[V8] My 1990 V8

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Hi Freddy:  I feel your pain.  I went through the same thing a couple of 
years ago with my 1990 V8, which was the third V8 Quattro I had owned.

In my case, the transmission was going south and it was only a matter of 
if not when it would grenade. My mechanic had said he would NOT do the 
transmission swap as his shop really did not have the time.  He also 
pointed out that the cost of the transmission job would exceed any 
conceivable value of my 88,000 mile car.  The biggest single problem was 
the transmission lines, cooler and engine oil cooler were all severely 
rusted and only replaceable by custom fabrication.

In the end I offered my car for sale on Craigslist and Uncle Henry's, 
the local sell and swap magazine.  I had several people interested and  
one young man and his wife drove up here from southern Maine to buy it:  
$1400.00 and he drove it home. He was convinced that he and his buddies 
could deal with the transmission.  I have no idea what happened after 
that.  Now, I don't want to know.

In the back yard I have a 1994 Audi 100CS Avant. We bought that car in 
2001 from the original selling dealer in Kansas City.  It was a one 
owner car that had 39,000 miles from new.  I flew out and drove the car 
back for my wife to use as her daily driver.  We ended up keeping that 
car in service until at 215,000 miles, the accumulated maintenance needs 
had arrived all together at the point where they were not worth being 
fixed.  Every thing came at once: front and rear brakes, air 
conditioning compressor, timing belt and a host of other things that are 
necessary in order for the car to pass inspection.  Once the needed 
sprucing up of the body is done the total will spiral well above $10,000 
so it will now be recycled.

And I am afraid that is the fate for all of those cars that still can be 
made usable, but at such cost that much more modern cars can be found 
for less money than the continual drag that German high performance cars 
put on the budget.

I hope you find someone who will want the challenge of taking on the V8 
and who has the money, or time and space to do it.

Roger