The AUDI Came From a Dealer, But the Buyer Still Wanted It Checked

They booked because buying from a dealer gave some reassurance, but not enough to skip an independent inspection.

Published

24 May 2026

Customer

Nicholas W.

Vehicle inspected

AUDI A1 SPORT TFSI 2013
The AUDI Came From a Dealer, But the Buyer Still Wanted It Checked
The buyer's story

Why they booked

The AUDI was being sold by a dealer and looked well prepared. It had clean photos, a polished advert, and a professional sales description.

Nicholas W. still wanted the car checked independently. They understood that dealer stock can still have issues such as worn tyres, brake wear, previous repairs, warning lights, fluid leaks, poor service history, or cosmetic damage that is easy to miss during a quick viewing.

Before paying the deposit, Nicholas W. arranged a Standard inspection to check the AUDI from a buyer point of view.

Booking reason

They booked because buying from a dealer gave some reassurance, but not enough to skip an independent inspection.

Independent assessment

Inspection findings

Prior to carrying out a road test under bonnet fluid levels were checked and found to be correct, at this point the vehicle was started with no permanent warning lights displayed on the driver’s information panel, with the vehicle started readily from cold.

At this point a road test was initiated to evaluate the vehicle owners’ concerns.

The road test was carried out at speeds of up to 50 mph, in mixed road and traffic conditions.

During the road test the pay attention to the performance of the engine and transmission with the engine and transmission performance be considered in line with a similar vehicle the same make and model the similar mileage.

Throughout the course of the road test the vehicle handled and performed in a satisfactory manner, steered the chosen path of travel correctly and was free from any abnormal noise or vibration.

During the road test there was no evidence of any excessive smoke from the exhaust, undue audible noises from the transmission and no evidence of overheating.

With final checks revealing no evidence of coolant leaks in and around the engine bay, or evidence of major oil leakage around the engine bay and or on the underside of the vehicle.

Vehicle will have interim service and full MOT when purchased.

Read full findings Show less

Prior to carrying out a road test under bonnet fluid levels were checked and found to be correct, at this point the vehicle was started with no permanent warning lights displayed on the driver’s information panel, with the vehicle started readily from cold.

At this point a road test was initiated to evaluate the vehicle owners’ concerns.

The road test was carried out at speeds of up to 50 mph, in mixed road and traffic conditions.

During the road test the pay attention to the performance of the engine and transmission with the engine and transmission performance be considered in line with a similar vehicle the same make and model the similar mileage.

Throughout the course of the road test the vehicle handled and performed in a satisfactory manner, steered the chosen path of travel correctly and was free from any abnormal noise or vibration.

During the road test there was no evidence of any excessive smoke from the exhaust, undue audible noises from the transmission and no evidence of overheating.

With final checks revealing no evidence of coolant leaks in and around the engine bay, or evidence of major oil leakage around the engine bay and or on the underside of the vehicle.

Vehicle will have interim service and full MOT when purchased.

Condition and costs

Poor findings and repair costs

Poor condition findings

No poor condition findings were recorded for this case study.

After the inspection

The customer experience

Outcome

The inspection helped Nicholas W. ask better questions, check whether the dealer description matched the vehicle, and decide whether the AUDI was worth buying.

Customer review

Awesome

I have waited a week or so before writing this review, just in case Danny missed anything. He didn't! We were buying a car located in Yorkshire when we live in Surrey, so it was essential that the inspection was thorough, professional and error-free. It was all of that. He arrived just before the allotted time and immediately had the bonnet up to check that the engine was cold (a lot of problems can be hidden with a warm engine). He took around 2 hours to give the car a really thorough going over (including checking for any fault codes in the on-board computers) and could find no faults, apart from a few stone chips on the bonnet. The dealer had mentioned an intermittent minor fault with a noisy starter motor and he tried very hard to replicate the problem, starting the car more than 30 times, without any problem showing itself. The dealer (whom I should also give 5 stars - JCT32 Autocentre in Castleford) was very impressed with how thorough Danny was. Danny phoned me as soon as he had finished his inspection and

A buyer reviewing a report beside a car
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