90 Coupe ?'s

[JONATHAN.BRAUER@co.hennepin.mn.us]

Couple of questions for you listers out there. I'm new to the used car
game and looking at the possibility of a 1990 Coupe, 99,000 miles,
$9,900. See it on line at:

http://www.karquattro.com/coupes/0042.html

I looked at this car on Saturday and overall I was very impressed with
it. Kent Anderson, the person selling it (maybe he's a lister?) seemed
like a very nice, honest guy. The car appears to have been very well
maintained, and a long weekend of detail work would make the thing look
as close to new as an eight year old car can. I'm not experienced with
mechanical work, though.

Since the car has been one owner 100% dealer maintained, I assume the
timing belt has been changed and all other maintenance is up to factory
standards. The car felt very solid on the road with the exception of a
whine at highway speed. This whine was not related to the engine, as it
did not correspond with any throttle play, but it was considerably
louder when, for example, the car would be in fifth and  I would gently
press the stick forward a bit. It was suggested that the linkage needs
to be adjusted. (?)

The only other 'faults' I could find with the car were:

--Parking brake (or lack thereof; the handle lifted a little too easily)
--Cruise didn't work
--Alignment may have been off, could've been the highway
--Chip in windshield
--One headlight washer missing
--Side door panels 'peeling'
--Speedline wheels peeling

I forgot to check headlights, wipers, defrost, etc. but if I get
serious about this car I will. Both Kent and his brother (a local
quattro mechanic) are active in the local quattro club and a friend of
my family is a customer of both of them, so I trust them. But that
doesn't mean I want to overpay for this car!

If anyone could let me know their experiences with coupes, if the price
is fair in regards to the above faults, other things I should look for,
etc, I'd really appreciate it.

TIA
--Jonathan