Re: 91 200q FS questions...long[er]

[Elliott Potter <epotter@abraxis.com>]

>[...]
>Cosmetic condition: The overall exterior cosmetic condition is okay. The
>Pearl White matches on all panels and there are no signs of body work. Paint
>is okay...not great, 3 minor parking lot pressure dings. BBS 15x? wheels are
>in good shape. 
Does the car look like it was routinely washed and waxed?  Or was it
just recently polished?  How clean is the paint just under seams--ie
around the trunk lid or the hood.  If they are also spotless then the
person probably spent quite a bit of time on the car cleaning it; this
is sometimes good but often is a sign that the person *really* wants to
get rid of the car...

>Interior is where the cosmetics fall off...the seats are the
>sports type, driver's side has a small tear and major wear from the person
>getting in and out of the car (why so much wear with so low miles doesn't
>make sense to me), passenger's side front seat is pretty good.
How low are the miles?  What are the condition of the tires?  Do they
look new?  Old?  Are the shocks origional or have they been changed? 
Any pits or chips on the headlight/foglight lenses?

>The steering
>wheel has damage on the top which is wrapped with electrical tape (gag) and I
>have yet to look to see if repairable...if just stitching, I can probably fix
>it. 
Hmmm...  Is that a leather steering wheel?  Leather and electrical tape
don't mix well, and you may find that the material under the tape, even
if it is reparable, looks horrible or is ruined.

>The Gearshift knob needs to be replaced. 
What's wrong with it?  Is it worn?  Cracked?  Missing?
The Gearshift knob is also something that gets worn down with a lot of
use; check those miles!

>The trim for the parking brake
>is trashed and should be replaced. 
Is this man a slob?

>There are major soil marks on the head
>liner around the sunroof switch area. 
Soil marks on the roof?  hmmm......

>The driver's door speaker grill is
>cracked from being kicked or some such thing. 
Check to make sure that the speaker cone or surround isn't punctured. 
Also see if you can find out how the speaker and grill are related--in
my 90 they're one piece, and replacing the grill would involve replacing
the speaker and its built-in amplifier.

>There is a very strong campfire
>type odor to the whole interior which is strange but I think can be detailed
>out.
This is sometimes used as a trick to hide cigarrette smoke--it's more
powerful.  It could also be the wood trim slowly smoldering in the dash
;) (or not)

>
>Mechanical condition: This car has 119k miles. 
Where was the car serviced?  119k miles isn't unreasonable for a 6 year
old car; if anything it's a little on the high side; but some of the
interior condition you've described suggests quite a few more miles. 
Either that or the car was not taken care of.


>According to a mechanic's
>inpection done for an out of town buyer (a Seatle woman whose 91 200q was
>recently totaled..are you a lister????) the car needs rotors, has had the
>timing belt done recently, and has no other "problems". I have not seen this
>report...I am skeptical. 
Take it somewhere.

>No major rack leaks (yet), ditto for the PS pump.
>There is a pentosin leak around the resevoir though...There is also oil on
>the front of the oil pan which may indicate a main seal leak or something in
>the motor. 
This could be expensive.  Have the seals checked.  Check the timing belt
for signs of oil damage.

>The brakes are not UFO's and I thought the rotors didn't look all
>that worn, but perhaps they have been turned before. Bomb test okay. I
>noticed a barb fitting on the wastegate which had no (vacuum line size) hose
>connected...don't know if this is correct-any comments? I saw no other
>obvious mechanical issues...Suposedly the car has all maintenace records...I
>have yet to see them though. My opinion is that documented maintenance
>history (with good practices of course) adds to the value, lack of records
>will be a deduction in my opinion as well.
>
>[...] Since I was time limited, I didn't test every
>single switch (I intend to before making an offer though) but every one I did
>test worked fine. There was a comment from the mechanic's inpestion of a
>turbo boost warning light...I could not get this to come on though. I did
>notice that the water temp gauge never came off of cold...this will need
>attention.
>
I would definitely test all of the switches and make sure they work, and
none of them seem 'sticky' like something was spilled on them.  I don't
know the function of the turbo boost warning light...Does this car have
a wastegate spring?  If so, could he have tried to stiffen it himself? 
The water guage issue could be big as well.  The guage might have
stopped working, or it might have been disconnected because it goes so
high so fast...


>Overall impression and price: The "car lot" which has this car clearly
>doesn't really know what they have. They think it is just another 91
>Audi...at least at the sales level. KBB.com says this car should be ~14k
>retail, and ~8500.00 trade-in for my area with the miles it has. The asking
>price is 10.9k. I think this car should sell for 9-10k at the most because of
>the cosmetic issues listed above which will cost a fortune to make right.
Maybe even less.

>
>Since I am looking at this car because my family of 5 is growing out of our
>4kq (and because the Audi gods are tempting me <g>) I'm not as concerned
>about the cosmetic stuff as some might be since my kids will be hard on it
>anyway. So, 91 200q experts (I know the rest of you have hit delete by now
>:)...) talk to me...what other things should I check? What should the boost
>be? Anybody have a used gray driver's speaker grill, used wheel, and shift
>knob? What should I offer? If I pass, is anybody interested in this fine (but
>slightly tarnished) machine? BTW, the car is in Santa Cruz, CA. TIA for all
>help the list can offer!
>

Well I'm no 91 200q expert but here's my thoughts-- give this car a good
hard look before you put down any money.  Take it to at least two
mechanics.  I notice a large disparity between the exterior and interior
conditions--any thoughts?  Make sure the A/C works; also turn on the
heater and let it run for a minute or two and check for smells (ie if
something got dumped in the vents by accident.  I bought a car once and
it turns out the previous owner had vomited in the ductwork; stank like
h*ll when the heater was on).

I must say I'd be a little skeptical.

HTH

Elliott