RE: Lookin' for a 'new' car

[Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>]

Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.com.pl> wrote:

>Tom wrote:
>
>	>I've looked at two cars today which might fit the bill for the
>last
>	>category (nope, unfortunately that beaut of an '88 V8q, at
>$12,5k, didn't
>	>fit the bill).
>
>I don't know if it's a typical price of the V8 in Holland or the seller
>is smoking something, but I saw a nice '92 V8Q at a used car lot here in
>Warsaw offered at similar price (PLN 37000, that would be about $12000
>if I remember what the exchange rate was half year ago). '88 V8Qs are
>offered in a $8000-10000 range depending on condition.

They're exceedingly rare here (this one was a recent German import), so
there's really no benchmark. The trader concerned (local 'exotic-car'
place) has a history of overpricing his stuff, though.
>
>	>The first is an 1983 Coupe GT 5E, ... asking price just marked
>down to $1500
>(high!).
>
>$1500 doesn't sound high to me - a friend of mine has just sold his '83
>Renault Fuego with nearly 300k on the clock for about $1700,

Wow! an '83 Fuego with that kind of mileage is worth only perhaps $300
here, when the body's in perfect shape. You'd be lucky to sell such a car
with that mileage here- Renaults are not renowned for their ability to
survive such 'abuse'. Although I'd say that a high-mileage car with lots of
highway miles is a better bet than a low-mileage car with lots of city
driving under its belt.
Yesterday, a friend offered me a $50 1984 Suzuki Swift, in relatively good
shape with a full year's test certificate. Yes, I guess old cars are cheap
here. That '83 CGT should cost no more than $800-1000.

 but maybe
>old cars are cheaper in the west Europe. Beware the nasty smell in the
>car - it may indicate that the car has been in a flood.

I'd wager it's a leaking sunroof. Most old Audis I've been looking at seem
to have a strange, musty smell inside, though. I've named it 'Eau d'Audi'
;-) The steamed-up headlights (reflectors going bad already) worried me
more than the steamed-up windows did. But perhaps it'd only been
steam-cleaned a little too thoroughly.

 It's also hard
>to believe that the car has only 130k - that would be less than 9k km a
>year. The poor interior condition tells something different.

The front end (not resprayed- quite sure of that!) was near-perfect. Maybe
it was used for a lot of short trips, which is bad for the upholstery (and
the rest of the car).
>
>	>The second was an '86 Coupe GT, 275k km indicated, another
>recent German
>	>import, with front-end damage. ...
>
>Looks like the gate was moving at high speed when the little handbrake
>accident happened ;-)

Right, that's what I thought. A bent chassis leg takes a lot of force- it
was bent further out of shape than that on my car, which hit the rear end
of another car at 90 km/h. Very fast gate...
>
>	>Interior near-perfect, although it had been standing for two
>weeks it
>	>started instantly with a lovely I-5 rumble and no lifter
>rattle. $900 as-is
>	>(a bargain!) or double that when repaired, resprayed and
>tested. ...
>
>The price is indeed a _steal_, Tom. Surface rust on the discs is normal
>after the car hasn't been driven for two weeks. If you know a reputable
>and not too expensive body shop, this one seems like a good opportunity.

Even the price when repaired (if done properly) is not bad. I'm just a bit
worried about fuel consumption and high mileage.

>How much does fuel costs in Holland?

95 RON unleaded costs $1.15/litre here.

 Here in Poland I'm paying $0.57 per
>liter of 95 octane lead-free. More expensive than in US, but still cheap
>in comparision to other European countries.

I'll get my next fill-up in Poland ;-)

 You probably shouldn't see
>more than 12L/100km in the city and 8L/100km on the highway on 2.2L I-5
>CGT. I know that there were also 2.0 and 1.9 versions of I-5 engine used
>on older 100s and CGTs, but these are carburatted, therefore not likely
>to give better fuel economy than fuel injected 2.2s.

And they're s l o w...

Tom

 _______________________________________________________________________
 Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The Netherlands
 tnas@euronet.nl

    They all laughed at Albert Einstein. They all laughed at Columbus.
          Unfortunately, they also all laughed at Bozo the Clown.
                                      -- William H. Jefferys