Need urgent advice on buying a 94 Q

[Spaco]

Ok... as you all know, I wrecked my '93 J30 a few weeks ago and I'm still looking for a car. Today was the first day the following car was listed in the paper and I'm really excited about it as a possible buy. It has some cons though, and I fear I'm jumping into it too soon. Here's the description:

1994 Q45, 123k miles New professional paint jobFair interior, slight cracking of leatherIn good running condition besides tape player not working( I think...)10 disc cd changerpower everything but no heated seats$600 security system w/remote start

I took it for a drive and it seemed to run smooth and quiet. I've never driven a Q before, but I liked it. The guy is rich and is the original owner, and seemed to be very honest about it's history. He said it had been in a slight fender bender years ago and they had to replace the front right headlight assembly, etc. but I couldn't see any sign of reworking. I'm going to run the carfax and I was thinking about taking it to the dealership tomorrow, but the high mileage really worries me. That one that just went on ebay in that last thread on buying a Q had a better interior and 1/2 the miles for the same price. He's asking $9,700, but I think he'd come down a good bit to possibly $8.5k or so. Bite or no bite? I think I just have Q fever!

Thanks,

DanielShould Spaco buy this Q45?

[Sopdadope]

Restrain yourself! I know how that good ole Q fever is! If I were you, I'd hold off on making the purchase. Wait for the Carfax and in the meantime, keep looking for other Q's. If you like the '94, you'd really like the older 90-93. Sure they're more temperamental but with maintenance, you should be ok. Plus, they're usually dirt cheap, around $5000-6500.

[AZhitman]

NO WAY SPACO!!! Too many miles, and a Q repaint is NEVER as good as the original (why was it repainted?) Q45 paint jobs last forever if they're not abused or left out in the weather. You won't see the problems with the paint until you're alone in your garage waxing it...

The leather in most of the NICO Q's of that age is still perfect - Mine's a 95, with 83K on the odo, and I see comparable ones every week here in Phoenix for that kind of $$$.

I'd be more than happy to scout the AZ scene to help out if you'd like. NO rust, NO rain, NO hail, perfectly preserved cars here (if they're garaged). E-me off-board if you need a hand.

[BadQ45t]

Too much money, I have to say that if I were going to buy a first gen it would NEVER be a 90-93. While the might have a skosh more power, there are WAY WAY WAY too many things that go wrong with them, the 94-96 fixed too many things to outweigh the value of the earlier models. My dad's insurance company has dropped 6k into his 92' over the last two years, you don't want to go there....the extra performance (whatever it really amounts to) ain't worth it.

This car seems like a pass to me.

[AZhitman]

The 95 is the most practical balance of power and reliability.

If you can find an optioned-out 't' model, you're in business.

I'll sell you mine for $15K.

[maxnix]

Please keep looking. AZhitman is dead right. Something is really wrong, or someone is stupid and has too much money to burn.

Get one from someone who spent the money on maintaining it rather tahn repainting it. Cracks in the leather in a 1994-1996 Q45 is just not acceptable, unless it is severely discounted.

[wamQ45]

I guess one more NO WAY could not hurt....I bought my 94 Q 2 year ago for $11000 and it had 124K on the clock. I put about $1000 into head lights, struts and misc right after I bought it. It has original paint and still looks new. Right now I would guess that my car would fetch about $7500 on the open market and about $500 as a trade in (blood sucking car dealers). You know we need to start a "BLOOD SUCKING CAR DEALERS" thread.

[Alan]

Daniel, I think the general concensus is pass, for all the reasons above. Take your time (if you can) and find a really good one. Good luck, and watch out for those BLOOD SUCKING car dealers!

[Aus94Q45]

Pass on it! Too many miles and the re-paint is not good. With some effort you should be able to find a car with original paint and less miles -- for less money.

Take a look on Autotrader.com and e-bay to get an idea. Resale on Q's may be there weakest point as an owner -- but a strong point for buying. I am seeing 94's slip into the $7K - $11K range.

It takes a while to sell one at book and many dealers and individuals seem to just take what they can get in a hurry. Be patient - there are plenty of good 94's and 95's out there in excellent cosmetic shape that have been maintained reasonably well. Because the resale tends to sag, I would not touch a Q that has been wrecked. If you buy one, you want the original paint job. You may recall some of the only TV ads for the 94-95's focused on the superior paint job and materials used to hold up to the elements. Some english accent guy shot a rubber dart at the paint! In short do not settle for less than a couple of nicks and a door ding or two!

[Spaco]

Thanks for all the quick responses, I've settled down and come to my senses. I think I was just worried it was a good deal that I might lose. Last week I missed buying a pristine '93 silver garage-kept, low mileage J30 by a few hours. I guess I'll just get a cash car for now that I can clean up and resell in a few months and in that time keep searching for the best deal.

Thanks again,

Daniel

[jmatas]

I just picked up my 1994 this morning. It's a t model with 81K miles, mechanically sound, no wrecks or repaints, for $9500. As Aus94Q pointed out, autotrader.com has several low, low mileage examples out there (40-60K) for around $10K. May be worth a one way plane ticket to pick up a good example.

[maxnix]

That's how I did it after lots of conversations and as much research as I could do remotely.

The only problem is, I would have had to get another ticket or AmTrak back from NYC to Seattle if I was not happy with the car!

[greg_atlanta]

I say consider it if the price goes down to $7K. You're never going to get much encouragement on a forum like this with a bunch of picky people who know too much.

Frankly it's hard to search for the 10-20% of early Qs which are really in good shape.

I think my '92 is in the top 25% of older Qs on the road, but even it has enough quirks to scare away most potential buyers. Doesn't mean it's a bad car... I'm just used to its quirks!!