Buying Private, is this buyer genuine?

[Funky-Melon]

it will be impossible to get one with the exact same plate and spec for sale at the same time i imagine.

therefore the others that cost more are they newer? have less owners? are being sold by dealers nor private sale, etc.

all of these things effect the value.

I agree but on a 2 year old car I wouldn't be too bothered, if you were comparing a 10 year old car that may have had some abuse for many years, yeah, I'd follow that....Also, it's not an RS so isn't going to hold it's value as such....'

if it's a good price then pay it. however i, in this situation given the above info would be low balling all day long. i don't care if it is the cheapest. i would be testing how desperate he is.

This is what it comes down to ultimately, if it's priced low and he's happy to go for it then buy it, it may be possible to haggle it a bit but if he declines and walks away, someone will likely snap it up pretty quickly and he'd be kicking himself.

People will pay what it's worth to them.

 

[rodenal]

The biggest problem I see here is that it appears to be a £21-22k (trade) asset to the guy if you don't buy it.

Rare or not, are you really willing to pay an additional £5k+ to help out a paranoid seller? Completely accept that private sales are always more than trade would pay, but his valuation seems to pretty much be a retail price...evidenced by the previous sale value.

There is definitely an element of "what are you willing to pay" here, but why should this guy take a thi of £500 whilst you carry a risk of several thousand pounds of you buy it?

 

[LiE]

I agree, and I've pretty much said to him I cannot justify paying dealer prices privately so he needs to come down.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I agree but on a 2 year old car I wouldn't be too bothered, if you were comparing a 10 year old car that may have had some abuse for many years, yeah, I'd follow that....Also, it's not an RS so isn't going to hold it's value as such....'



This is what it comes down to ultimately, if it's priced low and he's happy to go for it then buy it, it may be possible to haggle it a bit but if he declines and walks away, someone will likely snap it up pretty quickly and he'd be kicking himself.

People will pay what it's worth to them.

as a private sale. i strongly doubt he has many serious buyers interested at near £30K. chuck the details into WBAC and see what it comes back with to see how much a dealer would buy it for.

there should be wiggle room given his position. why overpay when you can grab an even bigger bargain. for example people on here have been selling brand new BOSE headphones for £100 less than the RRP. why? because they got them for free with a phone. so just because they got a bargain doesn't mean you can't also get a bigger bargain.

i'd question any buyer who paid asking after the seller telling them how he has to sell the car as he is being forced to move house as he lost his job, etc. even if it was a "bargain" i'd be wanting it for less.

 

[Dav4]

Why don’t you just go and look at it over the weekend op? Everyone can speculate as much as they want but until you go and see him face to face and look over the paperwork and v5 etc then you won’t know if he’s dodgy or genuine. I would definitely check the house out aswell to make sure it’s not an empty rental he’s trying to flog a dodgy car from.
Another thing that doesn’t add up for me is if his Rs was stolen why go back out and buy another 30k Audi when they could just come back and take that aswell knowing he’s an easy target. It would make more sense if he was moving house after it being stolen not because of losing his job which I’m not sure i believe

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I agree, and I've pretty much said to him I cannot justify paying dealer prices privately so he needs to come down.

i'd say £25K would be a fair price if everything checks out.

£23K a good price for you. but i wouldn't start negotiating at £25K obviously i'd be going at £23K to test how desperate he is. trust me he won't have many people interested. a car isn't an impulse purchase.

 

[mattx2]

Does he have finance against the car? I would make double sure that is settled considering his circumstances

 

[LiE]

Does he have finance against the car? I would make double sure that is settled considering his circumstances

I will run a HPI check, but he has said in the emails and ad it has no finance.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I will run a HPI check, but he has said in the emails and ad it has no finance.

"My RS4 was worth £38k. The insurance company paid out £29k on it."

He likely used insurance money. However that doesn't add up to me either. If his RS4 was truly worth £40K then to accept £30K is madness. He could have argued against it. Providing proof from auto trader, etc proving this is how much it would cost to buy a replacement.

So he accepted £10K less for his RS4 but not willing to accept a penny less for his A5? Maybe it is because he got shafted on the RS4 but that is his problem not yours. He may as well take one for the team again.

 

[Adam]

I've negotiated and bought 20+ cars over the past 15 years or so and I've found a formula for doing it. However, with that said you normally have a gut feeling as to the quality of the car from the description and pictures and then the subsequent interaction with the seller.

