Magnet

Found anything more Michael?

Hello Michael, I would be moving forward with extreme caution on any vehicle that has such a short previous ownership. The vehicle might have been rejected under a 30 day purchase. A paid for vehicle check would be a must, unless you have access to a contact from the previous short term owner. Co-incidentally, I came across a similar situation with a non-Audi I eventually bought just over a year ago. It has one owner until about 2 months before my intended purchase - alarm bells! I managed to get the last owner details from the seller, and was able to talk with that owner at the eleventh hour. He revealed it was his late father’s car from new, and he wanted to retain his personalised number, so had no option other than to register the car in his name. A paid for vehicle check should reveal details of personalised number transfer dates etc., so I’m very much with Stephen on his essential recommendations. If you work on the principle that a seller will tell you anything you want to hear - you won’t go far wrong. Is this 8 month old car being sold by a main dealer or not? Kind regards, Gareth.

Maybe a really small amount ( or nothing at all) at an annual service Lance. How much are you needing to add, and over what mileage/time? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Steven, To avoid duplication of suggestions, where have you already tried without success? Kind regards, Gareth.

Where online have you looked Alex? Have you also tried registering your ‘want’ with the online breaker link sites such as Partsfinder - there are more? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Vic, Wondered if you bought the A5 you had paid a deposit on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Andrew, With the prices of used vehicles still rising - albeit at a slower rate - I thing you might find that the ancient art of negotiating on price is indeed getting ancient and redundant! You might be lucky, but….. Of course, the old question of ‘what is the price for cash?’ is likely to be responded to buy a price increase, as they lose there finance commission. I would always suggest not buying the ‘best deal’ , but buying the best vehicle. Kind regards, Gareth

Let’s hope Simon doesn’t get into trouble, since he hasn’t seen either of the two constructive and helpful replies.

Thanks Andrew, Just to clarify, my EBay suggestion was in relation to the sale of your A3, rather than the purchase of an A1. Disadvantages of buying off EBay or any fairly remote-from-home location:- Have to travel to view. Potential impracticality of having any guarantee work carried out. Obviously, buying locally is the ideal, but you might have to wait for the right car to become available. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andrew, Thanks for joining and posting for advice. Very much a personal view:- You’ve owned the car for 15 years, so it now doesn’t owe you anything more than its scrap value. You are of course absolutely bright in your view that it’s worth far more in its broken down form, but you have to break it and then attempt to sell the individual parts to realise that increase in value. Worth the effort?? WBAC are unlikely to value it at anything more than it’s weight in scrap, so you have a choice of:- Listing it on EBay where it would have the widest audience, sell it to WBAC or it’s scrap value - whichever is highest - break it yourself and sell the bits, or hope someone on here would pay you more than all other options. There would be a school of thought that would suggest, you’ve had your 15 years of service from it, so just let it go to the best EBay bid, and move on to secure the best deal on the best car to replace it. I.e. minimum hassle route. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, As well as posting on here, I would suggest you register your ‘want’ on the on-line car breaker websites such as Partsfinder ( there are more) and search EBay. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gideon, When you say an aftermarket clutch kit isn’t available, have you tried to find out what elements of the 4 pieces aren’t available - flywheel, clutch driver plate, pressure plate, release bearing/ slave cylinder? If not, it would be worth contacting LUK technical and enquiring there. Some of the parts may indeed be available as individual components. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Sarah, Really sorry to hear of your unacceptable experiences. The ‘needs a service’ condition is as old as the hills. The car must be serviced ( of course at your cost) otherwise the remaining warranty will be adversely affected - a catch 22 situation. You would need to check whether it does, and provide evidence that it’s been correctly serviced since you bought it. The good news should be that any fault reported before the end of the 3 year warranty, will be covered outside warranty. Understandably you won’t have any confidence in the car, and the bottom line could be you trade it in. If you decide to do that, you may find the depreciation may not be as much as you would have anticipated. The bad news is the potential next purchase will be more expensive than anticipated. I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything other than sympathy, but what I would suggest is that you record on one sheet, the timeline of faults and the action taken by the dealer. This should aid your case - without it, it will dilute the case. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Keith, It would be unusual for both bulbs to blow at the same time, so unlikely your fault is a simple as that, but always worth a try. As Steve says, unless you know your way around a multi meter. Fairly common problem site can be a fracture in the wiring within the flexible harness section linking body to tailgate/boot, but it could well be something else, but wiring checking and testing should find your fault. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Daisy, For all stuck-down trim sections, the use of a hair dryer often aids they removal. Utmost care and the correct non-metal tools are the only safe way forward - screwdrivers need to be barred from anything to do with this, or your trim removal is likely to end up with paint rectification. I wouldn’t be untrusting this to anyone supposedly doing favours! I appreciate you are not going to DIY this, but I would be asking some questions - based on the above - of anyone you intend to entrust this to. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Rick, As is my want, I ask what price you want for it - as opposed to ‘offers’. Good luck with its sale. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Daisy, I’m really sorry to hear of your issue, and I think you have come to the only really practical conclusion - the affected parts need to be replaced. If I’m understanding it correctly, all affected parts are brightwork , such as ‘polished’ aluminium. If so, is probably anodised and any attempt to polish out the etched area will removed the anodised finish. When you say’…..not by me….’ it wouldn’t have been by someone with a jet wash lance by any chance-? If so, it’s likely that the added chemical could have been some powerful cleaning agent that could well etch most things when blasted under pressure. However, how step plates? That’s worrying . It’s best not to worry about what it has done to the roof. It does indeed sound like the affected parts will have to be replaced. Any chance of compensation from the business who caused the damage? Kind regards, Gareth.

