Re: pair of 5000s in limbo

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alexaudi@kki.net.pl>]

At 09:57 99-11-06 +0100, Tom Nas wrote:

>Just spoke to my mechanic friend- he told me that a customer of theirs has
>a Canadian-spec 5ktkq which they diagnosed as having (among others) a
>defective turbo. According to my friend, there was about $2.5k in repairs
>on that car. The customer, tired of pumping $2k into each annual service,
>bought another 5ktq (this time a US version)- which was promptly diagnosed
>as needing just about as much as the first car.

What's exactly wrong with both cars? $2500 in repairs seems high to me even
for a pretty much worn out 5KT - that's said, labor is much cheaper here
than in the West. Even in the worst year of my 5KT ownership I spent _well_
below $1000 in repairs.

>He's now thinking of selling- I'm going to look at both cars next week,
>maybe try to convince him to source parts from the US and keep the cars on
>the road, maybe look into acquiring one car (depending on what's wrong and
>what he wants for them.
>
>Need some spare parts, Aleksander? ;-)

I finally picked up my car from the body shop last week, so I no longer
need major body parts. If the price is right, I probably would be
interested in some minor bits and pieces. However, being an enthusiast and
all, I'd hate to see such a rare and beautiful cars being parted out only
because they need some repairs. Unfortunately, importing cars more than 10
years old is illegal in Poland, but I know that buyers from former Soviet
republics routinely visit west Europe looking for inexpensive older German
cars. Maybe one of Igor's Russian friends would be interested in 5KTq in
need of a little work?

--
Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
87 5KT