Ocuk detectives. Is it a lemon

233 · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:04

Looking at a nice a3 3.2 for 5 1/2

Seems cheap as it's only got 70k on the clock and most options ticked

Went to view and the dealer conveniently doesn't have any service history for the car

Phoned Audi who says there's no history against the registration which is sv04moa. Any of the ocuk detectives shed any light?

antran · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:08

here you go, I got the info from dvla website.

The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for SV04 MOA are:

Date of Liability 01 08 2011
Date of First Registration 01 03 2004
Year of Manufacture 2004
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3189CC
CO2 Emissions 238g/Km
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval M1
Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £143.00
12 Months Rate £260.00

Scania · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:08

Walk away, find one that has been looked after - or at least has some proof that it has.

GravyMonster · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:22

Aren't the 3.2 A3s kind of pointless over the 2.0T, given that the extra weight of the engine kills the handling and any power benefits?

paradigm · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:26

Spunkey said:
Aren't the 3.2 A3s kind of pointless over the 2.0T, given that the extra weight of the engine kills the handling and any power benefits?

Far smoother/more effortless power delivery on the V6. Completely depends on what you are after.

Chris1712 · 22 Jun 2011 at 14:50

Can you get the V5 info so you can check the MOT database for any advisories/general MOT history?

CrispyWombat · 22 Jun 2011 at 15:38

paradigm said:
Far smoother/more effortless power delivery on the V6. Completely depends on what you are after.

......and 4wd, I doubt that there is a hidden agenda. The low price is down to the fact it costs a fortune to run and isn't THAT quick in the grand scheme of things.

mjt · 22 Jun 2011 at 16:33

They start at £5k, so you're scraping the barrel.
Whether you'd want one without a history is another matter

Siliconslave · 22 Jun 2011 at 16:52

the early 3.2s (up to 05) have a weak link in the cam chain where Sachs had stamped their name. The link has a tendency to start stretching after a while which screws the timing and eventually can snap the chain.

Replacing the chain is an engine and gearbox out job which costs several grand. A new engine, or rebuild is more than your paying for the car!

I just wouldn't touch one to be honest.

233 · 22 Jun 2011 at 18:29

Siliconslave said:
the early 3.2s (up to 05) have a weak link in the cam chain where Sachs had stamped their name. The link has a tendency to start stretching after a while which screws the timing and eventually can snap the chain.

Replacing the chain is an engine and gearbox out job which costs several grand. A new engine, or rebuild is more than your paying for the car!

I just wouldn't touch one to be honest.

Not quite that bad tbh dOne a chain on a golf 4mo with change from £700 and under a days work

Minstadave · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:26

The 2.0T vs 3.2 argument has been going on for years, both are good engines.

You can get an idea of whether the chain is stretched by scanning the car with VCDS if you know any VAG enthusiasts.

Westyfield2 · 22 Jun 2011 at 23:42

Try and get the V5 to check the MOT history.

Spunkey said:
Aren't the 3.2 A3s kind of pointless over the 2.0T, given that the extra weight of the engine kills the handling and any power benefits?

Power delivery is soo nice on the 3.2 V6 though

.

233 · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:40

thread closure is delivered

car was bought on saturday after numerous phonecalls and visits to friends in the trade revealed the car actually has a full audi service history

managed to get confirmation and promises to stamp up a new service book from the 2 audi dealers who have looked after her total cost a tenner for the service book and a bit of time to visit a couple of audi dealers

DM · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:43

Good job

233 · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:45

found out the cars been a repo hence the 1 key and missing docs.

just need to get one of the boys in teh vw owners club to code a new key for it and code out the missing ones (just in case)

Skeeter · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:48

After extensive searching I can tell you that the A3 is in fact not a lemon, its a car.

Matt82 · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:50

quite a lot of money to sink into a car that will have missing history and more than likely a patchy history in terms of how well it was looked after.

Raymond Lin · 5 Jul 2011 at 11:56

Matt82 said:
quite a lot of money to sink into a car that will have missing history and more than likely a patchy history in terms of how well it was looked after.

When I was looking for my car, I was looking into this Mini Cooper S in a local dealer.

03 plate Cooper S
£7,000
New tyres (the bits of rubber still sticking out)
New alloys (soooo shiny!)
Nice and tidy all round.
70k on the clock

I walked away because in the last 8 years it had only 3 service stamps in the book. Then last week i saw it parked on the road near my mates. Someone had taken a chance and bought it....£7,000 on a BMW Mini Cooper S with only 3 services....brave woman (saw a woman getting into it on Saturday

233 · 5 Jul 2011 at 12:22

Matt82 said:
quite a lot of money to sink into a car that will have missing history and more than likely a patchy history in terms of how well it was looked after.

nope the history was all confirmed before the deal was done. just a case of getting the dealers who have confirmed they serviced the car to stamp the service book up as they have promised to and its got a a FASH

[TW]Fox · 5 Jul 2011 at 12:25

Raymond Lin said:
When I was looking for my car, I was looking into this Mini Cooper S in a local dealer.

03 plate Cooper S
£7,000
New tyres (the bits of rubber still sticking out)
New alloys (soooo shiny!)
Nice and tidy all round.
70k on the clock

I walked away because in the last 8 years it had only 3 service stamps in the book. Then last week i saw it parked on the road near my mates. Someone had taken a chance and bought it....£7,000 on a BMW Mini Cooper S with only 3 services....brave woman (saw a woman getting into it on Saturday

its covered 8-9k a year therefore may well have been on time based instead of mileage based servicing. This is every 2 years.

So its first service would be 2005, second 2007, 3rd 2009 and then due it's 4th about now, potentially.

There is obviously potential that it had 3 services in 4 years then nothing but its far from the obvious dog you clearly thought it was.