Likely costs to repair scratched car

waveneygnome

I'm still car hunting, but been offered by a local businessman who I work with his daughters car:

Golf
2003
TDI
94k miles (mainly commuting from Cambs to London)
Full service history & new cambelt change
1 owner
£3000

I think it sounds great........but the bodywork looks really tatty.....I'm not expecting immaculate, and nothing is really really bad....its just that its all round appearence is let down by: scratchs on 4 panels, plus a small dent in front panel.

I have never had to repair/spray a car before.

Can anyone give advice about possible costs?

(I live in rural area and closest repair shop is 26 miles away and I don't think (although haven't asked) I could drive it there to get them to check it over)

mikey72

Maybe £1000 cheaper if you look at ones that have sold on ebay.

Muscle750

Working in the busniess you would have to take the car to them however some do moblie estimating look up Nationwide crash repairs they are the biggest uk bodyshop find your nearest branch and ask them if they do mobile estimates. However i would get at least two or three quotes. I would guess you wont see much change out of £500 maybe even £700. Would the scratches polish out or are they too deep ?

s_b

is it a match?
sounds like it
hes asking full auction price which it wont attain
if car is truelly mechanically 100% and you want it, i suggest offer 2.5 tops and live with embellishments

bigjl

This car is auction gold. It is also a private sale from the first and o.ly owner not an unknown quatity at an auction

I wouldn't be surprised if it cracked 3 grand at an auction down south, near London.

People very often pay far too much for VW Golf TDi, especially one with good history and relatively low miles. 94k on a 8 yr old Golf tdi is low if you ask me.

Also one owner.

Always better to get it for less, but many people are happy to pay extra to get a Golf and will happily ignore cosmetics to get one that is mechanically sound.

I would rather have Leon or Octavia, but that is me.

scheming_gypsy

Depends how bad the scratches are... you could be looking at £500 upwards for a blow over, or if they're not too deep then a detailer could probably polish them out and have the car looking like new for a couple of hundred quid.

No idea on the dent price though

richard734

How handy are you? You will be surprised just how much of a scratch will come out with a little application of Polish + Elbow greese Choose your own brand but I use a lot of Autoglym, their website is full of hints and tips if you have never got to grips with this sort of thing.
Investing in an electric ploisher is a good idea as well, but they are not as simple to use as they look

waveneygnome

Thanks everyone.

Taking out on test drive tomorrow and will ask if I can take it to get the bodywork looked at.

property.advert

I wouldn't worry about scratches. If down to the metal then touch up but not worth a respray. Far better to buy good mechanicals and keep some cash for repairs.

waveneygnome

Test drove tonight.

Never been in a Golf before, but it felt good, solid, comfortable.

It is a 1.9 tdi Match version.

Take the point about it being auction price of £3k....but this is 1 owner, and someone fairly local/known to me.

It has full service history and service last week with new cambelt.

Owners have given me the name of the local garage who have looked after it the past 3yrs (previous 5yrs VW main dealer) - I will call them tomorrow.

Not quiet sure how to negotiate on this. From looking on Autotrader and ebay, they are going for this price and more.....I'm not up for a trip to a 'real' auction to save a couple of hundred quid.

Hmmm..........and.......the owner (or rather the parents) have offered to let me have the car and pay them back over the next 3 months. Seems pretty genuine offer.

Just a blinkin shame about the scratched bodywork.