Should I buy this car with minor milage anomaly?

[jamcd]

Hi Everyone,

I have been on these forums now and again whilst doing car research so I thought I would come here to get some advise from you lovely people.

I have recently been a bit 'done over' by a private seller, who actually turned out to be a secret dealer, and almost bought a car that was clocked (I will do a HPI check now before I even view the car).

My attention has turned to a different car listed on Auto Trader. It's a 2004 Audi A3, and this is what came back on the HPI:

Previous Keeper Change Details
5 keepers
14/03/2014
06/03/2012
28/05/2009
03/03/2005
07/09/2004

Mileage Details
Mileage data available
Source Date Mileage
DVLA 10/01/2012 92,000
VMC 01/02/2005 4,700
VMC 12/01/2005 5,500
DVLA 12/01/2005 6,000
VMC 01/09/2004 3,500
VMC 24/08/2004 2,747
VMC 24/08/2004 2,747
Warning: Mileage data is supplied by third parties and may not be correct.


It is flagging up the milage with a caution. Does it look dodgy?

[trickywoo]

What mileage is the car showing now?

[IanCress]

I'd say that's just someone taking a 'guess' at the current mileage, rather than the actual figure back in 2005. It wouldn't bother me, as long as you've got some service history to fill in the big gap between 2005 and 2012.

[andburg]

its far enough back that you know its cover 90k miles in the 10 years since and not worth worrying about

that said there's no shortage of A3's out there so if it bothers you just find another

[jamcd]

It's done 110901 miles, but I was thinking the same thing. It doesn't seem like it's been clocked in those early years, but the gap between is a bit troubling.

I'm actually not worried too much about the car. It sounds good for the mileage, but will it effect resale value when I want to shift it on?

[andburg]

I'd doubt given its age anyone would realistically care when you sell it on.

[kambites]

Given that it's already ten years old and over 100k miles, I'd probably view that sort of thing as a positive since you should be able to use it to knock a few quid off the price.

[Toaster Pilot]

Do the last few MOTs tie up with the current mileage?

Mileage will only show on the report you have IF previous keepers fill out the mileage box during a keeper transfer - it is not mandatory.

[jamcd]

andburg said:

I'd doubt given its age anyone would realistically care when you sell it on.

Fair point. I just don't want to get nothing for it if I needed to sell it on in a year or two.

kambites said:

Given that it's already ten years old and over 100k miles, I'd probably view that sort of thing as a positive since you should be able to use it to knock a few quid off the price.

That's what I was thinking. I will try and get some money off for the fact that it might be more difficult to resell

Toaster Pilot said:

Do the last few MOTs tie up with the current mileage?
Mileage will only show on the report you have IF previous keepers fill out the mileage box during a keeper transfer - it is not mandatory.

I'm yet to see the MOTs but I have asked for the last MOT test number so I can check the history. I think they will come back okay, but it is more the resale value I'm worried about. If you couldn't tell already, money is fairly tight

[oldnbold]

To be perfectly honest I don't think many people will particularly bothered about tracing exact mileages on what is now a 10 year old, 100k + miles, run of the mill car.

If you keep it a couple of years it will be 12 years old and what 120k - 130k mile car? Well into cheap shed territory for most people. At this age condition and service history is far more important than worrying about accurate provable mileage history I would think.

[jamcd]

oldnbold said:

To be perfectly honest I don't think many people will particularly bothered about tracing exact mileages on what is now a 10 year old, 100k + miles, run of the mill car.

If you keep it a couple of years it will be 12 years old and what 120k - 130k mile car? Well into cheap shed territory for most people. At this age condition and service history is far more important than worrying about accurate provable mileage history I would think.

I see. Thanks for the advice. Whilst were on the topic, as I'm fairly new to the car buying process, is it a bad idea to get a 10 year old Audi A3? Current price is £2750, but I've been told that these cars can last for 200k+ miles if maintained properly?

