buying R8

[Trev450]

ian-163jt said:

I cant expect the buyer to drive to somebody really as don't think I would want to it if I was seller ?

Private sale probably not but a dealer may if it's not too far.

[ian-163jt]

Trev450 said:

Ricky can be contacted at RE Performance in Swindon. [e-mail]

many thanks , shame there is no telephone no on web site , just bloody facebook contact.....

[ian-163jt]

Trev450 said:

Private sale probably not but a dealer may if it's not too far.

I may just wait until somebody on here sells one that I know is good, not in no rush …
I am bit impulsive & don't want to look as I just buy …. went to look at m6 few years ago , got it and was told these cars are time bombs with major bills to come , lucky didn't have a thing go wrong , but worried me a bit ..
thanks

[ian-163jt]

ian-163jt said:

many thanks , shame there is no telephone no on web site , just bloody facebook contact.....

found it thanks , telephone no as well , can actually talk to somebody ……..

[PompeyReece]

ian-163jt said:

thanks for heads up , I suppose it depends on area , I would fully pay for somebody's time like Ricky, maybe I will see area of car first then make decision , rac are they any good as at least they are all over the country ...

Was £500 but that was for the full blown, top whack detailed report:

https://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/vehicle-inspect...

But well worth it.

[UpTheIron]

ferdi p said:

They must have gone up then! I paid under 3k for a new clutch on a V10 in 2015!

I'll echo that. Currently prices are still more like £3k, mine had one just before I bought it.

[ian-163jt]

PompeyReece said:

Was £500 but that was for the full blown, top whack detailed report:

https://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/vehicle-inspect...

But well worth it.

yes £500 when you are paying £30k is worth it .
I will have a look on the link you sent , just didn't know if rac would be familiar with r 8 problems , normally most cars get same problems , you don't mind the odd thing wrong ,its just the big bills you any checked ...

[jakesmith]

ian-163jt said:

Christ you know your stuff !!!!!
do you want to do it ?
I am not after any insurance backed / guarantee stuff , I just want the common major faults check , the car is 2007 with 40k , , 10 owners though .
cheers

You need to check the front frame it isn't economically repairable and can't be seen without taking a few large trim pieces off on the front of the car including wiper arms

[ian-163jt]

jakesmith said:

You need to check the front frame it isn't economically repairable and can't be seen without taking a few large trim pieces off on the front of the car including wiper arms

is that something common then ? will they do that in ppi check , doubt they will remove body parts ? is there any other way to check this ?
thanks

[jakesmith]

ian-163jt said:

is that something common then ? will they do that in ppi check , doubt they will remove body parts ? is there any other way to check this ?
thanks

It's not common at all but is absolutely catastrophic if it has, if the frame is cracked that's it really for the car.
It isn't body parts that need removal, it's the wiper arms, and then some trim pieces that come off with quarter turn fastners
Likely only a specialist garage that the car was taken to for an inspection would know to look. I may be wrong but I can't see the RAC doing this. Not sure if Audi do it as part of an inspection.

[ian-163jt]

jakesmith said:

It's not common at all but is absolutely catastrophic if it has, if the frame is cracked that's it really for the car.
It isn't body parts that need removal, it's the wiper arms, and then some trim pieces that come off with quarter turn fastners
Likely only a specialist garage that the car was taken to for an inspection would know to look. I may be wrong but I can't see the RAC doing this. Not sure if Audi do it as part of an inspection.

yes and would the owner be very happy with removing bits of his car ? is this from crash damage or corrsion ?
thanks

[PompeyReece]

ian-163jt said:

yes and would the owner be very happy with removing bits of his car ? is this from crash damage or corrsion ?
thanks

No it's not corrosion.

Essentially there have been several reports, all as far as I can tell unverified or fact checked, where frames have cracked under normal driving conditions writing off the car.

Worse case buyers have walked away, others (like me) don't believe it's a common enough issue to be concerned about.

