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

Would love a B7 RS4, might have to settle for an S4

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnogaro.

Must be a catch, seems too reasonable for a 71k car. Why anyone would get one of these new and not spec the buckets is beyond my ken

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/rs4/2006-audi-rs4-quattro-audi-rs4/5997676?v=c

Cat D - wonder why?

Ah yeah missed that

Lovely motor but a) angry spiel about knowing the price, no rush to sell etc and b) 'Here we have....'. Bet you a tenner he vapes.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/rs4/audi-a4-b7-rs4-quattro---------------2006/6029221?v=c

Probably a small shunt or something equally innocent but it really knocks the price on these 'enthusiasts' cars. On the M3 forum that I lurk on, you might as well advertise a pustule of bubonic plague for sale than a cat D car. That means if you do your homework and are willing to take a punt there are some bargains to be had. #Caveat_emptor

You pays your money, you takes your choice. If having a CAT C/D car doesn't bother you then take the savings and enjoy the car. However, you really need to make sure that it's been put together properly. A bit more of a specialist thing, but I've seen quite a few cat C & D TVR's that people have bought thinking they were making a nice saving. Get underneath it to find that who thing has been bodged together as chap as possible.

We had a car in for an inspection once and the guy who had "repaired" it had fitted one damper on upside down! 3 the right way up, 1 the wrong way up. How do you do that?! The worst thing was that wasn't the worst part of the "repair".

By the time the guy had spent the money putting stuff right, he still had a car with an insurance classification against it and he could have bought a nice straight one from us or any other specialist for the same money.

"Here we have" two examples of the same car:

Car one has just under 40,000 miles and is £19,995.

Car two has just under 80,000 miles and is £12,495.

Am I correct in thinking that car one is the better deal? Also, having never purchased a car from a dealer, I presume they are expecting a negotiation, but what sort of amount should I aim to get off - 10%? More? Less?

Either will be fine.

The mileage on the first one makes it super tempting and, critically, it has the right wheels, but 12k for an 80k miler is cracking value and sports seats are nice.

Negotiation depends on the margin they have but I'd be surprised if there was enough in the £12k car for a 10% discount. They would have to have bought it for under £10k

There's a fair chance the dear one is on consignment, it would be brave for a non-specialist dealer to sink £16k-£18k into an early 996, even with those miles. If it is consignment negotiation will depend on the seller as the dealer will probably be on about 10%

If I were buying from a dealer I'd try to get them to make the car perfect rather than negotiate down. Paint the front to lose the stone chips, nice new brakes and tyres, new floor mats, new shiny exhaust, that sort of stuff. As they're not known specialists you could try to get a discount for them not to service it as their stamp in the book won't help resale. Unless it's OPC or a well known indie Porsche geeks get grumpy.

Assuming they're both nice in the metal I think I'd buy the low miler if you could nick it for £18,500, if not then the other one.

Oh, and never, ever buy an insurance write off unless you are a very experienced car engineer of have it inspected by one. But even then, don't. Just save up a bit longer and get a non write off.

Given a few freeways and deserted roads to rag it on I found that it really will shift, and astonishingly it really handles. It was fantastic hairing up and down the twisty canyon and mountain roads.

I took it over a new but deserted mountain pass on Wednesday (and up a mountain on a side road as part of the trip) and finally got to open it up a bit and make full use of sport/semi-auto. Was an awful lot of fun (and you're easily doing double the limit without trying) but I had to stop and read the manual re: descending with an auto after seeing various warning photos of totalled cars following brake-failure at the top!
Now we're back on Oahu and have a shitheap Kia instead :(

Dicki delivered my Volvo to it's mechanic yesterday, he's just sent me a note saying that it lost it's crank angle sensor input 23 times, most recently 1,580 miles ago, and all seemingly at a coolant temperature of 108c.

Now I changed that sensor, as it's one of the potential causes of my "car stops when hot" problem, but maybe it's the wiring loom that connects to it, or maybe I swapped a duff one in (although I think that that is unlikely). We did test the old one when we removed it and it tested fine, which may lend credence to the wiring loom issue.

12 grand is bottom money for a 996. You're unlikely to lose much on it, even if it is a bit spendy to run.
The 40k miles on the more expensive car is riskier for me as there is still plenty of time for IMS to happen. It's much less likely to on the 80k engine.

