MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I currently have a Saab 9-3 turbo which is briliant fun and I love but the mrs is scared of it (mostly my fault) so we need a different car, been looking at peugeot 307 and focus but an Audi A4 sport tdi with slightly high mileage has popped up.
162k, 2002 reg.
That sort of mileage put me off but I went for a look and the guy is an audi fanatic with a stupid amount of receipts for work and health checks and a full service history plus cambelt and other bits done recently on the car and it drives really nice. He's selling to get an S4.
I'd rather get an audi with 162k than a peugeot with 120 is my line of thought.
What would you do and what would you pay for it?
Looked after with the right reciepts - no reason not to.
Check it had the waterpump down when the cam belt was done , me assuming no one was that stupid as to not to when our golf had its cambelt done meant we cooked it.
Just dont pay alot for it , regardless of the work done its still an old high milage not very special car.
Fyi i wouldnt rate audi as any better than peugeot - both will fail - just the audi will cost you an arm and a leg to fix.
They are not what they were in the 80s/90s.
might he have ragged the arse out of this one ? Are you good at checking mechanical soundness ?He's selling to get an S4
What would you do and what would you pay for it?
Test drive it very thoroughly and offer £1800 cash if nothing obvious comes up.
Walk away if you have any doubts whatsoever.
This would be one of them:
He's selling to get an S4
To be honest on the Isle of Wight you'll have a job ragging the arse off anything, as you're stuck behind coaches and pensioners most of the time, hence me not being too fussed about selling the Saab.
I'm not a professional mechanic but I worked in a garage for a while as a second job and have always had cheapish cars and done work on them, I can tell she sounds fine and drives fine, seems to pull ok compared to the saab considering the 90bhp difference. There's a non sport one in a local dealer with 145k up for 1200 quid more for comparison.
He's after 2600 but I could get a couple hundred off that.
Problem is on the Island there aren't many nice cars going up for sale and to buy on the mainland means taking a day of my time and spending anything up to 200 quid on ferries, offsetting anything I could save
Personally I would favour the Aud but the decision has to be made on the actual cars and their condition, I am not totally sure a long list of receipts is reassuring though, our A6 with 120k on the clock had pretty much only normal servicing. An A3 is a more direct comparison with a 307 and should be a bit cheaper
I currently have a Saab 9-3 turbo which is brilliant fun and I love but the mrs is scared of it (mostly my fault)
to be honest on the Isle of Wight you'll have a job ragging the arse off anything, as you're stuck behind coaches and pensioners most of the time
What on earth are you doing to scare her in the car then?
😯
I happen to live near our only dual carriageway (about half a mile long) so can let her (the 9-3) rip on the way home from the supermarket!
He didn't mention the turbo being replaced and I forgot to ask, what sort of life expectancy do they have? Don't fancy having to replace another turbo.
Almost wishing I never sold my S reg A4 now..
Do cars fetch a premium on isle of wight - thats. Hellovalotadosh for a 12 year old high milage car.
Seems alot but looking on autotrader it is about in line with similar A4s. Within 100 miles there are a few with less miles for same money but without service history or with slightly less miles for over 3k
Keep the Saab and get the wife some therapy 😉
It is tempting...
I'm no expert, but I think the swing arm bushes and ball joints are a problem area.
Listen for any knocking.
the courtesy car at my VAG specialist is a 220k w reg a4 1.8T. the engine pulls like a train but the shocks and spings may as well be old socks.
Not sure if this is relevant - basically drive it and see...
Looking on autotrader these are still about and fetching decent money with well over 200k, there's one with 292k!
Suspension all felt and sounded fine plus it has documents from a recent suspension health check which all seems good.
I think I'll be haggling whatever I can and getting it
If it's a 130 1.9 tdi then the engine should be good for a lot more. I'm on 225,000 on a VW TDI.
The market for 160k cars is pretty narrow, and remember advertised for and actually changing hands for are two completely different things.
I'd spend £600 on a day at rally school for the two of you if your other half is scared of the SAAB. A 9-3 isn't a particularly fast car unless it's been meddled with.
