[V8] arrival of the faster rats....

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Yeah, all of that Scott, probably.  But here in Maine there are no such 
vehicles.  I haven't seen a Toyota or much of anything else that is 
older than five years that isn't rusty.  ALL trucks are showing signs of 
heavy rust around the beds and cab corners by five years regardless of 
miles unless they live all winter in a garage and never drive. That 
means in order to buy a 2000-2002 vintage vehicle I will be searching 
everywhere but in the rust belt and that means it will be unlikely that 
I will actually see whatever it is prior to purchase, UNless I have a 
specialty car buyer I know buy the thing at a place like Manheim. The 
most likely scenario is that I will get excited about something that 
didn't sell through an auction and go to see THAT car after some sort of 
barrage of communication with the seller and perhaps a pre-purchase 
inspection by some independent down there, or out there or ....I dunno 
what, but whichever method, any Japanese car will likely be long gone 
before I ask my first question.

While I realize that Toyota's have this "go forever" image, I have zero 
interest in having one in my life.  I drove one of the first Coronas to 
hit Bostons's streets off the importers lot on the waterfront of South 
Boston in 1967 and wasn't iimpressed then, and the last Camry that I 
drove...a two year old 1997 that belonged to a friend...was sort of 
pleasant and so boring in "feel" that I wouldn't stay with it long.  My 
passion-less feeling for the SUV tpe of vehicle is simply because they 
are big, boxy, and general un-utility for their girth, height and 
breadth and also in my opinion, exceedingly ugly.  I have had three of 
the things in my life time...GMC Jimmy (1979); Ford Bronco (1996); Dodge 
Ramcharger (413 Cu in V8 with some sort of Bendix fuel injection for 
running the Baja peninsula carrying drugs, I think it was. The drug 
carrying days were long before me.  It got six miles per gallon and 
would go zero to sixty in negative numbers forward, and you could shift 
it into reverse and go just as fast going backward OVER whichever Audi 
you were racing, but that's another story. And I really was an adult 
when I owned the thing, too.)  The reality is that the station wagon 
type vehicle, like the 100/A6 or Mercedes 320 4Matic really are the 
perfect match for what our needs are, assuming we have only one 
vehicle.  IF...and it's a big IF...we finally go back to one vehicle, we 
could also keep the V8 as our principal vehicle. We would lose ALL of 
the general utility of the station wagon, which means that any large 
object or larger volume of stuff I buy from the trips I take to Home 
Depot from time to time, would be now done by the local lumber yard that 
will deliver for free.  (The lumber yard also charges 5-20% more peritem 
than does Home Depot or Lowes and right now that is actually a 
consideration for me since I am constructing almost all the time.)  IF 
the station wagon finally does go away, then I am not absolutely certain 
that I might not try to find an old pickup beater, but that's an 
entirely different line of thought and I think not very real.

My bottom line more and more lies in favor of restoring the 100. I was 
looking at average prices as quoted by the good folks at NADA Guides for 
the fun of it the other day. They are obviously on crack now, because 
they show the average retail value for the 100 around five grand, and 
the high value at seven grand.  (They also show the high value for the 
V8 if it's a really, really good car at $7500!)  I have this strange 
"feeling" that I really should be considering changing vehicles and 
probably going back to just one.  The "problem" with this is that I have 
absolutely zero desire to actually go and look at 
something....anything...with wheels on it.  This is the first time in my 
seventy years that I have found I have NO interest in actually owning a 
car at all so the devil I know seems much better or at least as good as, 
the devil I don't.  The reality is that the 100 we own does not need an 
engine, does not need a transmission, does not need a rear 
differential.  The sum total of what it needs to appear to be much newer 
than it really is is less than any purchasing project, BUT at the end of 
that day, I would still have a 22 year old car that would have more than 
200k on the odometer.  And another truth seems to be that I don't REALLY 
WANT to put the money into a complete restoration either.

