RE: Audi's at auction

["George W. Selby, III" <IsuzuG@prodigy.net>]

I would be very hesitant of buying an Audi (especially an Audi, because of 
high parts expense) at auction.  I buy and sell cars to supplement my 
salary, and usually buy cars from the National Kidney Foundation.  There my 
partner and I do not have to deal with the auction scene.  We also get a 
chance to thoroughly check out and even test drive a car before we buy it. 
 We still occasionally get burned with a problem car.  One thing to 
remember is that cars don't arrive at auctions for good reasons.  A person 
doesn't just say, This car runs perfect, but I want a new one, lets go 
auction it.  Usually cars at auctions have one of these problems:  Flood 
damage, collision damage, frame damage, won't pass emissions, rust, 
undiagnosable intermittant problem (the worst as you don't discover the 
prob until a day or so after you buy), or a part that costs more than the 
car worth is bad (like auto tranny).  This is particularly true where you 
can't even inspect the inside of the vehicle and hear it run.  Now I know 
everybody has heard of the person who got a great deal at the auction.  But 
there are probably 4 times as many people who lost money at the auctions.

There is almost always an Audi at the NKF for sale, but I have found only 3 
that I have or would have purchased.  The first (and one I should have 
bought but didn't) was a Turbo Quattro 2-door sedan 4000 (but not a Ur-Q). 
 It would have been my first Audi and though I wanted it, I thought it 
would have been hard to resell and with the turbo and the quattro, and not 
knowing as I now do the the reliability of both, I waited too long before 
deciding to buy, and some else got it just after I decided to buy (but had 
not let the management know my decision.  The second was a Coupe GT I drove 
for 2 years, and the second was a 4000CS I sold to a friend and bought the 
4kcsq below with the profit (HA HA) from a private party.  I just stay away 
from the 5k's though, I have heard of too many problems on the list that  
 cost too much to fix (Bomb, PS rack, AT, etc)  I am, however, real picky 
when I comes to getting a car for myself (as I can be, since I see 200 good 
cars every year)

George Selby
78 F-150 400M, 4 on floor, 4x4
86 Audi 4000CS Quattro
IsuzuG@prodigy.net