At that age and with those miles I'd be looking to keep my current car until a bill came in that meant it was not worth fixing. I'd then buy any cheapo car with a long MOT and do the same. It's an old car with high miles that could last forever or go pop tomorrow and even though it's an 'Audi', it's not far off the scrap yard so not worth paying a premium imo.
Other option is to save up some cash and chuck it at a car that is new with less miles and 'should' last longer.
Just out of intrest for those saying it will have been ragged, what do you consider to be bad about a car that is regularly taken to the redline?
over the past 5 years ive had an a6. bought it with 40k on it. its got 80k now. its been expensive. no way i would touch one with that mileage
@nosedive - that's surprising, we sent very little on ours over 7years and 120k. Main dealers where con-artists though, the independent we found was outstanding saved us £1000's in unnecessary work recommended by main dealer
As with all cars no two are the same , thus why its rarely worth paying a premium to get a specific name on the bonnet its no guarantee of anything , unless its new and under guarantee of course 🙂
tron, my mrs would need normal driving lessons before approaching a rally car and I have plenty of experience driving cars off road rather fast. On top of that a 9-3 with a remap and the steering rack brace is no supercar but can get someone who doesn't drive rather worried when cornering flap taps! However if you want to send me the £600 towards a car I'll send you my paypal address
There are plenty of cheap cars out there but I'd rather drive something that was nice to drive than any of the bangers I've tried so far.
I currently have a Saab 9-3 turbo which is briliant fun and I love but the mrs is scared of it (mostly my fault)
I happen to live near our only dual carriageway (about half a mile long) so can let her (the 9-3) rip on the way home from the supermarket!
On top of that a 9-3 with a remap and the steering rack brace is no supercar but can get someone who doesn't drive rather worried when cornering flap taps!
I don't think changing cars is really going to help the situation, you might need to just drive sensibly 🙂
No Mike that is not the answer although I appreciate the profound analysis of my driving the problem is I need something easy for her to learn to drive, and it has to be diesel
so she cant drive and your buying an A4 SPORT tdi to learn in ....
do you like haemorraging cash ? the insurance on that wont be buttons
The sport version has the same bhp as the other versions, insurance is about £40 more a year than a 307 or a focus and when you're spending 800 anyway 40 quid is neither here nor there really
TBH I can't really see the point of posting this apparently to start an argument by willy waving when you've already decided what you're going to do anyway.
Checks bing maps - lives near only dual carriageway on IoW. Crosses this bit of the island off places to visit.
TBH I was hoping for more constructive advice than people accusing my driving habits based on my post, next time I'll proof read my posts on here first. Although I've realised with a high mileage car there is no sound advice it's hit and miss and how much you're willing to risk on it!
I would cross Newport off the list of places to visit on the Island, however I live the other side of the forest from the town and dual carriageway, near the castle if you are coming over and fancy a cuppa!
<< This.TBH I can't really see the point of posting this apparently to start an argument by willy waving when you've already decided what you're going to do anyway.
Checks bing maps - lives near only dual carriageway on IoW. Crosses this bit of the island off places to visit.
If you want something easy to learn in, get the 307.
If you want something that you can drive in a silly way - keep the saab.
I'd find it hard to believe an A4 is only £40 more to insure for a new driver, perhaps this may be the case for yourself...but a new driver will be considerably more?
I'd suggest to bring the price down with one of the insurance black boxes, just make sure you turn it off when you're driving 😉
He didn't mention the turbo being replaced and I forgot to ask, what sort of life expectancy do they have?
Turbos aren't consumables (or shouldn't be), you just need to look after them - drive sensibly, don't gun the car then turn it off, and make sure the oil is always topped up and changed regularly.
She's had a licence for 3 or 4 years so isn't technically a new driver hence the small difference. The few 307s I've tried have had really stiff gearboxes, is this just how they are or should I keep looking? My 306 was actually quite nice to drive. Going to have a look at an old Octavia 1.9 next
Do you ride a Santa Cruz?
if Yes = purchase Audi
if No = keep Saab
check out the emissions control stuff on the 307 - 'anti-pollution fault'.
Will do, No I ride a transition, maybe I should buy a pick up to match? 😀