Viewed 69k RS4 for £15k today...

[neckarsulm]

Viewed for a friend;

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/946630.htm

Nice car apart from one thing;
History is good - no big gaps though one stamp wasn't Audi or specialist
Owner is a pleasant chap (bizarrely he knows the chap I got my Noggy off as they are both MDs of telecoms companies!)He paid £24k 2 years ago from Sheffield Audi.
Tyres are new Michelins
Money has been spent including a lot at Fontain recently for MAF, rear discs and pads - fronts are OK.
Only 1 fault code, for an EGT
Wheels are tidy, 1 just smart repaired, 1 is newish.

Drivers seat is getting worn on upper outer bolster, prob a tad worse than on my 104k car.
The downside is it's had a lot of paintwork that I'd need redoing at great expense. Worst bit is a 1/2" square has flaked off at the end of the roof near roof rail and reaction in the paint along the top window surround above ns rear window. Bit of lift inside offside rear door shut too from 1/4 paint.
Also the tailgate has rubbed on the os 1/4 panel and there's a thin line from rear light to roof on the inside edge of the quarter (i.e. not visible with boot closed) some of which is lightly corroding.
No obvious panel replacements though.

Didn't drive it.

You could probably do a lot worse for the money though and he's open to offers.

The Black Horse Sports and Prestige car was a total minter in comparison but had loads of DTCs and was £1500 more.

Makes me like mine even more now, all I need to do is polish a wing and paint the bumpers (in progress), the core body finish is sound with no flakey bits!
Makes my old Denim Blue car look even better with just one 1/4 painted really well and both bumpers - relevant as he considered it when it was for sale but went for this at 45k when mine was at 59k, as I've said before, low mileage isnt everything!

[FazS3]

How comes you went to view fella you want to make a collection of noggy rs4s lol.

The car does look nice in the ad, how flexible is he on the price considering the paintwork and also the EGT

[neckarsulm]

How comes you went to view fella you want to make a collection of noggy rs4s lol.

The car does look nice in the ad, how flexible is he on the price considering the paintwork and also the EGT

A friend wants one and it stood out on PH, out of curiosity I had to take a look to see how it compared to mine. Glad I did
Well it's cheap from the off and he has got others coming to see it but I reckon £14k possibly less next week as "it's got to go".

[Contigo]

I'm amazed they aren't being snapped up at this price, especially this one at low mileage. Where does this put a 30k miler car on a Y reg say?

20k?

[neckarsulm]

Condition is everything Contigo, it isn't just mileage that makes a car like this what it's worth.
We will see a distinct gulf between the tat and the proper cars in time.
What's weird now is that no RS4s seem to be moving or even getting many viewings even though the used car market is on fire at the mo.

[Contigo]

I know that but Mileage does affect price. I know the generally cars that are valued by dealers are not adjusted if they are under book mileage but on cars like the RS it does affect price it's simple really.

[Timmilne]

Well, well. I went to see this blue car today too. Probably just after you, Neckarsulm.

I think this proves why I'm the wrong person to check these cars over. I didn't spot any of these details, but I did think the bloke seemed both genial and genuine. I didn't buy it simply because I thought it was a tad over-priced for me and he said he'd had a dealer bid him £14K and wanted a bit more. Seeing as some people seem to get excited about the blue colour, I thought he might get it.

As far as I can see–which is only judging from the cars that are selling, rather than what they're selling for–the cars that are selling seem to a fair bit cheaper, albeit at higher mileage, which obviously begs the question about mileage.

I looked at another car which had Nick Johnson's black / polished wheels, which I personally don't like. Does anyone think there'd be much chance of swapping them for standard ones?

[neckarsulm]

I think this proves why I'm the wrong person to check these cars over. I didn't spot any of these details, but I did think the bloke seemed both genial and genuine.

Don't take this the wrong way but if you couldn't spot these paint defects you really ought to tread very carefully and maybe even consider an RAC/AA inspection before commiting once you do find one you like as this one wasn't hiding much - it just had bad paint but many have bad paint which is a clue to panel changes, filler and worse.

Is £15k really overpriced ignoring the paint issues?

I too dislike those polished wheels, there must be a reason why he does that rather than go for OE silver. Was that red car near M25?