I believe I saw Ricky of REPerformance in Swindon say he's seen the frame cracking issue three times in his career and in all three cases it involved cars which had been in a collision.

Really it's down to your attitude towards risk - I'm not bothered, others would be. However the frame was strengthened in models after 2010 I believe so again, make of that what you will.

Edited by PompeyReece on Wednesday 27th November 14:42

[PompeyReece]

ian-163jt said:

PompeyReece said:

Was £500 but that was for the full blown, top whack detailed report:

https://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/vehicle-inspect...

But well worth it.

yes £500 when you are paying £30k is worth it .
I will have a look on the link you sent , just didn't know if rac would be familiar with r 8 problems , normally most cars get same problems , you don't mind the odd thing wrong ,its just the big bills you any checked ...

Personally I don't think the RAC would be offering a PPI on a car their staff know little about.

However the key difference here is you get a written, documented report with photos. I'm not aware of any other independent company that does that - if there is I'd love to hear about them for future reference.

[Drclarke]

My jokes about the R8 being a supercar aside, why not buy one from a trusted dealer?

Buying privately or from some other seller sounds like a Vipers nest of trouble?

[Raven Flyer]

ian-163jt said:

PompeyReece said:

Was £500 but that was for the full blown, top whack detailed report:

https://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/vehicle-inspect...

But well worth it.

yes £500 when you are paying £30k is worth it .
I will have a look on the link you sent , just didn't know if rac would be familiar with r 8 problems , normally most cars get same problems , you don't mind the odd thing wrong ,its just the big bills you any checked ...

For £500 I would get your local Audi R8 centre to do it. They will know R8s much better than an RAC Franchise holder and will know exactly what to look for.

[Raven Flyer]

Drclarke said:

My jokes about the R8 being a supercar aside, why not buy one from a trusted dealer?

Buying privately or from some other seller sounds like a Vipers nest of trouble?

There are very few available from well known dealers and plenty of cars are just SOR vehicles that have had no checks done by the selling dealer.

I walked away from a few, when I was looking recently. Others I didn't even go to view, once I got the history from Audi.

[PompeyReece]

ian-163jt said:

yes £500 when you are paying £30k is worth it .

Also another point - if you're going for a £30k car, be careful. These sit at the lowest end of the R8 price spectrum and are likely to be priced at that for good reason.

A decent lowish V8 will be £35k-£40k, V10 £50k upwards.

[Triple Six]

PompeyReece said:

A decent lowish V8 will be £35k-£40k, V10 £50k upwards.

Can echo this having recently bought a 2010 V10 Coupe.

Managed to get one for a touch under 50K privately which is a very good example. 30k miles, lots of carbon, 12+ service stamps. Also added the Audi warranty for peace of mind.

Looked at two other cars around £50K mark and neither had enough tread to even take it on a test drive. Poor/patchy service history also.

[jakesmith]

PompeyReece said:

No it's not corrosion.

Essentially there have been several reports, all as far as I can tell unverified or fact checked, where frames have cracked writing off the car.

Worse case buyers have walked away, others (like me) don't believe it's a common enough issue to be concerned about.

I believe I saw Ricky of REPerformance in Swindon say he's seen the frame cracking issue three times in his career and in all three cases it involved cars which had been in a collision.

Really it's down to your attitude towards risk - I'm not bothered, others would be. However the frame was strengthened in models after 2010 I believe so again, make of that what you will.

Surely an Audi centre would check this, and an owner / garage wouldn’t mind? I bet Ricky would check it

[ian-163jt]

Drclarke said:

My jokes about the R8 being a supercar aside, why not buy one from a trusted dealer?

Buying privately or from some other seller sounds like a Vipers nest of trouble?

the trouble is getting the right colour/ spec / price is hard , just because its from a dealer don't make it good , just because its private don't make it bad , its just a matter of trying to get best car you can .