Selling your soul to the engineering devil for a handful of silver Steve! Only joking. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, I wonder if it would be wise to treat tyre manufacturers claims in the same light as you treat car manufacturer’s fuel consumption figures-? Falkens have been mentioned on other forums as a reasonable alternative to some of the common high end brands, but in reality how much difference are you going to practically enjoy between a 73 and a 70db tyre? I don’t have any personal experience of Falkens, so apologies. SteveY on here is likely to be your best bet since he covers high mileages and is almost certain to have built up more experience than anyone on the relative merits of many brands. Not sure if my limited experience will be of help, but a family member has had far greater mileage than expected - without complaint of road noise- from a set of Pirelli Scorpion Verde ( all season ) tyres on a similar size 4x4, and a only yesterday had an unbelievable good deal ( and fitting service) from National Tyres ( Halfords) on the replacement set. Kind regards, Gareth.

More detail please Chris? , and could you please repost it under a heading of ‘ A6 losing Coolant’. I would also be great if you could fill in your profile. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks, price now added. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Petrol - really? Many thanks for joining and posting your very detailed advert. Perhaps I’ve missed the price amongst all the detail, but incase not, could you please list the price you actually want for it. Perhaps you would refrain from ‘offers’, to avoid yourself and potential enquirers being messed about. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, That would seem to be a reasonable-ish quote. Who has quoted that as a matter of interest? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, I take it you haven’t owned the car since new, and don’t have any idea what pads and discs are currently fitted to the car. If that is correct, then it’s fair to say that the chances of you being disappointed with whatever you buy are greatly reduced. You are going to get healthy-debate varying opinion on here, about brands and that is good. Personally, I’ve always stuck with Audi pads, bought at discount, at not much more than other recognised brands, and they have always done me extremely well over 170K miles. I am ‘experimenting’ with Brembo on our non-Audi, and a similar marque family vehicle, and they seem to be as impressive as you would hope for. Discs? Audi discs are daftly priced, so I’ve stuck with Brembo in the past for discs. My search source for competitive prices for Brembo from reputable sellers has been EBay. You could also try Parts in Motion ( no connection, but they seem to get a free plug from me!). If you are DIYing this, then I would recommend you invest some valuable time to ensure the disc to hub mounting face is scrupulously clean - often overlooked. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andy, Are you simply looking to replica the original braking efficiency, or enhance the braking to cater for more ‘enthusiastic’ driving? Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Renewing pads only, rather than discs and pads?