[Timmilne]

The red car belongs to a friend of a friend and if I don't buy another friend's (my preferred method of car-buying since I have no eye for detail) 993, I'll probably buy the red one.

I don't think £15K is overpriced for a car with those miles per se, but look at what's selling and how much for. All the stuff advertised at over £15K is hanging around while the cheap stuff is selling. The market is clearly for the cheaper cars. Did you paid anything like that for yours?

What I really dislike about the black / polished wheels–apart from the fact that they disguise the delightful shape of the wheel–is that any kind of damage / kerbing causes water to get between the clear coat and the polished rim leaving a nasty milky patch which then spreads. How much would a standard set of OEM wheels be and how would you tell you're not getting the squidgey ones?

[neckarsulm]

What's the story with the red one then? Looked cheap too.

How much would a standard set of OEM wheels be and how would you tell you're not getting the squidgey ones?

Good sets have sold for £500-£800 depending on rubber.
If the part number end in T it's squidgey wheels and I wouldn't touch with a barge pole as they are probably warranty returns unless you can check they aren't buckled. AE means hard. Take caps off wheels and check on any you are buying.

damage / kerbing causes water to get between the clear coat and the polished rim leaving a nasty milky patch which then spreads.

Even just a chip from a stone can start it off, polished rims are a bad idea!

[Timmilne]

Haven't you just bought one? Or are you collecting them?

The red car has circa 73K miles, non-sunroof, no Sat Nav, leather and standard apart from an exhaust (not a Miltek, can't remember what though). Along with the wheels, it's also got black roof rails, chrome window trims and silver mirrors, which all look a little messy. It's ex-Nick Johnson (hence the wheels).

The paint work has a lot of stone chips across the front. Otherwise, the paint looked tidy (how would I know?) and the interior looked good (better than the blue one). I didn't drive it but it felt pretty good. It'll need the cam belt done soon.

I'd try and swap the wheels with OEM ones (or MTM 19" if I could get them) I'm less concerned about the stone-chipped paint work since I'll be driving it and keeping it on the street.

[Contigo]

I don't think £15K is overpriced for a car with those miles per se, but look at what's selling and how much for. All the stuff advertised at over £15K is hanging around while the cheap stuff is selling. The market is clearly for the cheaper cars. Did you paid anything like that for yours?

15k for a reasonable condition 69k motor seems like a good price to me.

What is selling? and what for? I have seen some cars go for 12k with over 100k miles so this one at 15k seems bang on the money and it's an early motor too.

[neckarsulm]

There was a 40kish miler for sale with a 'V6 ***' reg Avus, chap wanted £21495.
It says sold on Pistonheads so it's not just the cheapies!

have seen some cars go for 12k with over 100k miles so this one at 15k seems bang on the money and it's an early motor too.

This needs £1k paint to get to the standard of mine if not more, add that on and it doesn't seem that cheap.

[Contigo]

What do people do with these cars to let them get in such a state? I mean this one doesn't have many more miles than mine and it sounds like it's in need of some body work as you say.

Mine has the usual stone chips and slight paint flaking on the bumper, a small stonechip dent on the bonnet, a crack in the bumper and other than that the paintwork is in A1 condition. As I said, it's about 60k now so only 9k under this one.

Yes the 40k miler one was advertised (in Capitals) in the classifieds and it seems it's sold. wonder what it went for in the end? It was adverised at 23k originally.

I think you have it bang on when you say that these cars are getting fewer and good condition ones are clearly getting harder and harder to find.

[neckarsulm]

What do people do with these cars to let them get in such a state? I mean this one doesn't have many more miles than mine and it sounds like it's in need of some body work as you say.

The thing is it wasn't actually damaged in anyway, it was just the poor quality paintwork that it had received in the past that would only flake more and more as time went on. I don't have an issue with good paintwork but bodyshops work on the basis that 95% of customers wont know the difference so 95% of their work is sub standard.
I'd love to know when the paint took place because if the Audi Centre sold it like this they need a good talking to, again they assume 95% of customers don't know the difference and buy their cars on the premise that a low mileage car = a good one.
The owner did admit to a smart repair at offside front corner of bumper which was actually done better than the rest of the 'proper' paintwork.