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Hello Ian, I would follow Steve's advice, but try to remain realistic with your expectations. Full service history may be a rarity on a 13 year old car, and certainly the absence of the odd ding will be. I would not get too hung up about a comprehensive service history on a car if that age, since many owners of cars say older than 8 years old will very often find a good local mechanic to maintain the car, and the lack of the old stamp in the book may be the trade off for having the car looked after as a cash job. Cars which have not been well cared for tend to show themselves as such, so you can often eliminate the ones which are not worth investing in a paid -for inspection. Simple first line check - are both tyres on the same axle same make? There are of course many many more items which give you pointers. AA or RAC inspections are fine, but you might also consider a local independent where you may get greater brand and model experience. Good luck in finding what you want. Kind regards, Gareth.

You're welcome, glad I could help :) There is definitely some luck involved! But as I say a car with good service history helps and if the sellers excuse for the sale seems genuine. My other bit of advice would be for you to do a hpi check on any cat you're looking at buying that is being sold by a private seller. Also it's worth looking at getting an independent inspection carried out by companies such as the AA or RAC. This is regardless if it's a garage or private seller. The benefit of this is you get peace of mind but if the seller is reluctant or refuses to allow you to have an independent inspection then you have to wonder what they or the car has to hide! Cheers Steve

Glad you're getting there Paul :) glad you've found working on your a6 an enjoyable one (on the whole!) Cheers Steve