A little advice please

[Hooper]

Following on from my other thread yesterday, i have made arrangements with the guy on this S3 to go view it tomorrow, hes going to hold the car for me seeing as it 3 hours away.
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...icleYearOfManufacture=2000&vehicleRegLetter=X

Following concerns of it never having a cambelt, he has located the service showing a cambelt done at around 70K, it has FASH with all receipts, MOT's, even has original toolkit and firstaid kit in boot along with cargo net, the car sounds good and been maintained correctly, just passed its MOT after having front discs and pads replaced.

Have already sorted the money side of it out over the phone and he wants £4750 and no less so i think its a good buy so will be taking cash with me. Only thing he says was done is the front bumper has just been sprayed as it had a couple of stonechips.

I just want your opinions on if it looks/sounds like a good buy, thanks already to Mr.G who has given me some helpful advice but is there anything i need to look out for on the car, will be taking a mate and 2 pairs of overalls to look over the car good but just want to know if theres anything thats really important to look for. Are the engines ok with these kind of miles?.

Thanks is advance

Chris..(who is hopefully going to be an S3 owner this time tomorrow)

 

[Mr.G]

Hi Again Hooper.

Good to see you persuing the S3 ownership mission you seem to be on.

I've just looked over the car and for the interest of the post will cut and paste the info in for you, hope you don't mind.


The advert reads:

112,000 miles, 3 Door Hatchback, Petrol, Manual, ABS, Alarm, 17"Alloy wheels, Body coloured bumpers, Climate control,Air bags,Remote central locking,Full black heated Recaro leather seats,Sunroof,Tracker security,Bose sound system with 6 stack cd,Original floor mats and cargo net,I have the V5 with 2 previous owners.Main dealer service history with receipts,Full mot and previous mots certificates,Tax until end of March,2 keys,locking wheel nut key,Excellent condition inside and out

You seem to have common sense and the fact that you are taking along a mate with a few overalls is also a good idea. You'll be able to tell from the drive if anything is majorly wrong as with most cars. Look at the service history in detail as this will tell you how the car has been looked after by this and the previous owners. It will also tell you when certain items were changed, like for instance the Cambelt. Check for bushes, haldex oils and filters on the receipts as if its not all Audi SH (it says main dealer, could be any) then will other garages know whats involved in servicing an S model car? Most probably not, unless specialists.

It sounds like a great car, has the right ingredients to be one for sure, 2 owners, main dealer service history.

It has the tracker system i see. This is a very good thing for insurance purposes although these days it does not make a massive difference as it did 10 years ago. There is a charge to activate and register the tracker system in the car with Tracker UK though. I used to have them on all my cars but didnt feel the need with this one. Garaged most of its life. Lol.

Just try to use your head, i know its hard to do that with all the excitement in your pants about a new car, etc i'm totally the same i bought mine with a few problems and have since rectified them so if it does have a few problems dont be too put off. Keep level headed, don't show too much interest and as i've already said be thorough with checking it over.

The others will post up some advice also i'm sure, maybe more of a mechanical nature.

I wish you the best of luck with the car tomorrow mate.

G

 

[Mr.G]

Sorry.....


Furthermore HPI check it, you can also reg check using a text message method. Text the REG + the word check i think to 83600. Costs £3.50 mind you. I did it on mine. The RAC also do one for £5.00.

G

 

[s3_kev]

i had some concerns with buying mine also as it had a resprayed front bumper before 'due to stonechips' so i had it hpi checked just to make sure it had no major shunt etc, then went to view it and all seemed ok however it seemed the respray front bumper was'nt necasserially down to stones as the n/s headlight had also been replaced and a stress in the rear bumper paint so you'd have thought if he was that concerned with stonechips then he'd have the rear bumper painted too.
however looking over the car there was no other sign of damage or replaced parts and ive since had the front bumper off to fit my intercooler and everything behind the bumper is all good, so yes be concerned about the front bumper respray but dont let it put you off as im chuffed to bits with my perchase, just be awere that you need to give the front end a complete check over that includes under the car to check the subframe has no bashes in or damage lower arms are genuine and not been changed radiator not leaking and that the aircon still works if all that seems ok then id not be to bothered about the bumper,

for 4750 you will be getting alot of car for your money especially with all the history looks to be a steel to me

 

[Hooper]

Thanks, already done the HPi check and its come back ok, only little thing i found out today when i spoke to my friend in an Audi dealership to check the authenticity of the Service history is that the car is a personal import, looks like it was from new, friend said not to worry too much about that but the imports dont hold their value as well, bargaining point i think???. He confirmed the car has been serviced at 17K, 29K, then it jumps to 55K, 75K and last one was 96K, he just said to check the usual, has cambelt been done, water pump change, the car will gt booked straight into Audi for a cambelt, waterpump change if i get it anyways so not too concerned, im quite a sensible guy so not running into this all excited, just wanted to pick the brains of S3 owners to see what to look for, i will walk if the car is not what i want, even though i will have travelled 3 hours, it sounds a good car for the price so we will see tomorrow.

thanks again.
Chris

 

[voorhees]

the car is a personal import, looks like it was from new, friend said not to worry too much about that but the imports dont hold their value as well, bargaining point i think?Chris

I don't think S3's prices could get lower so no worries on that one.

Just do a search on turbo's on here to make sure you know what to listen out for when they are on the way out also tell the seller not to start it up before you come as you want to see how it starts from cold.also try ALL of the electrics...seats,windows,wipers,lights,indicators,interior lights.

 

[Mr.G]

Any news!

 

[Hooper]

Now the owner of a silver 2000 S3, car turned out better than i hoped, only 2 little niggles so far is the rear washer jet isnt working, and i seem to have lost the spare key, im hoping its in the car somewhere and its fell out when i took my fleece off whilst driving, had a quick look round when i got back with a torch but couldnt see it.

 

[themanthatcan]

Congrats on your new purchase :thumbsup:

The rear washer jet problem will either be a split in the pipe where it joins under the airbox in the engine bay, or there may be a split where the pipe enters the wiper motor in the boot. Both should be pretty easy to sort out and there are threads on the forum to help you fix it..give a search a go and if you don't have any luck then let us know.

Andy