I've only ever owned cheap used cars and become pretty good at finding decent ones.
However, I am currently seriously considering a 5-year old Audi (test drive Saturday), and that's my first "luxury" car and the first time I am not buying something that's pretty close to scrap value anyway 😄

Usually I am the one that friends call to come with them and kick tires before they buy something but this one's gonna be like £20k and much more complex than the cars I know.
I don't know what's the custom and best practice acceptable by garages? They are not going to drive with me to my trusted garage and wait an hour for an inspection, are they?

Also, wondering if one of those hired inspectors can provide the same level of assurance as a garage? I guess they aren't going to lift the car to see underneath, etc...

And then how does reservation, deposit refund work?
I don't want to hire someone or book a garage to take a look at a car that I haven't seen first myself... And I don't want to argue with a garage that they have to give me back the deposit because the car needs a lot of work (even if everything works "fine"... For example if all the belts, pads, plugs etc are almost gone)

Hopefully one of the many savvy people here can share with me their bulletproof procedure 😉

42 minutes ago, DraxDomax said:

I've only ever owned cheap used cars and become pretty good at finding decent ones.
However, I am currently seriously considering a 5-year old Audi (test drive Saturday), and that's my first "luxury" car and the first time I am not buying something that's pretty close to scrap value anyway 😄

Usually I am the one that friends call to come with them and kick tires before they buy something but this one's gonna be like £20k and much more complex than the cars I know.
I don't know what's the custom and best practice acceptable by garages? They are not going to drive with me to my trusted garage and wait an hour for an inspection, are they?

Also, wondering if one of those hired inspectors can provide the same level of assurance as a garage? I guess they aren't going to lift the car to see underneath, etc...

And then how does reservation, deposit refund work?
I don't want to hire someone or book a garage to take a look at a car that I haven't seen first myself... And I don't want to argue with a garage that they have to give me back the deposit because the car needs a lot of work (even if everything works "fine"... For example if all the belts, pads, plugs etc are almost gone)

Hopefully one of the many savvy people here can share with me their bulletproof procedure 😉

Hi you need to have all service information available and if sketchy you need to ask for an AA independent inspection, a lot is milage/age dependent so I can only assume for the price you are thinking of paying the milage is very low, BEWARE this model isoprene to numerous faults, don't take my word for it go through the A4 part of the forum, if you are financing the vehicle the repayments period may well outlast the car, there are plenty more models that would bear consideration at that price, jut avoid anything with an ULTRA badge, most deposits are refundable by law but I doubt there is a queue to buy this car, just research the model on here.

Steve.

Hi Steve, thanks for your thoughts. I was just reading about Ultra and didn't know it's actually something I might not want!
What else would you consider? I need something that has a bit of extra ground clearance and minimal wind/road noise.

1 hour ago, DraxDomax said:

Hi Steve, thanks for your thoughts. I was just reading about Ultra and didn't know it's actually something I might not want!
What else would you consider? I need something that has a bit of extra ground clearance and minimal wind/road noise.

Hi I can recommend Volvo C60 or an Audi Q3 I have worked on a couple of these recently and they if looked after are pretty much bullet proof, the Q3 in particular as the spares are cheap and Audi used the VW engines which have a very good track record, you could also look at Passat, Tiguan, both have good ground clearance which the standard Avants don't have, again cheaper parts, any of the above with nice miles will be somewhat cheaper in both purchase price and parts, my personal opinion having owned the ULTRA equipped car is they are a very nicer to drive but they are also a money pit, the owners of the older Audis pre ULTRA definitely have had the better deal.

Steve.