What does everyone think of this S3 - thoughts & value?

[oat]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-AUDI-A3-S3-Quattro-225_W0QQitemZ350181663034QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item350181663034&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A7|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Is in good condition, not mint but good but has had 5 owners.
Has had a prang at some point (misaligned bonnet, one headlight faded more than the other). Broken cupholder, gearnob, climate control and headlight knob are all badly worn

The major problem is with the service history. It appears after calling the garages stamped in the service book (couldn't get hold of the first), it hasn't had a brake fluid change in 5 years and also has never received it's 40k service additionals.
So it has only ever had oil and oil filter changes since new and potentially a brake fluid change at it's first service (see below).
The cambelt is due plus a service in 2k miles - obviously a major one seeing as it seems to have only ever had oil changes!

Dealer wants £8995 and said he'd sort all the above out but wants asking price

Thoughts please? Run a mile!!? Or are older cars just like this.....?

 

[Dani_B19]

Bag of **** pal, keep looking theres better examples out there by a mile

 

[S3Matt]

ditto

£9k will buy you much better than that. What a rip off

 

[oat]

My thoughts exactly, it is hard to find a decent one not many for sale at the moment.
Audi have a few but really expensive though

 

[S3Matt]

Quick autotrader search has thrown up quite a few good ones for that sort of price. Just depends how far you are willing to travel I guess

 

[S3Matt]

I like this one

*prrrrr*

The grass is always greener on the other side!

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...vehicleYearOfManufacture=&vehicleRegLetter=52

 

[S£]

What a rip off!!

I would sell you mine for that..

 

[Dani_B19]

I like this one

*prrrrr*

The grass is always greener on the other side!

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...vehicleYearOfManufacture=&vehicleRegLetter=52

Me likey that one

 

[cabby86]

I would walk away mate if you are struggling to confirm the history, plus it does seem a lot. Just to give you some idea, I paid £7650 for a 51 plate car from an Audi main dealer 2 weeks ago car was up at £10k!! So there are bargains to be had, mine has just had a cambelt change, new brakes all round, wheel refurb and the dreaded roof rust sorted, plus I got 12 month audi warranty and roadside assistance, I was pretty happy. Its worth keeping an eye on the audi used car website as not all their the cars appear on autotrader etc.

I was not too fussy on spec or colour, it was more about getting a straight car in excellent condition.

Good luck with the search.

Chris

 

[oat]

I would walk away mate if you are struggling to confirm the history, plus it does seem a lot. Just to give you some idea, I paid £7650 for a 51 plate car from an Audi main dealer 2 weeks ago car was up at £10k!! So there are bargains to be had, mine has just had a cambelt change, new brakes all round, wheel refurb and the dreaded roof rust sorted, plus I got 12 month audi warranty and roadside assistance, I was pretty happy. Its worth keeping an eye on the audi used car website as not all their the cars appear on autotrader etc.

I was not too fussy on spec or colour, it was more about getting a straight car in excellent condition.

Good luck with the search.

Chris

Talk about great minds thinking alike! Which one/colour did you get? I've been looking on the Audi site for a while and everytime one has popped up in a decent colour/spec they seem to sell instantly for asking price.

So after this mornings crap experience I decided to take a gander on the Audi site and within a few hours (and managing to get hold of the previous owner I've done a deal and placed a deposit (subject to viewing) on an Ebony black one with black leather and 18" RS4's
A 2 owner car serviced at the same Audi dealership since new and on the dot each time, just had cambelt including waterpump, tensioners etc done plus recently serviced, new tyres, discs and pads all round and has basically been over serviced - previous owner requested gearbox oil change at last service and haldex oil changed at every service

ARB was replaced at the last service plus two new rear springs and two new tyres

Anything else I need to look out for apart from the creaking steering and rusty door bottoms? Also how can you tell whether it's a UK car?

Thanks!

 

[cabby86]

Talk about great minds thinking alike! Which one/colour did you get? I've been looking on the Audi site for a while and everytime one has popped up in a decent colour/spec they seem to sell instantly for asking price.