Well it matters not right now, as I'm not going to DO anything on the 
threshhold of the winter.  I reregister the Audi 100 on the third of 
October.  I will put the winter tires back on the car probably by the 
end of the month and it goes in for it's annual service and state safety 
inspection in December and it will need a bit of money applied to an 
exhaust flange that is really, really tender now and I'll have the fuel 
pump changed then as well.  Once that is done I'll stop thinking about 
cars at all until after the snow is gone next spring. I'll probably stop 
thinking and talking about it entirely once I've reregistered the car 
and paid the exise tax for the next year anyway.  The four ringed devil 
I know may well prove to be better than any devil I don't know in the 
end and there are many worse cars to drive around in besides.

R


On 9/21/2015 6:23 PM, Scott Justusson wrote:
> Hey Roger
> Interesting read of your post.  My daughter is rapidly approaching 
> 300k on her C4 Avant (95 FWD Auto), and then decided to move from the 
> windy city, down to Nashville, losing her mechanic/dad in the 
> process.  Pre-emptive searches for an alternative, put me in the world 
> of the 'others'; the non-4ringed type in the 200-2002 vintage, with a 
> budget of ~5k, since she will be on the hook for half.  I went with 
> the obvious choice, a lower mileage Toyota Camry wagon.  Why?  Because 
> other than the coveted ABS/TCS, it is a bread and butter dead nuts 
> reliable machine, that will cost little compared to the C4.  Problem:  
> With the budgeted dollars, Camrys were in the 300k mile range.  Hey we 
> have that already!.  Back to the drawing board, actually back to a 
> familiar 'ex'.  I hit the hotspot in the used car market too:  
> 2001-2002 Toyota 4 Runner Limited or Sport.
>
> Long story short, I did my research and found that 2001-2002 Sports 
> and Limiteds have shift on the fly 4WD + low range + locking center 
> diff.  And TCS/ECS and 4Channel ABS.   Add 4piston front calipers, and 
> mileage figures at or better than the C4 level, better seats, and a 
> ride that I claim is better than the C4, this started my 3 month 
> quest.  What did I learn?
>
> First, you have 4 hours to nab a good one, I stood curbside at 2 while 
> the guy ahead of me, aced me out.  I watched the ads like a hawk for 3 
> months...  Getting so good at weeding ads, I could chop the pigs from 
> the gems very quickly. Ironically enough, I sent Ingo out to inspect 
> the one I bought, because I knew it would be gone before I could drive 
> the 5hours from Chicago to Detroit.
>
> No SUV?  Damn man I have had a SUV in my stable for 20 years, because 
> I can't imaging living without one.  They have towed many a broken v8 
> too.  And my 4 piston factory brakes on my Landcruiser are the 
> original rotors at 200k (finally at min spec!).  Anyhow, I put good 
> michilen LTX A/T tires on this 4runner (since she won't be needing 
> true winter tires), a set of springs (4 springs for 80USD?) and some 
> Bilsteins, and I've driven it 5000miles since I got it.  Hands down a 
> better C4 avant, than a C4 Avant.
>
> Principle?  I don't get that.  Many cross-overs or light duty trucks 
> will do everything a C4 avant will do, and likely better.  I do little 
> regarding cars out of principle, and in this case it was strictly math 
> and practicality vs replacement.  Principle in Audis can cost stupid 
> money, IMO.  BTST
>
> My .02 and Cheers
>
> Scott J
> 2001 Toyota 4Runner Sport
> 95 A6 Avant 290k
> 95.5 S6
> 92 V8 ABT Chipped
> 91 V8
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roger M. Woodbury <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net>
> To: Dave Saad <dsaadme at me.com>
> Cc: v8 <v8 at audifans.com>
> Sent: Mon, Sep 21, 2015 10:58 am
> Subject: Re: [V8] arrival of the faster rats....
>
> I'm leaning more in that direction actually. Just keeping the V8 going 
> and keeping the 100 going until something seriously breaks. No SUV's 
> for me though. Just on principle alone. R