Buying a Scirocco - Advice Appreciated!

[sied45]

Hello all,

I'm a newcomer to the forum and actually only signed up yesterday to access a thread I couldn't see as a non member, but since I've read so many helpful threads I thought I'd try taking things 1 step further and ask for advice in person!

I live on the Isle of Man and so purchasing a car here is, to put it simply, a pain in the arse. There are no Sciroccos available for sale here so the only options are to go across to bring one back, or getting one of the numerous car locators here to bring one back (at a price of course!). One of these car locators called me earlier this afternoon with a car that he said was fantastic value. I've come home and done some research and found what looks like the same car on Auto Trader - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Therefore I'm hoping I can benefit from some of your expertise in whether you think this looks like a promising buy. I got next to no extra information from the salesman, other than he was trying to charge me £13,500 for it... Obviously it's a no-go unless he's very negotiable on that price! I'd also immediately change the alloys because those look dire.

My worries are the cheap looking alloys (have the originals needed replacing? I don't recognise those alloys as the usual factory fitted ones), the pictures don't show it in a good light, and the description is worryingly brief.

The positives are the price looks great, and it's one of the few cars any locators here can actually find without just buying directly from Auto Trader!

Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Finally - apologies if I've put my first post in the wrong section.

Thanks.

[trix]

I agree the descriptions is brief, re the alloys there were a number of UK cars at that time that had those spa alloys (17") put on to ship as the standard interlagos alloy supply couldn't keep up with demand, the spa alloys are the standard wheel for the gt trim on the continent. So nothing to worry about there

Trix

[goatboy]

So you have to get the car re registered in the IOM?
Surely a flight and a drive back on the ferry would be cheaper than the premium you would be paying for that?

[Paralla]

With no national speed limit on the Isle of Man I'd be saving up for an R.

[skippy]

Yes - as per trix message, the alloys are fine and the price is about right for a 58 reg. That is one of the very earliest model Sciroccos, (older style MFD/steering wheel). £13,500 seems somewhat steep though if going through the car locator. I would negotiate hard on that. Apart from that - pictures at least, it looks in very good condition.

[salsajoe]

Looks good from the pictures but as you say need to negotiate on price. I expect you have already looked at this link: http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 10&t=13001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sied45]

@ trix - Thanks for the alloy info, that really set my mind to rest. I used the alloys as a bargaining tool so having to buy interlagos replacements seems slightly less painful now! Hopefully if I can get a few £ for the old spa ones that'll help too.
One question though, I'll probably get 18" interlagos replacements. Will this be as simply as swapping them over or will there be problems with catching on brakes or something as a result of the size difference?

@ goatboy - Yep unfortunately all cars imported here need to be re-registered and a new MOT. Real pain in the arse. I've considering going over myself but first problem is getting time off work. Second problem is I have very little car knowledge and wouldn't know what I'm buying other than taking what I see on face value. At least this way the locator offers a 3 month warranty, looks over the car before bringing it back, valet and fixes any issues, touches up any scratches, etc.

@ Paralla - This was a serious temptation! However there's a big cost difference (running costs as well) and anyway, I'm sure I can kill myself just fine with the GT with no national speed limits

@ skippy - Didn't get it for nearly as cheap as I'd have liked since there was apparently an error with the Auto Trader price and it should be £11,999 (I phoned the Auto Trader number and the owner confirmed this) but ah well, it's the cheapest one I've been offered in a few months of looking and I'd really like to get the car here before the Isle of Man TT starts. Looking forward to mad sunday when they make the no speed limit mountain road one way for the bikers to enjoy/kill themselves!

@ salsajoe - I had already read through that (one of the reasons I needed to register!) but thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for the help folks. Really helped me make a decision. Can't wait to get it now!!

[skippy]

Great stuff sied45, you will enjoy the car, little doubt about that. Do let everyone know how you are getting on with it - we will be interested.

[salsajoe]

Great stuff sied45, you will enjoy the car, little doubt about that. Do let everyone know how you are getting on with it - we will be interested.

Same here. Enjoy!!

[sied45]

Finally got my Rocco towards the end of last week. Unfortunately it was stuck on Heysham dock for a few days because the locator couldn't get a space on the boat due to all the bikers coming over for TT - the extra wait nearly drove me mad! Initially he thought he couldn't get it in to the Manx test until another week later, again because of TT, and since this test is required before you can register the car to Manx plates and it was brought over with no plates, I nearly had to have it sat on my drive for another week unable to drive it! That would have been torture but fortunately it was squeezed in to a cancellation last week and so I've had a very enjoyable weekend playing with my new toy
Thanks again for all the advice which helped me make what seems to definitely be the right decision so far. The only problems I've found so far are a bit of scratching to the front end (it seems this was the reason for the close up pic of the front left side on autotrader, but because of the poor picture quality you can't tell until you see it in person). However fortunately the locater will have that sorted at his expense.

Here are a few pics of it looking much better on my drive than it does on the autotrader showroom floor!



Fortunately the spa alloys look better in person that I was expecting, so although I'll still upgrade them at some point, I'll make do for a little while.