Topic: hand me down car value

The car i am prepping is a'84 audi 4000 quattro.  The car sat for 8 years because the engine in it died.

  This is my first car that was a hand me down from my parents 14 years ago.  The title was switched over to my name for $0.  I have the title but no bill of sale or anything, i could get a sworn statement obviously.  It was going to get crushed but i decided to make a lemon out of it instead.

I dont want to do a lame ass rationalization, i'd like to know how this would get a value placed on it.  Theres only 2 decent things on the car, the springs and shocks.  The springs/shocks are at least 10 years old and has the rust and dust/grime to prove it.  I know its not cut and dry this way, any pointers or btdt are greatly appreciated. 

Engines are stupid cheap for these.  I have a lead on one, its not a problem.

I have pics of it before i stripped it out.  Is there anything else i can/should do?  I obviously want to get as close to the $500 limit as possible.

-Killer B's (as in rally) '84 4000Q 4.2V8. Audis never win?

Re: hand me down car value

jrbe wrote:

The car i am prepping is a'84 audi 4000 quattro.

Inherently fast car:  No
Sneaky fast car:  No
Bloated VW with leather and 115hp on a good day: Yes

I doubt you will catch much heat at BS inspection unless you install a 1.8 turbo motor from a late model VW/Audi.  Take a stab at its parts car value ($100?) and go from there.

http://www.ducttapemotorsports.com/
http://www.teamdfl.com
"I can see it now, a pile of nickels and all the glory of being a real race car driver."
Prepping the Red wReck for the 24 Hours of Lemons

Re: hand me down car value

Have a buddy at a wrecking yard?  Have them swing buy and write up a quote of what they would pay for it.  (i.e. not much)

Aaron

1999 Astro (Green the Daily Driver) - 2WD, 4.3L, 3.23, 200k+ miles, FE2 steering
1997 Astro (Grumpy the $250 Rally Van) - AWD, 4.3L, 3.42, 330k+ miles on the orig eng and trans, $30 eBay fuel pump

Re: hand me down car value

Sounds like you have a kickass rally car in the making with that Quattro. AWD will be real advantage in Lemons. LOL. Ok, let's start with the rule you're dealing with:

4.1.1: Lame-Ass Rationalizations: Cars that "should be" worth $500 don't count; cars that "were worth $500" before you spent another $2000 to fix them don't count; cars you've owned for 20 years and spent more than $500 on during that time don't count; "it would have been worth $500 if it didn't already have a cage" doesn't count. Five hundred dollars means five hundred frickin' dollars.

Your car seems to fall under the "cars you've owned for 20 years" provision. That said, it sounds like a sufficiently crappy piece of crap to probably be worth <$500. You could come up with a bunch of lame-ass rationalizations, but your better bet is to email Jay directly and ask him for a pre-race valuation as a sort of "residual value:"

4.8: Residual Value: Dumb enough to bring the same pile back for another race? Either do the whole BS process again (bring all your papers and evidence--we ain't gonna remember your sad-sack story from last time), or email the Chief Perp to beg a residual value. Include clear post-race pix of the car and list any major mechanical stuff that needs fixing.

Then if Jay says that your car is starting at $2k, you know you should either sell a helluva lot of stuff off it or just crush it. Or straw-man it to a teammate under a fake name or two and hope that Jay doesn't remember. Yeah, you should count on that smile Cheers.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: hand me down car value

Would the wrecking yard quote hold up?  Its an awesome idea, just not sure they will go for that.

Its gonna get a 20v engine.  160hp.  Not amazing but decent.

Thanks for the info.  I will email jay.

-Killer B's (as in rally) '84 4000Q 4.2V8. Audis never win?

6 (edited by MurileeMartin 2009-06-24 11:44 AM)

Re: hand me down car value

We've seen a fair number of hand-me-down cars like yours (also many variations thereof, including such loophole-seeking dodges as the team that created a corporation to sell the car to themselves for $1). Some of them get creamed during the BS Inspection, staggering away in horror with 500 penalty laps, while others breeze through.

If you're going to show up with a genuine POS 4000 with a junkyard engine (with a believable receipt) and no hot-rod parts other than the "10 year old" springs and shocks, you'll probably be OK. A good theme on the car will help a lot, too.

If you show up in full lawyer mode with "$500" (we apply mental quote marks to all such claims by teams) worth of aftermarket upgrades and start yelling about a $0 car, then the BS Inspection will be less pleasant for you.

So, I'd say your best bet is to get Jay to tell you how to determine a value for your car. That way you can have your papers in order.

Re: hand me down car value

In the same boat. Got my car from a friend at a dealer on trade in. Dealer would give any documents because they were going to send it off to the wrecker. The drivers seat actually fell out with the cross member still attached. Nice right?

Team Victors of War (those idiots in the wife-beaters and white pants)

Re: hand me down car value

This sounds like the start of a truly great BS story. Something like "my friend Michelle had this Quattro that she couldn't use anymore, and it was totally ragged out, like it had been driven through the mud and snow at high rates of speed for years upon years. Really put through the ringer. But she wouldn't give me papers for it because the Audi factory was going to just have the coupe crushed, so she gave it to me instead. The thing is barely able to make it onto the trailer anymore. So, less than $500?:"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Mich%C3%A8le_Mouton_2.JPG

smile

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: hand me down car value

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/jalopnik/2008/09/Triumph_Mayflower.jpg

All this hairsplitting would be unnecessary if teams just chose the correct race cars.

10 (edited by btp76 2009-06-24 03:53 PM)

Re: hand me down car value

All this hair splitting would be unnecessary if teams would quit worrying about it.  Show up with junk and a good story and breeze through.  Show up with something that clearly isn't junk and a bad story / no documentation - shut up and take your laps like a man.  It's not like you were gonna win anyway.

With our Mustang, Phil and Jonny just laugh at us and tell us to go away.  In New Orleans they didn't even open the hood.  With our new wagon, I'm keeping good records and hoping the combination of a good theme and the fact that we're building a racing wagon will get us through.  If the Great Robed Ones give us laps then we'll take them like men.  It's not like we're gonna win anyway.

Property Devaluation Racing

Drivers wanted for TX races

Re: hand me down car value

btp76 wrote:

All this hair splitting would be unnecessary if teams would quit worrying about it.  Show up with junk and a good story and breeze through.  Show up with something that clearly isn't junk and a bad story / no documentation - shut up and take your laps like a man.  It's not like you were gonna win anyway.

I guess your right. Will bring what we have a see what happens.

Team Victors of War (those idiots in the wife-beaters and white pants)

Re: hand me down car value

During the BS Inspection, we typically spend 75% of our time on 10% of the cars. Just have your papers in order and be convincing and you'll be in the happy 90% that just rolls right through unscathed.

Re: hand me down car value

The Triumph Mayflower is the perfect Lemons car.....slower than the original Mayflower and probably pulls fewer lateral g's

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....