Found a potential replacement for our aging car but need some advice

stuey2407

stuey2407

stuey2407

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27 Dec 2015
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We have an 11 year old Toyota that we have had since nearly new that is coming to the end of its life.

After looking around at quite a few cars we both like the style and drive of the Audi A3 Sportback. The 2.0 TDI Sport diesel ticks all the boxes in terms of spec and will have the grunt to tow a large trailer we have. Based on this I have been keeping my eye out for something.

We went to see one today. It was first registered in Jan-2017 has 3,900 miles and has many more options on than other examples at or above the price. The ticket price is 19k and is an ex-employee car.

I liked the car, although it is white and we are still not sure which colour we would prefer. However the interior showed signs of use, the carpets and plastics need a good clean, there were small scratches under the drivers door handle (from someones nails) and the aluminium trim on the drivers door had obviously been dinked with the seatbelt a few times. The sales man did say that the car hadn't be prepared yet and would go through a full valet and the trim would be replaced on the door and any blemishes on the body would be sorted.

I am not sure how much margin is in the car for negotiation. Audi are currently offering £750 deposit contribution on PCP and two free services. Our current plan is to take the finance and settle/cancel within the 14 days.

I guess the two questions I have is

1) should I be worried about the car requiring a clean up and some cosmetic tidy up even through it is only 8 months old? can I ask for the car to be fully prepared before I commit to it?

2) should I be looking to secure more discount

At the moment it seems that every car that I find that ticks the boxes goes before we get chance to look at it. We tend to keep cars for a while so want to make sure it is the right one

Thanks
 
Nasher said:
What's wrong with it? An 11 year old Toyota is probably more reliable than a new Audi lol
Click to expand...

Lol yeah!

No.

Have you tried pricing up a new one from a broker and/or carwow? I’d be surprised if a brand new one didn’t cost similar.
 
It has been a very reliable car which is why we have held onto it for so long. This makes the choice of a new one more difficult. It has now done 120k miles and the o2 sensors have failed resulting in inconsistent fuel economy. Also the brakes are pulsing which can be a bit unnerving when breaking hard from speed. Yes, we could get all these things fixed for a price but it feels like it could be the start of some expensive bills.

Also the kids have grown past the "trashing car" stage so now is the time we can have something a bit nicer
 
I wouldn't personally buy any 8 month old car that looks tatty inside, prepped or not. People shouldn't be able to damage a car's interior in that sort of timeframe without being particularly careless

Also worth taking on board the advice above to check a few broker sites to see how close you can get a new one with the same spec for, you might be surprised (or not but at least you will have checked)
 
Apart from the dinks in the aluminium trim the rest of the issues seemed to be just the result of usage and not had a clean yet, i.e. bits in the footwells, a couple of coins down the side of the seat etc. I was careful to check the other areas of where there might be damage like the boot lip and the door sills where you may see evident of scratches where people have dragged their feet in and everything in these areas was fine. My wife did say that it would probably look the same after a week of her driving it anyway which made me laugh and also cry a little.
 
You would get loads more 'goodies with an S-Line variant and probably lose less in depreciation with petrol.
And VW based diesel engined car should be massively discounted at the moment.
Andi.
 
Just checked and Carwow gained offers around 24.5k for the same spec (which includes the deposit contribution via the PCP)

We will be towing with the vehicle hence looking at the diesel for the extra torque.
 
Nasher said:
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer/Engine
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/m...nd-toyota-top-the-engine-reliability-ratings/
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...time-brand-loved-rich-famous-bottom-pile.html
Click to expand...

All you've demonstrated there is that you don't understand how to interpret data.

It's showing what percentage of total claims are for the engine. So, if you have 1 claim and its for the engine, that would be 100%. If there are 100 claims and 50 are for the engine, thats 'only' 50%...

This is why the marque at the very bottom of the table with the highest percentage is actually one of the most reliable, not least reliable..
 
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