Why so cheap?

[SteveH]

HOLLY FCUK... Is that a mustard interior? Wow, just wow.

That was my first thought, but hey, its a talking point for sure!! Could imaging that it looks better in the flesh than in pictures. I had the light leather (I think it was called silver for some random reason) and black car; my favourite colour was the tan leather that I think it was Paul that had, only ever saw 2 cars with the leather colour, most were black or leather, with the odd few pimped out red.


Most importantly, ensure it ain't wood trim, god I hate plastic wood trim in cars, I even prefer plastic aluminium over plastic wood! I have absolutely no idea why manufacturers put fake plassy wood in cars. WTF? The new 3 Series has a "natural" option, that is plastic from a fisher price childs toy in, its shockingly <beep> and I would not pay a tenner for a 3-series with it in, its truly horrifically horrendous. I nearly shouted at the salesman for showing me it, and I am a very very polite and mild mannered person.

[Scotland]

Aha! This car is the layer cake love child... It's what happens when a yellow range rover and RS6 mate

Many things to do - Ideally you want the car and gearbox stone cold for the test drive, as a warm box masks a lot of the thunks. All shifts should be smooth and without any bad noises - thunks, clunks and bangs are bad & will necessitate large cash injections.... Look for service history on the gearbox too - although its labeled as sealed for life, fluid changes are a very good idea. Make sure the tiptro works ok. Put the car in drive with all the brakes on, then pop it into reverse... leave for a few secs then into drive and repeat repeat etc etc... any clunks here indicate play in the final drive that will require investigation.

You'll want to check the intercoolers for leaks too. This is pretty easy as the front plastic grills just pop off and you can shine a torch up to the intercooler. Oily patches are bad & generally mean they are leaking. Expect a bill approaching 4 figures to replace both sides. Also if they're leaking they will put more stress on the turbo & if the car is mapped I would probably be walking away at this point.....

VAGCOM / VCDS scan of the cars electronics will shed some light on any lurking problems such as misfires and gearbox problems. If you do this and it comes back clean, I'd be very suspicious too - might have been cleared just before your arrive....

I'd also be fishing for how the previous owner warms the car up too - any indication that its been booted from cold & i'd again be walking away. I drive mine like a granny until the water temp is up to 90c and then only use half throttle max until the oil (and gearbox) is a fair distance away from the end stop.

Hope this helps

Great advice. Cheers.