So I bought an S4 at auction

ld2130

ld2130

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So I've been hunting an S4 Avant in Sepang blue for ages, chasing various cars up and down the country. I was about to throw the towel in and get a banger as the lease car was going back, then I had an idea, how about auctions? Lo and behold, there was the perfect car (well mileage was a bit high, but never mind)

So up at 5am to go to Birmingham to buy a car I've never test driven, I must be mental!

Anyhow I somehow managed to win, and the staff and organisation at BCA in Birmingham was fantastic. A real experience, I think my heart rate prolly hit 200+

So good news vagcom is showing zero errors and nothing has fallen off yet.

And with the money I saved, I've been to see Ash @ audi retrofits who sorted a rear camera (wifes demand) and @FranA3 is coming to make her shine (oh and I've a removable towbar installed, bike rack only!!!!)

All in all very happy, ****** hell its quick!

(well almost, see thread in detailing about wheels)

Expect a few more daft questions.

Cheers
Lee

Ps People remember to delete your contacts and music when u sell on. 1900 contacts and a hard drive full of pop ;)
 
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Sounds good, needs pics tho.

Had mine 6 months now, just out of the "what's that noise? Will it break? How much is it gonna cost me?" phase!!
 
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Well done Lee. Post up some pics. Enjoy
 
How much did you pay? I bought an alfa years ago from an auction at a bargain price.
 
scotty76 said:
1900 contacts! :eek:
Click to expand...

To be fair it was 4 phones worth, so there may have been dups?

Now do I delete the Paul Young?????

Deo said:
How much did you pay? I bought an alfa years ago from an auction at a bargain price.
Click to expand...

Well put it this way I was off to dealer in Manchester afterwards to buy almost the same car but +5K more expensive. Thou I'm guessing that wouldn't of needed the wheels doing and a detail.
 
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Sorry if it’s a stupid question but what site did you see it advertised at?

I have an auction site near me (blackbush) but never been.

Also have you noticed any mechanical problems?

How did you take the risk?
 
ld2130 said:
To be fair it was 4 phones worth, so there may have been dups?

Now do I delete the Paul Young?????



Well put it this way I was off to dealer in Manchester afterwards to buy almost the same car but +5K more expensive. Thou I'm guessing that wouldn't of needed the wheels doing and a detail.
Click to expand...
Nice, if you've got the balls auction the way to go. Like I said that alfa I got was one of the most reliable cars I've had. I've got a 61 plate s4 now, got it with 50,000miles on the clock from a dealer. Loads of problems, not to serious but constant. Still love love the car tho.
 
Thom Cottrell said:
Sorry if it’s a stupid question but what site did you see it advertised at?

I have an auction site near me (blackbush) but never been.

Also have you noticed any mechanical problems?

How did you take the risk?
Click to expand...

So I registered here :-
https://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/
They also do the one at blackbush. Wow they do 1700+ cars on a Monday!

Reading the forums, I had the gearbox fear, but most posts seemed to say that it was fixed post 2014, so I looked for something newer than that.
When the car came up on the auction site, I rang Audi UK with the reg and asked about the service history and options, they were very helpful and gave me everything. So ex-lease car, full dealer service, I thought, how bad can it be? And set my budget so I could fix anything that did pop its head up.
Also if it explodes within an hour of you taking it off-site you can get a refund, but I'm guessing there's some mega small print in there.
(flipping blokes on the exit gate wanted me to do the launch control, nutters!)

The Auction was run by Volkswagen Financial Services so it was all their ex lease cars, 400+ VAG cars in the auction I went too.

Since I got it back, I've taken it for an MOT and got Dave at audivwspecialistleatherhead.co.uk (who I've been using for the last 12 years) to give it a full going over, he found nothing wrong. (this was another reason for sticking with Audi, a mechanic I can trust)

Still feeling nervous thou.....
 
^ Sounds like you are in safe hands. Stop worrying and enjoy it!
 
audi upgrades
ld2130 said:
So I registered here :-
https://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/
They also do the one at blackbush. Wow they do 1700+ cars on a Monday!

Reading the forums, I had the gearbox fear, but most posts seemed to say that it was fixed post 2014, so I looked for something newer than that.
When the car came up on the auction site, I rang Audi UK with the reg and asked about the service history and options, they were very helpful and gave me everything. So ex-lease car, full dealer service, I thought, how bad can it be? And set my budget so I could fix anything that did pop its head up.
Also if it explodes within an hour of you taking it off-site you can get a refund, but I'm guessing there's some mega small print in there.
(flipping blokes on the exit gate wanted me to do the launch control, nutters!)

