How much to do on a car I'm selling

[Estates4lyf]

Hi all - switching from one VAG estate to another and got in a jam. Would appreciate any advice please...

My current estate just had its 4 year service. Main dealer identified 80% worn front brakes, DSG service due at 40k - £237, Rear diff clutch units service due - £231.60, Sunroof service due - £174, A/C service due - £149, oil leak - £176 investigation cost. Total over a grand if you chuck in the brakes.

I had planned to trade the car in for a new VAG estate but the new car still isn't scheduled to be built so I'm stuck in the current one. I plan to use the old car as equity towards the new one through a site like Motorway who will offer more than the new dealer or We Buy Any Car.

I'm not sure how much of the work to get done in order to

a) be safe until my new car is ready - potentially November now
b) not harm the value of the old car which I need to afford the new one

Any thoughts please? I guess the easiest option is to pay full stealer price and be done with it and accept the money as a sunk cost. Or wait for my local VAG indie to look into it but they can't do it for another two weeks.

Slightly stressy so appreciate any advice...

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I'd do none of them personally.

They'll all be OK until November I'd have thought. If you are worried about safety get the brakes done..but it's taken a while to get to 80% worn, so a few months won't get you anywhere dangerous.

[66HFM]

Blimey, I've never heard of a sunroof service before!

I'd leave the work as although it would cost you £1k it won't cost a dealer (chance are who'll buy it) anywhere near that figure.
Obviously if you're planning on keeping it for 6 months or so for your new vehicle to be delivered there may be a couple of items worth doing....

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

By the way, the dealer has been telling me my brakes are 80% worn for the last three years!

[Estates4lyf]

Thanks guys, appreciate the reassurance. I'm going to go collect the car now and take the night to think about it.

[Timoo]

I think the oil leak would be the main thing to look into as that could be something that may quite quickly worsen costing more money or causing damage.

Providing you’re not going to do a lot of mileage between now and the new car I wouldn’t bother with anything else - unless you hit 40k miles then maybe the DSG service as well.

Have also never heard of a sunroof service before in my life, is that something they’ve made up?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Timoo said:

I think the oil leak would be the main thing to look into as that could be something that may quite quickly worsen costing more money or causing damage.

Good point. OP, how much oil is dripping where you park the car? I'd just be watching that and checking the oil fairly regularly.

[sunnyb13]

Will add 0 value to the sale price. Wouldn’t personally bother.

[Estates4lyf]

No oil is dripping - it's just a smear on the casing that the sealer found during an inspection. No marks on any floor.

[uktrailmonster]

I think only worth it if you were selling privately, where a recent main dealer service would be a strong selling point. But selling to trade I wouldn’t bother.

[Chris_i8]

I'd save your money and not do any of the list personally.

Maybe get a local garage to take a look at the brakes just for piece of mind, I'd bet that they aren't 80% worn and have plenty of serviceable life left in them.

[silentbrown]

As a private buyer, a missed or very late DSG service is the only one that would concern me. On Audi S4's that can lead to expensive borkage.

[sunnyb13]

silentbrown said:

As a private buyer, a missed or very late DSG service is the only one that would concern me. On Audi S4's that can lead to expensive borkage.

hes selling it into the trade not as a pristine car for a private buyer.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Estates4lyf said:

No oil is dripping - it's just a smear on the casing that the sealer found during an inspection. No marks on any floor.

[BertBert]

I'd do my own inspection on the brakes just for peace of mind, but I suspect they'll go on for ages. My VW dealer told me the brakes needed doing and I said no thanks. 12 months later at the next service they said they really need doing and showed me, they were right, but I'd got 12 months more running out of them!

[Estates4lyf]

BertBert said:

I'd do my own inspection on the brakes just for peace of mind, but I suspect they'll go on for ages. My VW dealer told me the brakes needed doing and I said no thanks. 12 months later at the next service they said they really need doing and showed me, they were right, but I'd got 12 months more running out of them!

I do believe they're going, an independent tyre guy told me the same. But if it's taken four years to get to 80% and the car is going in six months, I figure they should be OK.

[Estates4lyf]

uktrailmonster said:

I think only worth it if you were selling privately, where a recent main dealer service would be a strong selling point. But selling to trade I wouldn’t bother.

I know from experience that WBAC really doesn't give a hoot but Motorway is giving me the best price and as I understand it they're made up of dealers?

[Estates4lyf]

Timoo said:

I think the oil leak would be the main thing to look into as that could be something that may quite quickly worsen costing more money or causing damage.

Providing you’re not going to do a lot of mileage between now and the new car I wouldn’t bother with anything else - unless you hit 40k miles then maybe the DSG service as well.

Have also never heard of a sunroof service before in my life, is that something they’ve made up?

People with similar motors certainly suggest it is questionable.

[Estates4lyf]

So I'm going to carefully watch my driveway for the next couple of days to check the car isn't dripping and I'm taking it to a local VAG specialist on 17th which charges a lot less for labour. Then to work to figure out what car next.

a) the expensive estate I like a lot, but may be out of reach now car valuations are fluctuating and I may or may not have to wait past 40k miles
b) a cheaper estate because it's easily affordable

[paul_c123]

Its a pretty easy formula, but you need to know the underlying data:

price_of_work < uplift_in_car_value DO THE WORK

Looking at your list: front brakes should be done; DSG if due (but pay less than £237!!); AC, if its working leave it; oil leak - pay for at least a diagnostic. Is it mentioned on an MoT advisory? If not, and its very slow or non-obvious, then you could ignore it and simply clean the offending area up.