Police Service History

[Slackworth]

Morning all

I've come across a cheap A6 C7 3.0 245 Avant and initially was very sceptical but now know why.

The car was owned by West Midlands Police and has been serviced by their in house technical team (work is documented) rather than an indie garage or dealer. The S Tronic box was serviced by Audi at a main dealer though last year.

If it was a panda/traffic car I'd run a mile but confirmed it was the assistant chief commissioners private car which given the optional extras on the spec makes sense as well.

It comes with a RAC warranty but debate if this is worth anything without official service history.

So, a good buy or walk away and accept it's cheap for a reason? I must say I'm normally a fan of buying from a main dealer of some description normally.

 

[elan2s]

Would have thought it would be OK as you have the warranty to fall back on and by the time you come to sell it the lack of a dealer service history will probably be less of an issue and you have all the paperwork to show that it was serviced. May be infact that they have serviced it better than the dealer would have. Only issue would be that it would not have had any service updates done by not visiting the dealer, although they would probably have been done when the S-Tronic box was serviced. A dealer may be willing to tell you if there are any outstanding issues if you ask them nicely

 

[PeteBSK]

I think those are wise words from @elan2s how old is the car? The first few services are fluid top ups/oil changes aren't they? So the only thing missing would be the service updates. I too would expect that any major recall/important service updates would have been carried out when Audi serviced the S-Tronic box.

 

[SteveMcB]

I've got an RAC warranty, the only condition is that the service record is up to date, they ask for a copy if you claim, it doesn't matter who carried out the work.
Are there any unusual looking marks or holes on the dash or a calibration plate on the speedo, these are indicators that it may have been out on patrol!

 

[sidibear]

Is it a silver one with triplex front glass?

 

[Slackworth]

The car is a 12 plate with 56k on. I haven't been to look at it yet - hoping to go tomorrow.

The garage did say there was an official recall which the main dealer has also stamped in the book at the back.

It's black in colour.

 

[desertstorm]

I helped out a guy on here with some info and stuff who had an ex police A4 3.0 TDI That was obvious it had been used as a police car and even more obvious when I googled the number plate.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16658324@N08/7727915756/
If it has just been used for private use and not CID surveillance etc then it should be no worse than any other car.
Personally I am not a fan of warranties on cars other than main dealer ones, there are just too many get out clauses and limits usually, but an RAC warranty is liable to be a bit better than a lot of others.

 

[Slackworth]

Good idea on the reg plate...done a search and nothing comes up. To be fair it certainly does look to be a personal car rather than pursuit - can't imagine the chief commissioner got up to much dirty work.

I generally agree on the warranty front and I normally always try and go down that route but if a good car it would be mad not to.

One thing on the service history being documented, it's not stamped in the service book - it's in the form of worksheets from WMP - the book is empty other than the DSG/recall hence my concern on the warranty front.

 

[Shocker]

Drive it
If it drives good and you like it
Go ahead and buy it and enjoy it

 

[Slackworth]

Been to look at the car today...the garage specialises in ex motorbility and government cars. Nice enough guy and although the service history was as described, they didn't fill me with enough confidence to buy the car - the two mechanics looked about 12 and they clearly took a punt on this one given every other car didn't exceed £5k.

Condition wise to be fair it was good on the outside overall - couple of stone chips but nothing more however the guy admitted one of the mechanics had broken the drivers door handle and could only be opened from inside while they waited for a new one to come in from Audi.

Inside there were a couple of decorative trim panels with scratches on and the B pillar material was ripped and needed replacing. Although nothing visible there was a very small hole (around the size of a 5p) underneath the steering wheel cowling which was where a panic/GPS tracking system had been fitted and removed. It wouldn't be a deal breaker at all though.

Ultimately the nail in the coffin was the trade in against the old A6 - he openly admitted he was offering 2k less on the OHs A6 as the retail of this one was 4k under. Great car overall but I think there would be 0 comeback once money is handed over and wouldn't be comfortable relying just on the RAC warranty.