Re: Rare 200Q

[rodenhiser@wbc.ENET.dec.com]

I cannot give you any apples_to_apples comparison data, however here's my 
personal experience of prices in the mid-atlantic (MD & VA) area.

About 2 months ago I very nearly purchased an 89 200Q from a VA dealer.
Flawless condition, Pearl paint, 37K miles, 12K/1 yr extended Audi warranty,
new Pirelli's. Asking price was $18,500 and they were firm at $17,000 cash. I
saw recent ad that they are now asking $16,500.

I then saw a 90 200Q wagon at a MD dealer, asking $21,900. Passed on this as it
had a small ding in rear fender (very tiny, but this would have bugged me
forever) and somewhat high mileage. 

Then on a whim I checked out a new ad from a Leasing Co for a 90 V8 Quattro
"Below Wholesale". Told on phone that the car had very high mileage, but was in
otherwise excellent condition, price was firm, and if I was interested I'd
better come right over as there were a number of people responding. The usual
come-on, I figured. Since the car was only 10 minutes away from work, I decided
to check it out. 

Car was totally, absolutely flawless. I mean concours condition! New tires
(Comp T/A's) were not my preference, but otherwise this seemed too good to be
true. Catch was the mileage, 68K. Had been on a two year lease by someone with
a 150 mile/day interstate highway commute (later verified) who had paid an
enormous mileage penalty and now the car was to be dumped by the leasing co.
Price was $19,900 which I calculated to be roughly $4000 below wholesale even
after the deduction for mileage. Car had been through MD inspection (reasonably
strenuous standards in MD) but I was also encouraged to have my own mechanic
check it out. This I did by taking it to an Audi dealer, and making it clear
that I wanted a pre-purchase inspection that also verified that ALL service,
(scheduled and advisories, especially brakes and transmission) had been
performed. For $50 I got a two page printout of the complete service history of
the car, which indicated by the way, that the car was on it's third set of
brake pads and 2nd set of rotors. Also that the brake upgrade kit which had
been ordered while the car was still under warranty had for some unexplained
reason not been installed. (Turned out that the lease was up right about the
same time and that the car had not been returned to the dealer as scheduled.)
They also found a leaking rear shock and a suspicious sound (not apparent to
me) in the front left window motor. Leasing Co said "Fine, we'll cover it all"
and on June 19th I became the proud owner of a V8 Quattro. 4017 miles later,
I'm still grinning ear_to_ear. Last week I had the brake upgrade done, had to
wait for it to be reordered, and I am looking at $2600+ worth of Audi invoices
marked "No Charge". Work performed included: 

   Brake shimmy modification with front end alignment    $324
   Brake Kit                                             $933
   Brake fluid                                             $8
   Rear wheel alignment                                   $54
   Replace rear shocks (2)                               $847
   Replace left front window motor                       $381
   Realign right front headlight                          n/c
   Change oil & filter                                    n/c
   Luxury Service Detail (wash/wax)                       n/c

I'm told that Audi & the Leasing Co split the brake upgrade 80/20 as it 
couldn't be determined who was at fault by not having the work completed   
on time. I assume that the rest of the work was probably billed "at cost"
as I heard that the wholesale price of the shocks were $225 each.
Oil/filter and detailing was a "gift" from the Leasing Co for my patience
waiting for the kit to come in.

Right now I'm quite happy. I suspect over, time the, fun will wear off as I
start to experience the astronomical service charges most seem to be predicting
for these cars. Closest thing to a negative is fuel costs as I'm not used to
pumping 93 octane high test. Mileage to date is an overall 20.30 MPG which I
suppose is not too bad for something branded with the infamous gas guzzler tax. 

BTW, on a slightly tangent subject. I joined the "Quattro Club" mentioned
a while back. Appears to be heavily oriented towards autocrossing, but
the price is right. $30 per year (suspended), as Audi picks up the first year's 
membership.

Rgds,

John Rodenhiser