It's very clear to me that this guy has a figure in his head and won't budge. Normally these kind of people are pig headed and stubborn and will stick to this figure for a considerable amount of time until you are long gone. Unless you must buy the car this weekend I suggest leaving the offer on the table and continuing to look. Perhaps check in next Friday and see if it's still for sale?

 

[kindai]

Cant you take it to have a vehicle health check as part of the terms of sale, so that if anything dodgy or expensive is about to blow up, you can walk away?

When I got the GTR, my test drive was to litchfields to have them do a full car inspection... drove it back and put the deposit down.

 

[MooMoo444]

Cant you take it to have a vehicle health check as part of the terms of sale, so that if anything dodgy or expensive is about to blow up, you can walk away?

When I got the GTR, my test drive was to litchfields to have them do a full car inspection... drove it back and put the deposit down.

I think even the fact that they were willing to do so would show the car was looked after too

 

[LiE]

Cant you take it to have a vehicle health check as part of the terms of sale, so that if anything dodgy or expensive is about to blow up, you can walk away?

My brother will give it a good looking over, he can connect this laptop to check codes as well. The fact it has Audi warranty means any issues Audi will fix FOC.

 

[texasjohn]

I agree, and I've pretty much said to him I cannot justify paying dealer prices privately so he needs to come down.

Have you run the reg through WBAC? What does that site value it, at just out of interest?

I think you've done the right thing by making an offer. As the chap above rightly says, some sellers have a figure in mind and will not budge. If he is genuinely in need of the cash quickly, he will accept the £1500 drop...

The guy I bought the 340i from was buying a house and needed a quick sale to reduce his finance liabilities in order to get mortgage acceptance. He was flexible as I was ready to buy and he wanted it gone right away.

 

[MooMoo444]

Have you run the reg through WBAC? What does that site value it at just out of interest?

Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps probably

 

[sigma]

The fact it has Audi warranty means any issues Audi will fix FOC.

Unless there is something dodgy like it's been in an unreported accident or it's been stolen and damaged but fixed cheaply.

If gut feel is not 100% good I'd walk away. Another one will turn up.

 

[LiE]

Here is the counter.

I am not interested at that price. I think fair loss for 800 miles of use is £500. You also stated yesterday day that your were happy with the price and not looking to make any offers.

Private Vs dealer sale makes no difference with this age of car. This comes with the same warranty that you would have got had you bought from Audi plus the roadside assistance and key cover, as well as approved Audi inspection 6 weeks ago. All of that is transferrable to you. Yes, its got 1 more owner, but 1 owner that has owned it for 6 weeks. Which will show on the V5. Pretty easy to explain to any potential purchaser when you come to sell it on.

By your calculations the car will be worth less than £20k by this December which I know won't be the case. I have had no end of interest in the car with plenty of calls and emails. A chap from Derby is booked in to come and see it on Monday if it isn't sold this weekend. He was supposed to come and see it today but couldn't get away from work to come down.

I think there is currently 1 other for sale down in Dorset for £26500. It's the only other private one for sale on autotrader but with same amount of owners, lower spec and slightly higher miles. I am guessing won't have have the benefit of having just gone through the Audi approved inspection.

Appreciate that you had to drop the price on yours but I am confident mine is priced correctly. Looking on autotrader, there are only 3 sub £30k A4 272ps Avant's available currently across the UK (two private and one dealer). All with mileage between 14k and 18k. Mine has by far the highest specification and is a very rare car.

To show willing I can drop the price to £27,250 and fill the tank for you. If that's still to high for you we are too far apart and I wish you all the best in finding what you are looking for.

I think I'm happy to go along tomorrow with this price on the table. There's nothing out there in this niche criteria.

 

[Maccy]

He's not going to budge on price, I wouldn't waste the effort on the journey tbh.

 

[grudas]

He's not going to budge on price, I wouldn't waste the effort on the journey tbh.

but lie is happy with the price then why not go and look at it? I just don't get it.

it is the spec he wants - yes
it is the in his budget - yes
it's warrantied - yes

go and look, see if everything checks out and if you like the car then buy it. Simples.

 

[LiE]

but lie is happy with the price then why not go and look at it? I just don't get it.

it is the spec he wants - yes
it is the in his budget - yes
it's warrantied - yes

go and look, see if everything checks out and if you like the car then buy it. Simples.

This is where I am now basically. I can't realistically go without a car for months.