The Auction was run by Volkswagen Financial Services so it was all their ex lease cars, 400+ VAG cars in the auction I went too.

Since I got it back, I've taken it for an MOT and got Dave at audivwspecialistleatherhead.co.uk (who I've been using for the last 12 years) to give it a full going over, he found nothing wrong. (this was another reason for sticking with Audi, a mechanic I can trust)

Still feeling nervous thou.....
Click to expand...

Without saying how much it cost, how much did you save % wise vs what it would have cost through a dealer/private? Would be interesting to know to see what sort or prices id be looking at.
 
ld2130 said:
So I registered here :-
https://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/
They also do the one at blackbush. Wow they do 1700+ cars on a Monday!

Reading the forums, I had the gearbox fear, but most posts seemed to say that it was fixed post 2014, so I looked for something newer than that.
When the car came up on the auction site, I rang Audi UK with the reg and asked about the service history and options, they were very helpful and gave me everything. So ex-lease car, full dealer service, I thought, how bad can it be? And set my budget so I could fix anything that did pop its head up.
Also if it explodes within an hour of you taking it off-site you can get a refund, but I'm guessing there's some mega small print in there.
(flipping blokes on the exit gate wanted me to do the launch control, nutters!)

The Auction was run by Volkswagen Financial Services so it was all their ex lease cars, 400+ VAG cars in the auction I went too.

Since I got it back, I've taken it for an MOT and got Dave at audivwspecialistleatherhead.co.uk (who I've been using for the last 12 years) to give it a full going over, he found nothing wrong. (this was another reason for sticking with Audi, a mechanic I can trust)

Still feeling nervous thou.....
Click to expand...

Lol, you must be local to me then as I also use Dave. Going to him on the 4th of April for the annual service and gearbox oil change. Currently say typing this about a mile and a half from him in my office.
 
Good luck!
I'd reckon that there is good money to be saved if you are brave enough, my oldest daughter's boyfriend was going to "treat" me to a night at the auctions for my birthday - I turned that down as I should not have any need to buy another car right now, but I probably would maybe to fix up and resell if I recognised a good deal. Maybe later in the year, once it is warmer, I'll drag my wife or my mate to a couple of early auctions so that we would only be competing with trade mainly!
 
Auctions appeals to me to be honest, prob as my Dad was a motor trader and I have great memories of going with him to the auctions.

This time next year I think I will be looking for a B9 S4 Avant. Currently they are around £34k, so expect them to get to £30k by then so auction should be better still. Thinking about it in March of 2020 a lot of 3yr old fleet cars will go to auction, they'll all have full history etc so bargains might be had!
 
@Id2130.

Excellent effort, fair play to you for going to auction.
Sounds as though you bagged a great car.
Enjoy!
:icon thumright:
 
ld2130 said:
Ps People remember to delete your contacts and music when u sell on. 1900 contacts and a hard drive full of pop ;)
Click to expand...
My phone connects to my MMI via BT and I can search the contacts. Does that mean that my contacts have been tranferred to the hard drive? I assumed that the MMI only knows the contacts by using the BT connection.

ld2130 said:
I had the gearbox fear, but most posts seemed to say that it was fixed post 2014
Click to expand...
Based on my research (which is not conclusive but has been thorough) the final version of the s-tronic went into production Q2 2013 and there are few if any reports of problems for the cars with that version (the only issue being that on US forums they refer to model year which is the year after the car was built, so I have seen some reports of gearbox issues on "2013 cars" but it is likely that those cars were actually built in 2012 and have the second version).

rum4mo said:
my oldest daughter's boyfriend was going to "treat" me to a night at the auctions for my birthday
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I would be ready to socialise with my daughters' boyfriends - I just tend to scowl at them :(
 
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Ah, he is okay, except he seems to like owning old Lotuses - my driveway is steep and a bit nasty at the top, so he can't or will not try driving down - so these cars never get near my garage. Oh, and he has discovered that not everyone is desperate to buy older Esprit GTs or Elans with front wheel drive!
 
Dippy said:
My phone connects to my MMI via BT and I can search the contacts. Does that mean that my contacts have been tranferred to the hard drive? I assumed that the MMI only knows the contacts by using the BT connection.


Based on my research (which is not conclusive but has been thorough) the final version of the s-tronic went into production Q2 2013 and there are few if any reports of problems for the cars with that version (the only issue being that on US forums they refer to model year which is the year after the car was built, so I have seen some reports of gearbox issues on "2013 cars" but it is likely that those cars were actually built in 2012 and have the second version).

I'm not sure I would be ready to socialise with my daughters' boyfriends - I just tend to scowl at them :(
Click to expand...
I don't have daughters, but I do recall getting scowled at. :)
 
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