still no a5..but interesting point raised

whomitconcerns

as some of you may have noticed from otehr posts I was going to view (and buy) and Audi A5 yesterday.

Met the seller (independent garage) and brought the car to an Audi main dealer for a full check. So they did all the computer checks did the look over,so everything is perfect with capital P and then..mechanic notices a tiny drop of steering servo fluid on the engine..so was thinking over this..pump replacement possible they said €300..so not a big deal if correct...

Anyway a guy that works there saw me thinking over this (who was a friend of my friend who recommended this place) and told me he knew the car the guy was selling and even though it looked immaculate he knew it had been crashed and repaired...

Now sadly in Romania there is no law saying if you are specific with the "has it been crashed question". I asked him repeatedly and he said no it was accident free!

Anyway..long story short I didn't purchase funnily enough..But did bring up a few questions.

1. If repaired well, there is no way to know a car had an accident?
2. The car had 2 years left in its Audi warranty, first service due in 5k, would the warranty be invalid if Audi had discovered at that stage it had been crashed, and by extention would I have been liable for any and all costs?

Thanks!! All will be handy when I go to look at next one!

Anan1

Christ i'm good, aren't I?

Anan1 wrote: »

What about insurance claims? OP doesn't want to end up paying full whack for a damaged/repaired car.

Anan1 wrote: »

My big concerns would be 'has it been crashed?' and 'has it been stolen?' - I have no idea how to check either of those out from there.

whomitconcerns

yeh...really sucks.....looked immaculate inside and out...only the guy knew he had seen the car before!! But yes you were right!!!

Anan1

Consider it a blessing that you found out before handing over any money - these things can be hard to spot when you're dealing with professionals. Do the Germans have a checkable insurance claims register for exported cars?

whomitconcerns

going to look into that alright..i mean the guy in teh garage said to me look i know this car it was crashed, but dont tell teh seller, we know him and he does business with us"

Anyway based on that looks like I will end up going to germany and buying from a dealer there directly...just seems safer..and even the locals here now tell me "dont trust romanian car sellers"

So..will have to revisit in a month and see what i can do..ah well..game over for a few weeks anyway..shame...It was a REALLY nice car...but glad to find out before money transfer!

ShadowHearth

In eastern Europe, they can fix car so nicely with wood parts, that you won't even know about untill you smash into a wall and see quite a lot of splinters on your arse.
Romania would be same way, if not better. Weren't huge part of stolen cars ending up there too? Even top gear did something about it.

whomitconcerns

well when the car was up on the jacks and even off i..there was certainly 0 signs at all of any damage. the paintwork was immaculate. I am fully of the opinion if i didn't know a guy working there, Audi would have given the car a complete clean sheet..whatever repair was done was that good!

but on my second point would this have affected the warranty potentially?

carrotcake

It sounds like your work assignment in Romania will be over by the time you get a car.

Anyway, pretty frightening to think that the main dealer didn't find any sign of an accident. I'm also shopping for a used car in Romania, so this is really making me think! I was planning on getting a full check done before buying too.

whomitconcerns wrote: »

even the locals here now tell me "dont trust romanian car sellers"

Only now?

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Weren't huge part of stolen cars ending up there too? Even top gear did something about it.

Probably not - more likely Ukraine or Bulgaria. Many Romanians are afraid to take their cars through Bulgaria for fear of theft.

whomitconcerns

yes..well..sadly he even said to me "i know that your a friend of X so I just wanted to make sure you were dealt ok..I know this car and it has been crashed and repaired..its a good car but its up to you.." so in other words if i hadnt known the guy I would have received a clean bill of health from audi..the computer showed everything was perfect I was there the whole time with the dealer staff and it was all checked for history on the computer and fully checked out that it had been sold and had been in the dealers and he was the owner etc...

mad...

darragh o meara

Or the friend of a friend was eyeing it up to buy himself ?? WOuldnt be the first time I heard of it happening

lifer_sean

whomitconcerns wrote: »

1. If repaired well, there is no way to know a car had an accident?
2. The car had 2 years left in its Audi warranty, first service due in 5k, would the warranty be invalid if Audi had discovered at that stage it had been crashed, and by extention would I have been liable for any and all costs?

With reference to your first question, any good mechanic (or better, a panel beater) should be able to tell by inspection if the car was damaged and repaired, regardless of how well repaired (no repair is ever that perfect), unless the damage was really minor.

If it was damaged, and was so well repaired that no-one could tell the difference (possible but very unlikely), then it shouldn't be a concern anyway if the workmanship was so good.

Re. guy saying car was damaged to put you off, that's not an impossible scenario. I looked at a car a while back that a garage were selling on behalf of a bank. The bank's report on the car said it got a rear panel replaced. I checked it out, and had someone with me for a second opinion, and the panel had definitely not been replaced. Turns out the garage were trying to buy it themselves.

whomitconcerns

well i would be thinking if he lied about the damage. I asked him a number of times..then theres a reason hes hiding it..so left it....next time!

The Tyre Dude

Sure your mechanic wasn't just trying to put you off so he could bag himself a nice A5?

whomitconcerns

couple of people said that..but Im in romania...car mechanics here generally cant afford cars like that..but you never know!

carrotcake

...Unless he knew someone who wanted it, and was in line for some commission. The number of conspiracy theories keeps on growing!

whomitconcerns

well I did hear Lord Lucan has been hiding in Bucharest..but it was just a rumour...