chawks

Active Member
Afternoon
Had a look at a W reg disco at a local small independent dealer. It's got 166k on the clock and its up for £1900 - on the surface looks very tidy, no apparent rust apart from very slight bubble spot near windscreen. Rear doors unlock intermittently on key fob. But the main concern was passenger roof lining was very wet over sunvisor and the floor mat was very wet.

I think it's overpriced as it is but if it wasn't for the soggy wet carpet and roof I may have haggled. Is it likely to be a leaky sunroof or worse??
I only want a workhorse to go shooting and tow a horse trailer occasionally so not expecting perfection.
 
leaky sunroof would be a good bet.
One of the lesser problems to fix.
Get in there and haggle.
Least the leak give you some wriggle room
 
If you don't care for the Sun roofs I used Dicht Fix Sealant on mine. If I were to buy another my checks would be Chassis (Less rust the better), no sun roofs and no ACE system. Good old anti roll bars for me.
 
Back in the day I had an 97 plated Audi A4 and water used to leak in via the windscreen seal on the drivers side. Had to smash the window and replace with a new seal of course...never had water over the sun visor though. Lovely car to drive but had a multitude of minor faults.
 
A and B pillars can rust badly from the inside out due to blocked sunroof drains as I understand it and can be difficult to spot.
 
Do a search on here about all the common (and uncommon) rust traps. Then go back with a pointy hammer, screwdriver, paint scraper, and a torch and give it a THOROUGH lookover. Don't be afraid to lift carpets, get underneath and hit, prod and scrape anything that looks suspect. If the seller objects he has something to hide - walk away or do some serious negotiation. At that price it should be solid all over.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'll keep looking for others but its still an option and could get a few £££'s off the asking price I expect
 
All the stuff on here is relevant but the main thing to check is the chassis around where the fuel tank sits. They seem to blow open along the bottom and it can be a big job to sort. I have seen 04 plate cars that are knackered.
 

Similar threads