Re: Buying Audi's wrecked or through a broker

[trishab@interwebb.com (Trisha Blethen)]

Mann Law wrote:
> 
>         Since I know a *little* about this subject, here are my thoughts,
> if anyone cares.
> 
>         First, on the prices of wrecked Audi's.  If you have someone that
> goes to the insurance pools on a regular basis, that you trust, you can
> find gold.  I have watched a number of Audi's sell for almost nothing.  A
> 93?  100, loaded, front hit, for about $2k; S4 hit hard in rear / side,
> around the same price, etc.  Most of the people buying at these pools are
> not Audi rebuilders, they are parts people.  So, they are only going to
> buy when they believe they can make a profit on the parts, after parting
> the vehicle, storing, etc.  IF, you are a good body guy with extra parts,
> or are owed favors:) by a good body guy--and you have parts, there is no
> better car IMHO than a wrecked Audi.  The same is not necessarily true
> for more popular vehicles like SUV's, etc.  My family has, geez, probably
> 5 or 6 Audi's that have been wrecked and, when fixed correctly, are not
> only cheap, but often times better than those you would pick up on the
> used market for much more money.  Key is, you can't be picky.  Would I
> have preferred an S6 wagon over the 91 200t I bought--sure.  But a deal
> is a deal:)
> 
I agree with this wholeheartedly....as you all know, my PHNX (phoenix)
was a total that we bought from Autobahn Motors awhile back.  It's the
best damned car I've ever owned.  My son's bought two GT coupes last
year and made one gorgeous car out of them....we now have spare motor,
gearbox, etc. and some spare body panels for that......they also bought
two 86 4KCSQ's and have actually been able to make two separate cars out
of both (not at the same time, if you recall Raymond totalled the first
one by hitting the curb.....) and we spent relatively little money.  We
have since bought an 86 5KCSTQ automatic with a bad brain for
practically NOTHING!!!!!!  The motor is going into the original 5KCSTQ
with the bad timing belt because it has fewer miles on it.....we're
doing an interior swap (heated seats) and axle swaps (ABS) and we will
have a PERFECT shell for sale and an automatic transmission and will
have fixed our original 5CSTQ for less than if we had bought the parts. 
Autobahn has bought and sold many cars...some rebuildable, some parted
out....that's how a good shop like his does great business.