West Coast 1st Gen Q45 for sale soon

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

My dad has a 1992 Q45 that has about 80k on the odo and he's going to have to part with it soon. He's getting a company car and so it will be time (in about 4 weeks) to part with it. Car is white outside and tan inside, he has an extended warrenty that has replaced the entire laundry list of **** EXCEPT for the tranny and timing guides (we're talking entire front suspension, front seat mounts, head gasgets, and a ton of other stuff). The warrenty company has put like 4-5k into this car in the last 2 years alone and he just put on some new tires.

Anyhow, anyone that is turned on by this he has told me "to find her a good home where she will be appreciated". Oh, radio was also recently repaired too so the tape deck now works. This car runs great and is STRONG and has lived only in California in garages and is VERY clean. E-mail me directly [email protected] if you're in the market (car is in LA) and I can get you some pictures.

Post by **ardvarkus** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Why not try to get the guides done under warranty?

If you open the front and they are (even slightly) cracked, the warranty should cover it all...

Jus' thinking...

What are you asking?

A

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

I wasn't asking anything, just seeing if someone is interested in the car. So, what would the strategy be to get the guides done under the warrenty? My dad is dying for the tranny to crap out and for the guides to break.

He has a good mechanic that works well with him and the insurance company. What symptoms should he report? What should he tell them to get it diagnosted???

Post by **ardvarkus** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Jeff, the phrase "what are you asking" is commonly taken to mean "how many dollars are you asking for in exchange for your car"....

You'd be hard pressed to get a diagnosis of bad guides WITHOUT dissassembly (and short of catastrophic failure, of course). My thought is that dissassembly would show a tiny crack somewhere, thereby rendering the entire bill an insurable event.

Q45tech- what are the odds something is amiss in the platic guides?

Of course, if not you've just spent 1500+. Perhaps you could work out a deal with the buyer: he gives a deposit, you do the work, if the guides are covered by insurance the deposit goes to the sale price- if not, the deposit goes to the guides. The buyer takes all risk AND all upside. Point being the work is done while it is still your dads and on his warranty.

PS I'm not in the market, just thinking out loud.

Adam

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Sorry, duh, I wasn't thinking. He's really not thought too much about the price yet, but I think anything short of 6k wouldn't be a reasonable offer. He's got 5k in receipts alone in the last 12 months so all of those other problems are already solved and the tranny is still feeling and running strong.

I'd say for the right person he'd make a good deal, but interior and exterior this car is in exceptional shape. I'll throw it out there, what is a fair price? He has not interest in having the guides looked at or done, that will be for the buyer to work out, but lots of the other nagging crap the first gen'ers are going through are already done and done right.

Post by **greg_atlanta** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

If you just list it for sale on the open market, there's a 95% chance that nobody will know a thing about the guides, and they'll probably be willing to pay top dollar based on its appearance.

Just ask for $10K and be thrilled if you get an offer for $8K. If the starting price is too low, people get suspicious that there's something horribly wrong.

I must admit if I ever sold my '92 Q I'd get much better money selling it to some stranger rather than selling it to an enthusiast who fully realizes the cost of the needed repairs.

In most cases, ignorance is still bliss!!

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Greg, your are probably right, the car is so clean it is sick. It is killing me to not buy it for my wife, but she thinks it is too big, uses too much gas, and doesn't want repair headaches that will come with it.

I think your advice is good, we're going to ask 10k for it and expect 8...I just felt that this was such a sweetheart of a car I'd want to see it in a good home!

Post by **landtodd** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

greg_atlanta wrote:I must admit if I ever sold my '92 Q I'd get much better money selling it to some stranger rather than selling it to an enthusiast who fully realizes the cost of the needed repairs.

In most cases, ignorance is still bliss!!

Amen, Greg. The only place you might do better with a knowledgeable buyer is when you have a Q with all the upgrades. People from this group might pay over book for a '92 with the (up to $4500) guide job done, but you're dead on -- cosmetics is all that makes a difference to most people.

Try talking to someone selling their Q45a who thinks it ought to be worth MORE than book 'cause of the "special suspension." (In this case, I suspect they know it's a detriment -- and that's why they're selling.) I see ads for Qs now, and I don't even call any more. Too many undereduated people out there. I got mine by a fluke, and I'm sticking with it.

