Re: 87 90q: Caveat emptor!

[harrison <hsapir@multiverse.com>]

Tom Nas wrote:

> Cosmetically, this car looked in decent shape for its age. There were a few
> scratches on the front wings (fenders), but the black metallic paint looked
> OK overall. The H4/H1 headlighs were unmarked and the foglights were OK. On
> closer inspection, there was a clearcoat problem below one of the (Treser,
> black) taillights, a deep scratch under the paint indicating a respray, and
> evidence of rust bubbling (?on a fully galvanised car?) below the passenger
> side c-pillar. Hmmmm.

If the car has been hit, any panel that was repaired instead of replaced, or
where a body panel may have been sectioned in, is subject to rust.

harrison

> It had the factory lowered suspension (-25mm) and 15" speedlines (repainted
> silver, with a fifth speedline painted black metallic in the trunk). The
> driver's seat had a hole where the metal seat base had worn through the
> side bolster (typical problem, although this car indicated 173k km and my
> car at 218k shows no signs of this wear). It was also very heavily 'smoked'
> and smelled like an ashtray inside. Beeeurk! Half of the dash lights and
> all of the switch lights were out, and the dash light rheostat was missing
> its knob. The leather shift knob looked well and truly shagged, as did the
> handbrake lever (chewed on?). Closing the driver's door, I noticed from the
> hollow sound that it was missing its anti-drum pads. One of the plastic
> covers over the inside c-pillar had a few wood screws(!) holding it on,
> indicating a bad repair. The 'lights on' warning buzzer was out, and the
> passenger front seat belt was stuck. It needed four new tyres (crappy
> no-names on the rear and near-slick Fulda Y-2000s on the front).
>
> The car started right away with a few seconds of lifter clatter. It ran
> well enough, considering that it had three different types of spark plug
> caps fitted, none of them correct, and very iffy plug wires. The engine bay
> was quite grubby, with leaks from the valve cover and (!) metal filings
> lying around. The oil level was well _above_ max on the dipstick. More
> hmmmm.
> As soon as I drove off, I noticed the noise from the transmission. Yep,
> throwout bearing going. After a few hunderd yards, the 'ABS off' light came
> on, and stayed on. The righthand turn signal was out, as was its indicator
> light on the dash, and even after a few km the temp gauge was still not
> moving (even though at the traffic light the cooling fan came on). The car
> felt a bit harsher than my 80 over bumps (only to be expected with lowered
> suspension and 205 tyres), but it was largely rattle-free (better than my
> car after its recent windscreen replacement). The engine pulled strongly
> (if with a little hesitation upon flooring the pedal) and sounded OK on the
> move. There was quite a bit of sound intrusion though, plus the odd whiff
> of oil smell coming in (missing plugs in the firewall?). When braking,
> there was a shimmy in the steering and eventually a shudder through the
> whole car, indicating (at least) warped discs.
>
> We drove it to the dealership where my mate works, and put it on the bridge.
> Even more hmmmm. The car was leaking oil around the sump flange, the
> radiator was riddled with very small leaks, the undertray was missing, it
> had been bottomed out damaging the sump and exhaust downpipe, one CV joint
> rubber was bad, all suspension bushings were _way_ overdue for r/r, the
> exhaust was past its best (a few amateur repairs done already), the front
> track rods were brand-new (indicating recent collision damage?) and the
> exhaust heat shield was hanging on by a thread in a few places. The rear
> brake discs looked very rusty on the inside, as if the pads hadn't touched
> them for years. The rear diff was caked in oil, but it was very old oil.
>
> ...so we drove back to the dealer, and started rattling of this list of
> defects. He immediately reduced the $4500 asking price by $1000, but even
> at that price I didn't feel like buying this 'running restoration object'.
> There's at least $1500 in parts needed to bring this one up to spec, not to
> mention hidden crash repair horrors. Conclusion: unless you can get it
> almost for free, don't buy JG-BF-80! Many thanks (and a few beers) are due
> to my friend Mario, the mechanic wizard, for spotting most of the defects.
>
> Back to square one, ergo. I bought myself the latest edition of AutoTrader
> and am currently leafing through that, trying to find another quattro.
> Needle in a haystack, anyone?
> Thanks for all the suggestions from people who replied to my original
> query. I am once more on the lookout for a decent 80 or 90 q or a Coupe q.
> Original Dutch-market cars preferred.
>
> My post-test drive gloom was at least somewhat alleviated by the arrival of
> 'The Audi File', the book containing the complete model history of Audi
> (including specs of the racing cars!), which I'd ordered a few weeks ago. A
> must-have.
>
> Bye,
>
> Tom
>
>  _______________________________________________________________________
>  Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The Netherlands
>  tnas@euronet.nl
>  1988 Audi 80 1.8S, mostly Tizianrot metallic, 218,000km
>
>     I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
>                               -- Elvis Presley (1935-1977)