RE: Lookin' for a 'new' car

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.com.pl>]

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.

	>The first is an 1983 Coupe GT 5E, flat-front but with the large
headlights,
	>recent German import, asking price just marked down to $1500
(high!).
	>Colour: light bluish-silver metallic, slight evidence of
repair/respray at
	>the back, 130k km indicated but blue cloth seat covers and mats
threadbare
	>(hideous aftermarket seat covers), condensation in both
headlights and
	>inside of all windows. Looks good on original alloys, one front
turn signal
	>lens gone, four mediocre tyres. OE Sunroof (leaking?) and
headlight
	>washers. I didn't hear it run because no-one cared to help me.
It smelled
	>musty inside and the dash had been hacked about a bit.

$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, 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. 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 second was an '86 Coupe GT, 275k km indicated, another
recent German
	>import, with front-end damage. Seller claimed handbrake had
slipped off and
	>car ran into gate, but one chassis leg was severely bent, one
front fender
	>gone, driver's door, hood, bumper cover (although it looked
quite OK) and
	>headlight gone.

Looks like the gate was moving at high speed when the little handbrake
accident happened ;-)

	>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. No
	>condensation or musty smell in this one, driver's seat had one
neat patch
	>and rest of interior was perfect. Front discs (drums at rear?)
were
	>surface-rusted. Colour was very light goldish beige metallic
(Gobi?).
	>Original sunroof, aftermarket alloys not to my taste. No
headlight washers
	>on this one. No rust, dents or scratches apart from the
accident damage,
	>car looked honest and well cared-for in every respect. Seller
looked a bit
	>dodgy, though.

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.


	>Anyone care to comment on these cars? Am I crazy for looking at
cars with
	>such high fuel consumption when I pay four times more than
people in the US
	>do for fuel? What fuel kilometrage am I likely to get with
these cars
	>anyway? God, I love that I-5 rasp...

How much does fuel costs in Holland? 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. 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.

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.com.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)