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

But this car does have a about 5k worth of other stuff done to it, the guides and tranny are the only friggin' things left that the poor aftermarket insurance company hasn't had to replace on the thing....and my dad, like me, keeps a car as prestine as possible and this car is clean.

It is funny, my dad has a good friend that used to own Infiniti of Ventura, sold the dealership about a year ago and now owns Cars 101. His service writer who knows the Q's very well (worked at the Ventura dealership for many years) told my dad that he's hardly ever seen that repair required (although he was very familiar with the Tranny issues). I told my dad that is because nobody with this problem would EVER go to the dealership and pay the 5k they would charge.

Post by **Q451990** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

BadQ45t wrote:front seat mounts, head gasgets,

When you say head gaskets, do you mean rocker cover or valve cover gaskets? If it's truely the head gaskets, the guides were probably replaced when the heads were removed - but I can't imagine why they would have to come off except for a major overheat or guide problems...

Heath

Post by **landtodd** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Jeff,Oh, man! I'm sorry if it sounded like I was talking *your* car down. Not what I meant at all! My apology . . .

Todd

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

No offense taken! I'll have to ask my old man about that repair, I know he decided to take it a local mechanic that my brother uses in san diego for his 60k service. The guy does basic mechanical work on most cars for a reasonable rate, anyhow, he gets the plastic covers off the car and see oil all over the place, so he puts the plastic covers back on and tells my dad to go to the dealership. I think it was valve cover gasgets that got replaced, isn't that one of the million repairs 90-93's require?

Post by **greg_atlanta** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

BadQ45t wrote:I think it was valve cover gasgets that got replaced, isn't that one of the million repairs 90-93's require?

As I recall it's a bigger problem on the '94-'96 models (at earlier mileage, esp. in winter). They still go bad on '90-'93 but I think they outlast the timing chain issue in most cases and just get replaced then.

Post by **Q451990** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

BadQ45t wrote:. I think it was valve cover gasgets that got replaced, isn't that one of the million repairs 90-93's require?

That's right... a very common problem. I feel much better knowing it wasn't the head gaskets! That would indicate major trauma

Heath

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Well in any case according to Dad it was done at the dealership and cost around a grand, the warrenty company wouldn't even pay the whole thing (dad chipped in like 300 bucks towards it).

He gets a MB E320 company car (hey, how may of us wouldn't jump on that) on Sept. 1st so that's when the old Q goes up for sale.

Post by **greg_atlanta** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

BadQ45t wrote:He gets a MB E320 company car (hey, how may of us wouldn't jump on that) on Sept. 1st so that's when the old Q goes up for sale.

Not bad for a company car!

I rode around in a new rental E320 in NYC with sport tires/wheels. Ride was pretty rough compared to my '92 Q. Guess that's the German way!

A lot more rear seatroom and headroom than the Q, though!!! Germans are bigger than Japanese!

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

He got to drive it the other day (it is the owners car and he's getting an E520 to replace it) and liked it, but said "it don't kick you in the rear like the Q does" He is still trying to think of ways to keep the Q, biggest problem where to garage it....he'll probably end up selling it, but it will be with great saddness. Since he had the front end redone with bushing, endlinks, etc. done he cannot stop talking about how he loves his Q.

Post by **greg_atlanta** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

Then keep it and sell it to me in 3-4 years....... when I'm pretending I'll have more $$$ to throw around.

Right now I'm getting my money's worth out of all the money I've poured into my '92 Q.

Post by **BadQ45t** » Tue Aug 06, 2002 11:35 am

I would take it for my wife if I wasn't looking to drop 5k into it...if I lived closer to Atlanta than T3 would be an option for the guides, but I live in the SF Bay Area and don't want service headaches down the road.....but some part of me keeps thinking, screw it make dad give me the damn car and fix it up slowly, turn it into a racecar:icesangel

West Coast 1st Gen Q45 for sale soon

West Coast 1st Gen Q45 for sale soon

Re: West Coast 1st Gen Q45 for sale soon

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