.  I know that because for the month and a bit more before removing it, I drove the car a set number of miles each day.  I don’t thinnk anyone else had done that with my car, but with ANY other Audi, it certainly is possible.  So inspecting for condition is the only way to be sure. T hat and a nice full folder of service and maintenance records, which is pretty rare initself.

Now the absolutely perfect is is worth what?  Whatever someone will pay on the day of sale, at the time of sale.  Right now on eBay are two quite nice looking S8s for sale.  One is in Bucks County PA, by a high end seller his on eBay a lot and the other is similar. Both have decent mileage...somewhere around 100,000 or so, and both will sell for around ten grand.  These 2002 S8’s are around ten grand, and I think it is very unlikely that anyone will pay much more than half that for a car that loses quite a lot by comparison, and is ten years or more older.

I think five grand for a very nice V8 is ALL the money, unless the seller has found the ONE person who wants THAT car.  The V8 may well be a sort of “cult car” to some, but I don’t think it will ever have the status of a Porsche 911, for instance.

Roger

From: Ricky Joshi 
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 1:41 PM
To: Roger M. Woodbury 
Cc: V8 at audifans.com 
Subject: Re: [V8] What's it worth?...was '93 V8 5-speed

Roger,

I wonder what the value of a truly "mint" V8 is, particularly the 4.2?  I've seen a couple bounce around ebay (the last a 1994 pearl white with 54K miles, beautiful car), but low mileage, totally mint V8s seem to be few and far between.  Its probably harder to find one than anything else.  I'm thinking a perfect 4.2 with less than 60K miles is worth maybe $7500?  I saw a 1990 on ebay with 40K miles last year go for about 5K, but it didn't seem nearly as Mint for some reason as one would expect a 40K mile car to be and the 3.6s seem to have lower prices than the 4.2s.  




On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 2:28 PM, Roger M. Woodbury <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net> wrote:

  The thread about the relative value of the V8 with or without 4.2 engine, or five speed manual versus automatic is interesting.  I think the value is moot.  There seems to be a really limited market for these cars in almost any variation.  No matter, there really are few of these cars around anymore at all.  Here in northern New England I actually know of ONE that is on the road, and that sits in my garage.  There used to be one (looked kinda ratty the last time I saw it) in Bangor, and my mechanic in Lamoine used to work on one that lived there.  He hasn’t seen that car for several years now, and between the two of us, we are unsure if the owner is still driving.  So that is three in the mid-coast, downeast coast of Maine, and the last time I spoke with the dealer in Waterville, he knew of none, nor did the big dealer in Portland when I last spoke with the salesman I knew well there.  That salesman retired two years ago, and to his knowledge the dealership had seen none in two or three years either for sale of otherwise.

  Last fall a guy outside of Portland had a so-so car V8 for sale and he would have gladly taken $2500 for it according to the Craigslist ad.  I write to him, thinking “parts car”, and he had come down to $1800, then the ad disappeared.  I did not go to see the thing, as it was just another ‘90 V8 and more than I would have paid for one with north of “X” miles or worse, miles unknown.

  My car just came back from the wrench’s with its new inspection sticker.  Here in Maine, the car must go up on the lift and everything is checked. While my wrench is liberal for my cars, there are certain things that must be done to pass and get that coveted sticker on the windshield.  In my case, there were tie rods in front, and the upper control arms in the rear that had made it through last year wouldn’t this year.  Worse still was the center muffler that was simply shot.  Trust me: you don’t even what to THINK of asking for an OEM muffler, although there may be one somewhere.  They are in the range of $700, IF a dealer has one to part with.  They are no longer available through the Audi parts channels here in the US.  I got a very nice one from Chris Semple at Force 5.  (Incidentally, I think I said this before:  if you need something for an Audi, as far as I could see when I was there, ANY Audi:  call or send an email to Chris Semple.  There is more stuff there than you can imagine, and to my experience the price is very right.).

  So my car came back to me now with cruise control and ABS working properly. Both issues were minor although the trouble shooting process took some time. Both were fuse or relay related.  The car is inspected now, and runs exceedingly well.

  On Monday morning it goes to the body shop to get a new bumper and tail light corner installed, and the lower part of the body repainted.  I am also having a set of BBS wheels I picked up from Ron refinished and they will be put on where on my V8 will be as near to perfect as is reasonable for a driver to be.

  Incidentally, I am still hoping to find a set of good, used European headlights to install.  When at the wrench’s, the headlights were relayed, both high and low beams, both sides, individually, so I am ready if I ever find a set.  so far, I have investigated some rumors but they appear to be just unavailable on the “good, used” market.  This year the budget will not support a set of new ones, dammit.  (Sorry about raising my voice there.  I just still hope for find a set by next week!).

  So to return to the question of “how much is one worth”?  Well, I think they probably fetch $2-4000 at the very most.  I also do not think it has anything to do with how cheaply either an A8 or S8 might be because the cars aren’t very comparable.  I think a person who is bottom feeding for an S8 wouldn’t tumble for a nicer V8 at the same or slightly lower price. The cars don’t look alike, are not really much alike inside, and the V8 is OLDER, which means only a knowledgeable person would buy either one.

  In the end, it may come down to a question of which is a better value.  I personally do not want an S8 or A8.  I do not like the exterior styling of the newer more bulbous Audis over the V8’s rather subdued, blunt and squared off appearance.  For me, my V8 is just about 100%...I am trying to remember if any of the interior switches do not light now, and I know that the shift quadrant light is out, but other than that, I am not sure but everthing works.  At around 80,000 miles, I suspect the car will run for another five to ten years, and every mile the car covers, the value rises to me, and the cost of ownership drops, especially when comparing what it is, and what it does with anything else that I could buy for cheap dollars.

  Roger

  (Now, if I could just find a set of Euros......sigh)
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