Adventures in Car Buying - Audi SQ5 unseen & 400 miles away
Discussion
After my Range Rover sport was sold last year I'd been debating what to replace it with.
I don't do a huge commute, but I do fairly regular long trips on all kinds of roads.
I have a lead right boot, but like the higher road position of an SUV
It ended up coming down to a choice between a Cayenne, Infiniti QX70 or an Audi SQ5, all would be around a 15 plate and I wanted lower mileage if possible.
A few weeks back I trekked from home to Bedford to view a QX70, dismissed it straight away as the whole setup set my spidey senses tingling (the car had one stamp from 2017 in the book when I saw it, now on Autotrader with full history!
The Cayenne seems to have been affected by Covid pricing really badly (plus I've had one before) so the SQ5 slowly started to become my preferred choice.
I started watching a car on eBay, 2015 / 15 plate, 44k miles, clearly enthusiast owned, a few conversations revealing that it ticked most of my boxes spec wise as well.
A flurry of last second bids and the car was mine.

That was last weekend and having now booked a train from Chippenham to Edinburgh to collect it, I'm expecting an 18hr day on Saturday.
Hopefully it turns out to be a good one, it's certainly the most I've ever coughed up for a daily driver!
I don't do a huge commute, but I do fairly regular long trips on all kinds of roads.
I have a lead right boot, but like the higher road position of an SUV
It ended up coming down to a choice between a Cayenne, Infiniti QX70 or an Audi SQ5, all would be around a 15 plate and I wanted lower mileage if possible.
A few weeks back I trekked from home to Bedford to view a QX70, dismissed it straight away as the whole setup set my spidey senses tingling (the car had one stamp from 2017 in the book when I saw it, now on Autotrader with full history!
The Cayenne seems to have been affected by Covid pricing really badly (plus I've had one before) so the SQ5 slowly started to become my preferred choice.
I started watching a car on eBay, 2015 / 15 plate, 44k miles, clearly enthusiast owned, a few conversations revealing that it ticked most of my boxes spec wise as well.
A flurry of last second bids and the car was mine.
That was last weekend and having now booked a train from Chippenham to Edinburgh to collect it, I'm expecting an 18hr day on Saturday.
Hopefully it turns out to be a good one, it's certainly the most I've ever coughed up for a daily driver!
SteveR1979 said:
Dr G said:
The sunroofs all rattle.
The front discs are very expensive.
The brushed aluminium interior trims are always scratched/dented.
...but they drive well, look good, go like stink, don't break much, and don't use loads of fuel. Good cars.
What a way to piss on the mans bonfire!The front discs are very expensive.
The brushed aluminium interior trims are always scratched/dented.
...but they drive well, look good, go like stink, don't break much, and don't use loads of fuel. Good cars.
Luckily I was aware of the issue with the panoramic roof so I've bought one without!!
It also had new front brakes and 4 tyres less than 2k miles ago.
Leaving my house just before 6am in the morning, will try and update along the way.
Certainly the earliest I've been up in a while...

Thankfully I only have 2 different trains to catch today so there's not too much chance of Network Rail messing up my plans.
It's cold and sunny here in Wiltshire this morning, hopefully Scotland will be the same, could be quite a nice drive back if so.
Thankfully I only have 2 different trains to catch today so there's not too much chance of Network Rail messing up my plans.
It's cold and sunny here in Wiltshire this morning, hopefully Scotland will be the same, could be quite a nice drive back if so.
So far so good, train #2 waiting at the platform.
The GWR train up to London was quiet and quick but a lot of the romance of rail has been lost compared to my childhood trips... No click-clack of the rails and even more sadly no windows in the vestibules to stick your head out of 😢
Still.... Onwards to the North!
K50 DEL said:
So far so good, train #2 waiting at the platform.
The GWR train up to London was quiet and quick but a lot of the romance of rail has been lost compared to my childhood trips... No click-clack of the rails and even more sadly no windows in the vestibules to stick your head out of ??
Still.... Onwards to the North!

I went from the West Midlands to Barry near Dundee to collect a car last summer.
I'd seen LOTS of photos so I was confident it was OK. There's a specific time of train on a Saturday you get 1st class cheaper than standard at other times.
A VERY long day, but the journeys are worth it if it's just what you want.
I'd seen LOTS of photos so I was confident it was OK. There's a specific time of train on a Saturday you get 1st class cheaper than standard at other times.
A VERY long day, but the journeys are worth it if it's just what you want.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff




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