[johnxjsc1985]

mileage checks are not always correct. I had an issue when selling an XJS with full service history.when a private plate was changed the idiot doing the paperwork transposed the mileages for the cars hence the problem.MOT's and service History verified the correct mileage but it did cost me a sale

[Toaster Pilot]

It's probably not got much resale value left if you're going to use it at all - if money is tight a 10 year old £2750 A3 isn't where my money would be going...

[anonymous-user]

jamcd said:

I see. Thanks for the advice. Whilst were on the topic, as I'm fairly new to the car buying process, is it a bad idea to get a 10 year old Audi A3? Current price is £2750, but I've been told that these cars can last for 200k+ miles if maintained properly?

I'd suggest any car will last if cared for properly. Base your decision on how the car appears to you now; not what it will be worth in years to come or how long it may or may not last if looked after. If it's been cherished up until now then you may have thousands of miles of trouble free motoring. On the other hand, you may be the first fastidious and mechanically-sympathic owner of the car, in which case any love and attention you now lavish on the oily bits that move may be too late to guarantee inter-galactic mileages.

If you're new to car buying it's very, very easy to fall for the first one that sort-of meets your criteria. Don't feel obliged to buy; trust your gut instinct. Where there is doubt, there is no doubt, as someone once said.

As stated above, other Audi A3's are available. Good luck!

[oldnbold]

jamcd said:

I see. Thanks for the advice. Whilst were on the topic, as I'm fairly new to the car buying process, is it a bad idea to get a 10 year old Audi A3? Current price is £2750, but I've been told that these cars can last for 200k+ miles if maintained properly?

As you admit you are new to car buying I'm guessing you have limited mechanical knowledge. If thats the case have someone who knows what they are doing look at it for you, even if you have to pay for an inspection.

It's fairly easy to google your particular model and find out any common problems, but like all cars of this age and mileage there's a good chance it may need some repairs during your ownership to keep it on the road. These may be cheap or several hundred pounds, who knows?

You haven't said what you are going to use the car for or how you're paying for it, but as its a fairly small car you might be better to look at some of the cheap PCP/lease deals that are available on smallish new cars. At least you will have a warrenty thats worth the paper it's written on, and some backup if anything goes wrong and probably cheaper running costs if money is tight.

[jamcd]

Money is tight-ish. I mean, I can afford and am expecting repair costs. I could still spend £1000 extra keeping the car maintained if I need to, but I was expecting to get at least 1/1.5k resale value in a year or two time? Is that unrealistic? :P Good news is that the cambelt has been changed in the last 10k miles!

My justification is that I would rather have an older nice car, than a newer tacky car. I don't mind spending extra on maintenance if it means that I get a nice looking and working car, and It'd be an opportunity for me to learn more about cars whilst I own it

It apparently has a FSH, so I will be checking over that! Hopefully it has been maintained properly. How much does it

Thanks for all the advice guys, any info is helpful to me. I have been looking at Audi A3s and VW Golfs for a while now, and this is the best deal I have found. The estimated value on confused.com is something like £3200, so it seems like a good deal. This is for a 2.0 FSI sport

[carinaman]

You know you can check the MoT history online with the Reg. No. and MoT certificate number of the V5 ref.?

You can look back through the MoT history, see any advisories and check the mileage.

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle

[rallycross]

carinaman said:

You know you can check the MoT history online with the Reg. No. and MoT certificate number of the V5 ref.?

You can look back through the MoT history, see any advisories and check the mileage.

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle

Always do this, one of the best checks you can do when buying an older car see what the MOT history looks like and compare to bills and service book stamps.

[Rich1973]

As per Carinaman, its new enough by the looks of it for the entire MOT history to be viewable. That should fill in the blanks

[jamcd]

Don't worry, I'll definitely be checking the MOT history. Along with the HPI, that's how I knew the last one I wanted to buy was clocked. Saved me buying a clocked car

I'm just waiting for the MOT test number, so I'll post back here if I notice anything funny with the MOT history.