00 Audi A4

ShayK1

I went to see this today,
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Audi/A4/1.9-TDI/971957/

Didn't get to drive it cause the owner wasn't around but it had a few bits that I wasn't impressed by. Driver side rear tyre was damaged. Passenger side front tyre looked to be wearing unevenly so the outside of it was pretty bald. The passenger side mirror glass was badly cracked. there's triangular shaped metal pieces on the back passenger doors at the bottom of the window and these looked to be "bubbling" due to either paint or rust.. not sure which and there was visible paint damage on the passenger side rear wheel arch and bumper where it obviously rubbed off something.

do you think that all these things combined would be enough to haggle the price down to 5K or less?

Magown3

If you're going to see it again then bring someone with you that has a vag-com cable to check the TRUE mileage on the car...

There aren't many with that "low" mileage out there...

That said, I have a 99 A4 TDi, rear quarter black triangle thingy is bubbling also, wouldn't worry about it. Wing mirrors can be got cheap in Halfords.

Uneven wear on the tyres could be down to the owner firing around corners all the time... Mine are the exact same, lol

If you can get it for 5k then it's a bargain but you don't seem convinced so I would say only go for it if you get it for a bargain. If you pay big money for it then you may find yourself disappointed by all those niggley things in the future!

Timmaay

Hmm, you have nothing to lose by seeing if they'll take 5 for it i suppose, but you have to look at the bigger picture, even if you do get it for that you could be spending a good few quid to bring it up to mint condition. The uneven wear on the tire suggests that one or more rod ends or bushings are worn, and the problem with this model is that the front suspension is very complex, and you could be looking at a good few quid to put right.

Basically what I'm saying is sum up what you think you'll have to spend on the car to put it right, and dont fool yourself into thinking €5k would be a bargain for it if there is problems with the suspension.

Anan1

Has it a full service history?

HJL

I dont think you could talk the guy down by €1200 for what are mostly wear and tear issues, its an 8 year old car.
By the looks of the address this seems to be someone who deals in cars, so id say you could get them to replace the two tyres and glass in the mirror.
The tyre wear could be caused by tracking been out, or something else small, this im sure could be repaired on the agreed price.
Im guessing since you didnt get to drive it and that the guy selling it wasnt there, that he might not either have the car ready for the final sale yet, or left the items to be done untill the sale has been agreed on, then repair them for the new buyer once he has one secured.

Price wise i guess you might get it down to €5500-€5750, but 80k is low miles for a TDi, and you see plenty of Golfs with higher miles going for more money.

ShayK1

it seems to be a polish setup in Naas. I rang the number when I was close and the guy that answered sounded polish. he said he wasn't there and he'd be back in an hour so I could go in and look around and then he'd be back. So I got to the place which is a yard with a run down house in the middle and cars around it. When I went in there was 2 guys in a shed of a garage working on 2 cars. I asked them could I drive the Audi and one guy said "No English!!"
So I looked around for a bit and then left to think about it. I'm not willing to pay 6200 for it. Its not worth it. While I was there my brother rang me and said he found a 00 passat which he'd have more info on for me tomorrow. TD red I comfort line passat with around 100k miles and going for around €5k. I think that sounded more appealing to me than the audi i was looking at and that's why I didn't hang around for an hour to drive it.

There's no mention of FSH in the ad so I doubt there is one.

Anan1

ShayK1 wrote: »

There's no mention of FSH in the ad so I doubt there is one.

There's your answer so. I wouldn't even bother going to look at a car without a FSH.

cantdecide

I'd get the car independantly inspected (VAG-COM would be great as mentioned) and agree to pay €6k ish if the car was fully prepared and repaired where necessary but bear in mind that these are among the most overpriced cars on the road and this doesn't even look desperately attractive.

ShayK1

Thanks for the replies guys.
Maybe I'm just being blinded by the badge??

cantdecide: I do actually like the look of them.

cantdecide

ShayK1 wrote: »

cantdecide: I do actually like the look of them.

I've had two and currently have an A6 and in standard form, especially with those wheels, they look pretty anonymous IMO.

Sport spec with some nice wheels


Passat sport spec as an alternative (it's an estate but you get the picture)

Oilrig

Can VAG-COM tell you the true mileage? interesting...

BTW, out of spec tracking will wear both tyres, one tyre wearing usually points to a suspension problem on that side.

ShayK1

Oilrig wrote: »

Can VAG-COM tell you the true mileage? interesting...

BTW, out of spec tracking will wear both tyres, one tyre wearing usually points to a suspension problem on that side.

Thanks. I think I'll keep looking and wait for my brother to update me on the passat.