A5 3.0TDI Purchase - Advice Please :)

[Colin_147]

Think I have checked all i can for now. Fingers crossed all is well tomorrow

Thx all, appreciated

[Moar]

Olivera said:

What? Unless an A5 has some hitherto unmentioned asymmetric suspension I'd class this as a (major) fault.

For the BMWs it balances it out as a LHD.

[Moar]

Different front and rear plates can indicate an impact.

Looks like the rear is different.

[anonymous-user]

Rich135 said:

I thought exactly the same on the seat - retrim, or the outers have been off for some reason.

Worth comparing against other simlar models (from piccies) to see what their interior looks like.

Possibly fire/water damage?

[Moar]

Also rear parking sensors, appear to be alot of polish residue in them. A little too much ....

Also pic 2 makes the rear look like it has hologramming but it could be lighting and reflections.

I am thinking rear impact atm.

[Colin_147]

Moar said:

Also rear parking sensors, appear to be alot of polish residue in them. A little too much ....

Also pic 2 makes the rear look like it has hologramming but it could be lighting and reflections.

I am thinking rear impact atm.

Christ, doesnt sound good. Its a long drive too! All I can do is check on the day, HPI shows nothing

Thx guys, have a feeling this isnt going to turn out well

[Piepiepie]

Maybe it had an impact, airbags in the seats went off, and this is why it was re-trimmed? This might explain everything, with the exception of why it isn't shown on HPi?

[Thankyou4calling]

Blimey, there is no way I'll ever post pics of a car I'm thinking of buying on here.

The cars done ten years of normal mileage, ten years! There's bound to be wear and tear.

It's less than half the cost new and I reckon looks fantastic. It'll have a warranty and the hpi is clear so treat yourself mate.

[fatboy b]

That interior colour is

[Monkeylegend]

Amazing what you guys can tell from a few photo's.

[BlueMeganeII]

It'll only show on HPI if there was write off? If your car is repaired it won't show on HPI.

[GreatGranny]

My 1999 e36 has done 130k and there's no wear or sagging on any of the seats apart from a little on the drivers bolster.

[Targarama]

Crikey, all this is possible, but without seeing it in the flesh it could all be wrong.

The rear plate is a GB badged plate - the owner could have changed it when travelling abroad. The wax could just be someone polishing the car without much experience/care (or a car supermarket monkey). The rear seats look OK to me, they seem to be the same 'loose' type leather as the front seats - looks like 'posh' leather to me, The std seats have 'tighter' leather.

[Targarama]

fatboy b said:

That interior colour is

Are you one of those who only likes interiors in black. Yawn.

[Chr1sch]

Instinctively i thought, 'looks like the side airbags have gone off'

[Colin_147]

Just spoke to dealer again and raised all the concerns mentioned. He said he is not aware of any impact whatsoever, 1 owner vehicle. I heard him walking to the car on the phone, said he felt the seats were in excellent condition for mileage and he genuinely seemed surprised I was raising the questions! I hope that the pics are just taken at weird angles or whatever but I will see tomorrow

I think I trust the dealer, for some reason

Will report back if I go ahead with purchase, and perhaps post up my own pics

[Moar]

Targarama said:

Crikey, all this is possible, but without seeing it in the flesh it could all be wrong.

The rear plate is a GB badged plate - the owner could have changed it when travelling abroad. The wax could just be someone polishing the car without much experience/care (or a car supermarket monkey). The rear seats look OK to me, they seem to be the same 'loose' type leather as the front seats - looks like 'posh' leather to me, The std seats have 'tighter' leather.

No, front is a dealer plate, rear is not, regardless of GB side.

Yes to polish, but that much is very unlikely. Especially when we tie in with the strangeness of everything else.

The leather is baggy, in odd areas, it's not consistently baggy.

[Monkeylegend]

Targarama said:

Crikey, all this is possible, but without seeing it in the flesh it could all be wrong.

The rear plate is a GB badged plate - the owner could have changed it when travelling abroad. The wax could just be someone polishing the car without much experience/care (or a car supermarket monkey). The rear seats look OK to me, they seem to be the same 'loose' type leather as the front seats - looks like 'posh' leather to me, The std seats have 'tighter' leather.

But that's all to sensible, we want a conspiracy theory, this is PH you know.

OP, I would go and have a look and make your own mind up.

[Piepiepie]

Colin_147 said:

Just spoke to dealer again and raised all the concerns mentioned. He said he is not aware of any impact whatsoever, 1 owner vehicle. I heard him walking to the car on the phone, said he felt the seats were in excellent condition for mileage and he genuinely seemed surprised I was raising the questions! I hope that the pics are just taken at weird angles or whatever but I will see tomorrow

I think I trust the dealer, for some reason

Will report back if I go ahead with purchase, and perhaps post up my own pics

Whether it helps any at all, my Vectra had a massive rear impact with a house in 2005. It was fully repaired but one of the obvious signs, was one of the rear tyres would always wear in a really strange and uneven manner.

It might not help, but it's worth a quick look a guess.

At the very least, you can always walk away from the car if you aint 100% happy, which is better than wondering 'what if' it had been a good 'un after all.

[Moar]

My car has had 3 rear impacts and you can't tell at all.

Is it me or is the rear driver tyre newer than the rear passenger?

Edited by Moar on Friday 11th November 17:30