Re: REALLY unusual event

[ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com (Fluhr)]

>The signature at the bottom of the contract is *not* the salesperson's.  It
>does appear to be that of an authorized dealer representative.  If I want to
>be a tough guy, I think I have a good chance of taking the car at the agreed
>price.  But do I want to do that?

My policy is "do unto others...", so if it were me, I wouldn't force them
to sell me the car at the 1.8tq price.

>On the one hand, a friend here at work thinks I'm nuts to turn down a 2.8
>even if I do have to pay the difference.  He thinks the 2.8 is just that
>much better-- smoother, etc.  To those of you who've driven both, is there
>really a world of difference?  (considering that I might re-chip the 1.8
>anyway, making the 2.8's power advantage negligible).  I understand the 2.8
>fits the engine bay pretty tightly, making it hard to reach things, and
>it weighs an extra 200 lb-- so a chipped 1.8 should handle better, right?

I haven't driven a 30v v6 or a chipped 1.8t, but I have had back-to-back
rides in both.  If you want pure go-fast adrenalin rush and peformance
tuning potential, and can handle a little less luxury (the 1.8t gets noisy
when cruising above 3200 rpms), then the 1.8t is the way to go.  If you
are more than happy with the 190hp provided by the v6 and prefer the
greater refinement of the 2.8, then take the 2.8.

>On the other hand, I will have to live with this dealer for some time.  And,
>I don't really feel too cool about taking advantage of honest errors this
>way.  Right now, they're trying to locate another 1.8 for me.  If they can't
>find one, then I might just wait until the 1999's are shipping-- it'll be
>June by the time they build another, and I'm in no hurry.
>What should I do?

Since I prefer the performance potential of the 1.8t over the luxury
aspect of the 2.8 (I hate wood in cars, anyway...ick), I recommend holding
out for the 1.8t.  If you do buy the 2.8, offer perhaps 5% over invoice on
the 2.8 model.  You will have gotten a good deal on the car and they will
be happy to turn any kind of profit on the car (rather than sell at the
1.8t price).

Later,
Eric
'85 Coupe GT
---
Eric J. Fluhr                                Email:  ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com
630FP Logic/Circuit Design                   Phone:  (512) 838-7589
IBM Server Group                             Austin, TX