I need to make some time to drive a few, unfortunately I'll be travelling for much of the next four weeks.

I find that I like the orange indicator cars- which means the '98, so it's either that or a facelift C4S, based on looks anyway.

I like the orange indicator cars

I also much prefer the look of the three spoke steering wheel- which that low mileage car does not have, if I change wheels will that knock thousands off the value?

Steering wheels? Nah. Most people prefer the 3 spoke.

I liked the look of the 80k miler having spotted it a couple of weeks ago. A quick MOT check put me off slightly... Only 1-2k miles per year of use for the last 8 years or so? Could be in for some recomissioning bills if pressed back into regular service!

Registration number: C5WHB

Vehicle makePORSCHE Vehicle model911 Date first used1 March 1998 Fuel typePetrol ColourBlue

MOT history of this vehicle
Test date15 July 2016 Expiry date14 July 2017 Test ResultPass Odometer reading79,527 miles MOT test number9671 4079 5361 Advisory notice item(s)
both rear tie bars have paly in joints
nearside Handbrake poor

Test date15 June 2015 Expiry date14 June 2016 Test ResultPass Odometer reading79,286 miles MOT test number2669 3626 5113

Test date16 May 2014 Expiry date15 May 2015 Test ResultPass Odometer reading 78,930 miles MOT test number6290 5603 4153

Test date4 February 2013 Expiry date6 February 2014 Test ResultPass Odometer reading 78,576 miles MOT test number8553 0553 3012

Test date1 February 2012 Expiry date6 February 2013 Test ResultPass Odometer reading78,325 miles MOT test number4679 6263 2067 Advisory notice item(s)
Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)

Test date1 February 2012 Test ResultFail Odometer reading78,325 miles MOT test number1462 2253 2414 Reason(s) for failure
Nearside Registration plate lamp not working (1.1.C.1d)
Front registration plate with character(s) which are not of equal width along their entire length (6.3.4a)
Rear registration plate with character(s) which are not of equal width along their entire length (6.3.4a)
Advisory notice item(s)
Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)

Test date7 February 2011 Expiry date6 February 2012 Test ResultPass Odometer reading 72,699 miles MOT test number9671 4893 1024

Test date7 April 2010 Expiry date6 April 2011 Test ResultPass Odometer reading 71,287 miles MOT test number6233 8709 0068

Test date30 March 2009 Test ResultFail Odometer reading70,957 miles MOT test number7946 2978 9083 Reason(s) for failure
Offside Front position lamp(s) not working (1.1.A.3b)

Test date30 March 2009 Expiry date29 March 2010 Test ResultPass Odometer reading70,957 miles MOT test number6143 8998 9038

Test date21 February 2008 Expiry date20 February 2009 Test ResultPass Odometer reading69,259 miles MOT test number1532 9285 8081

Looks like it did ~7,000 miles per year 1998-2008, then 1-2,000 each year thereafter.

The add says full service history, wonder if that's been done annually or by mileage?

i.e. if you change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles that'd be three years, potentially.

Does the porker use special grade/expensive oil?

Part of me would like to see oil change in spring and autumn. Or am I being stupid?

I hope they put this into production

The schedule for early 996s requires a yearly inspection, so FSH for a 98 car ought to be 16 stamps. It probably isn't.

Later one went to 2 years / 20k.

2wice yearly oil change? Maybe if synthetic oil didn't exist and the car was used as a London taxi.

The schedule for early 996s requires a yearly inspection, so FSH for a 98 car ought to be 16 stamps. It probably isn't.

Later one went to 2 years / 20k.

Thanks for the info, if that car is still around when I get back from forrin parts I'll head up and test drive it.

On FSH - my Volvo hasn't had a stamp in the 9 years I've owned it, in that time I've replaced or rebuilt nearly everything, and it gets a full service each year.

The schedule for early 996s requires a yearly inspection, so FSH for a 98 car ought to be 16 stamps. It probably isn't.

Later one went to 2 years / 20k.

What changed to make the elongation?

Oil wise, if you are ever interested get the oil tested at the beginning of putting the car away and putting the car back in to service.