I need the much respected opinions of the Cliosport massive, I hope you can help!
A mate spotted a car on ebay (Audi A4 TDi 130, 2001 on a private plate, 46000 miles showing, silver/blue in colour) which was local, the price was brilliant for a private sale (estimated at ~£8800 for a trade in, price was £8995 buy it now).
The car was immaculate inside and out, not even breath marks on the paint, interior didn't even look sat in, alloys looked untouched, brake discs and tyres had acceptable wear on them. Infact, the paintwork was so good, it looked too good, like it had done 5000 miles; but I didn't want to piss on my mates parade by saying "looks just too good mate". Full Audi service history (three services), bought from an Audi dealer last July, V5 and MOT docs looked fine, remainder of Audi warranty until July - all looks fine?
Agreed on a price of £8800 and a paypal £200 deposit tonight to secure the car.
Got home, about to do the paypal to the bloke for the deposit when I suggested to my mate (just to be crystal clear and 100% sure it was kosher) to do an HPI check (there may have been outstanding finance, always ebb on safe side).
Well.... it turns out there is a mileage discrepancy recorded against the car. There is an entry by the DVLA that it has had in the past a recorded mileage of 270,000 miles and additionally the HPI identified that the VIN and the VRM (reg number) didn't match up. Futhermore, the bloke is leaving the country to live abroad and the price for the condition of the car is so good it had me worried before we even HPI'd it - he clearly stated it was "HPI Clear", what is clear is that he didn't HPI it himself as he would have noticed this. A further phonecall to him only got the response of "heh ... well it's news to me mate" - a bit short considering he was so friendly in person.
Being safe, we've pulled from the sale.
My questions are thus:
How can a car with "Audi approved this and that" have that sort of a mileage recorded against it? And why have Audi never picked up on it or mentioned it to the current owner?
Can the mileage register have got it wrong? Clerical error somewhere?
Is the starship mileage of 207,000 miles actually an accumulation of all the mileages that personal plate has done on different cars?
If the VIN and VRM don't tie up, what can that mean?
Any help much appreciated.
A mate spotted a car on ebay (Audi A4 TDi 130, 2001 on a private plate, 46000 miles showing, silver/blue in colour) which was local, the price was brilliant for a private sale (estimated at ~£8800 for a trade in, price was £8995 buy it now).
The car was immaculate inside and out, not even breath marks on the paint, interior didn't even look sat in, alloys looked untouched, brake discs and tyres had acceptable wear on them. Infact, the paintwork was so good, it looked too good, like it had done 5000 miles; but I didn't want to piss on my mates parade by saying "looks just too good mate". Full Audi service history (three services), bought from an Audi dealer last July, V5 and MOT docs looked fine, remainder of Audi warranty until July - all looks fine?
Agreed on a price of £8800 and a paypal £200 deposit tonight to secure the car.
Got home, about to do the paypal to the bloke for the deposit when I suggested to my mate (just to be crystal clear and 100% sure it was kosher) to do an HPI check (there may have been outstanding finance, always ebb on safe side).
Well.... it turns out there is a mileage discrepancy recorded against the car. There is an entry by the DVLA that it has had in the past a recorded mileage of 270,000 miles and additionally the HPI identified that the VIN and the VRM (reg number) didn't match up. Futhermore, the bloke is leaving the country to live abroad and the price for the condition of the car is so good it had me worried before we even HPI'd it - he clearly stated it was "HPI Clear", what is clear is that he didn't HPI it himself as he would have noticed this. A further phonecall to him only got the response of "heh ... well it's news to me mate" - a bit short considering he was so friendly in person.
Being safe, we've pulled from the sale.
My questions are thus:
How can a car with "Audi approved this and that" have that sort of a mileage recorded against it? And why have Audi never picked up on it or mentioned it to the current owner?
Can the mileage register have got it wrong? Clerical error somewhere?
Is the starship mileage of 207,000 miles actually an accumulation of all the mileages that personal plate has done on different cars?
If the VIN and VRM don't tie up, what can that mean?
Any help much appreciated.
