Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I’d walk away.

On (short) reflection I think this might be the answer. It looks close to what I want, but it's too far away to see it first, and even if I did go and see it I'd still want it inspected.

It's 4wd, but torsen I think and tiptronic rather than than S-tronic. I would very likely buy it if I could get it inspected without incuring risk. I'll maybe give a call on Monday and if he isn't willing to do a little work for the sale then I'll probably move on.

If it's a dealer, you're not going to them them to agree to an independent inspection.

Thanks, that's valuable for setting my expectations. In that case I need to be looking at dealers that are closer to me. I'm not sure how much a dealer warranty is worth on a 15 year old car anyway, but it's worth even less if the place is hours away.