So after this mornings crap experience I decided to take a gander on the Audi site and within a few hours (and managing to get hold of the previous owner I've done a deal and placed a deposit (subject to viewing) on an Ebony black one with black leather and 18" RS4's
A 2 owner car serviced at the same Audi dealership since new and on the dot each time, just had cambelt including waterpump, tensioners etc done plus recently serviced, new tyres, discs and pads all round and has basically been over serviced - previous owner requested gearbox oil change at last service and haldex oil changed at every service

ARB was replaced at the last service plus two new rear springs and two new tyres

Anything else I need to look out for apart from the creaking steering and rusty door bottoms? Also how can you tell whether it's a UK car?

Thanks!

Congrats mate!! Sounds like a good honest car, I bought the kingfisher blue one (not everyones choice but its growing on me!!) that had been on there for ages, dealer had taken a deposit for it, but the sale kept falling apart, so I managed to get a great deal at the end of the month, the car you bought appeared the day after I put a deposit on mine!!! I was so tempted by your car, but if I am honest it was slighty over my budget, its looks really nice though, wish mine had the 18" rstt's. Make sure you give the car a proper going over when you have a look at it, I noticed the tiny amount of roof bubbling which the dealer had missed, when I went to pick mine up.

Keep us updated.

Chris

 

[oat]

Cabby - thanks for the advise, out of interest how long has mine been on the system for? Just to check mine is the one with 72k on it.

Also how many miles had yours done? Just wanting to check as mine seems much better value than the one above it which sold for asking price

Cheers!

 

[cabby86]

It has been on the system about 2 weeks max, it appeared at the end of March beginning of April time, the one above at N'hampton Audi did seem a hell of a lot, guess the dealer just got lucky! My car has done 63k, which is quite low compared to a lot on the market, most seem to have done 80k plus. 72k would not bother me on a car like yours, it seems to have been properly looked after, plus you get 12 months warranty and roadside assistance.

Chris

 

[BroomeyS3]

I wouldn't go for that one there are much better cars out there,,, I bought my S3 last week from Volkswizard For £8389, Its in great condition. Traded my vw golf Mk3 tdi against it. Check it out this is the type of condition you should go for in my opinion. www.volkswizard.co.uk

 

[oat]

I wouldn't go for that one there are much better cars out there,,, I bought my S3 last week from Volkswizard For £8389, Its in great condition. Traded my vw golf Mk3 tdi against it. Check it out this is the type of condition you should go for in my opinion. www.volkswizard.co.uk

Hi Broomy, are you saying I shouldn't buy the one from Audi?? or are you refering to the original car from ebay??

I saw yours and was umming and arring (see my thread) as I thought it was pretty expensive and Andy wouldn't budge on price even though the haldex oil and filter hadn't been done on time at 40k but when looking around it seems to clearly be a case of you pay for what you get and there is a lot of rubbish out there that may save you a grand of two but any minor faults could swallow this difference up in seconds.
It looks like you've got yourself a minter there great colour combination and managing to get a few hundred off the price, enjoy

 

[BroomeyS3]

Hi Broomy, are you saying I shouldn't buy the one from Audi?? or are you refering to the original car from ebay??

I saw yours and was umming and arring (see my thread) as I thought it was pretty expensive and Andy wouldn't budge on price even though the haldex oil and filter hadn't been done on time at 40k but when looking around it seems to clearly be a case of you pay for what you get and there is a lot of rubbish out there that may save you a grand of two but any minor faults could swallow this difference up in seconds.
It looks like you've got yourself a minter there great colour combination and managing to get a few hundred off the price, enjoy

-----------------------

Don't go for the one on ebay it has too many problems with it. I would wait for a decent one to come up. Also go for the facelift model.

My car is great, it has everything I wanted! I maybe did pay more than the book price but I think its worth it. He did the water pump cambelt etc... in with the price. The only thing I have had to replace is the aerial rubber seal only cost me £5.00 on ebay! very simple to fit.

What is th other car like? is there a link.