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

[Scott Justusson]

 The easiest thing is to do nothing.  Fate vs Destiny Roger.  If you have no desire, cars won't find you.   I've owned more than 40 cars in the last 30 years, and I can objectively rate them in all contexts.  The practical side of me goes after cost per mile and frequency and PITA of service.  I can say the C4 has enjoyed a low cost per mile, but I know from my shop days, a C4 with over 250k will need a lot of lovin.  Concurrent with my plethora of Audis (currently at 9), I have owned 2 toyotas ('87 4runner and for the last 10 years, a 94 landcruiser).  Lowest cost per mile on both those machines. Period.  I sure wish audi would commit to brakes the right way someday, as both my trucks had the original front rotors way past the 180k mark.  Highest cost per mile?  Damn my affinity for v8s.  Thank goodness I worked on them myself.  Since the acquisition of the 95.5 S6, my 92 v8 really hasn't seen much driving time.  

You live in Maine, I live in Chicago.  I can't imagine not having a 4wd truck in serious snow.  And, you get way more serious snow than I do.  I know these lists are very nationalistic, but there are some really fine machines that can satisfy as much as a C4, especially a high mileage N/A one.  Me, I easily saw the direct  and fair comparison between the C4 avant and the Gen 3 4runner.  Unlike the bolt-on TRD Supercharger I added to my Lancruiser, I have resisted the temptation to add same to this 4runner, as my daughter would likely never get it.  

My best hope as this list wanes loyalty from the most hardcore v8 owner...  We all use the experience of audi quattro ownership to assess good choices of alternatives.  My decision at the same juncture as you, came down to a C4 wagon replacement, or something much more mechanic-adverse.  That choice wasn't nearly as hard as I thought.  

Cheers

SJ


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger M. Woodbury <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net>
To: Scott Justusson <qshipq at aol.com>; dsaadme <dsaadme at me.com>
Cc: v8 <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 22, 2015 12:28 am
Subject: Re: [V8] arrival of the faster rats....


  
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....