To buy?

[constablechris]

Hi all,

I'm currently looking for an A4 B5 TDI 110 for around £1500 (saloon or estate) - a step up from my current 306 DTurboS.

I have found one, BUT there are two things that are stopping me from making an offer.

1) The cam belt needs doing. I got a quote at £252 inc VAT and Parts (full kit)
2) The airbag light on the dash is on. He says its always been like that but sometimes it goes off for a couple of days, and then comes back on.

Other than that, the car has a years MOT and has just been serviced. It's got 114,000 miles on the clock, lots of service history and seems to be in nice order.

Is the airbag light likely to be something very serious?

It's also an auto - any issues with the diesel auto boxes?

Thanks for your help,

Regards

Chris

Edit: I forgot to mention, the one I have found is an August 1997 on an R plate.

[constablechris]

I forgot to mention that I went and test drove this one. Drove nicely but is the only A4 that I have ever driven. Noticed - touchy brakes, light steering, pulls away very quickly and revs nicely.

[MalcQV]

I guess the airbag light suggests it may be faulty. I am not sure it would pass an MOT if it was on or whether it would just be an advisory note.

[constablechris]

Well the chap (who I have to say was very nice and appeared very genuine) said it had no advisories and showed me all the paperwork. The MOT was only last week, too.

What i'm wondering is how likely this is to be a connection under the seat, or a completely ******* airbag system! Obviously it's impossible to tell, but i'm torn whether to buy the car or not.

[adamss24]

When there is an airbag fault logged on, the light is on all the time o wont go off. Airbag fault should be advisory as its an yellow light. Check the Mot certificate with the number on the back, this will show if its genuine and not a fake...

[Eshrules]

When there is an airbag fault logged on, the light is on all the time o wont go off. Airbag fault should be advisory as its an yellow light. Check the Mot certificate with the number on the back, this will show if its genuine and not a fake...

my advice too...

if that car's got an MOT with that airbag light on, I'd be walking away.

[constablechris]

Hmm - I didn't realise the warning light was a testable item on the MOT.

I'd put money on the MOT being genuine though, the guy was your average joe with wife and kids in nice East of England suburbia. He wanted to show me all the receipts etc etc, so I have no worries there.

If the advice is to walk away, i'll walk away. Similary, if the advice is that the light might be caused by a dodgy connector and said car can potentially be a sound buy given the money thats just been spent on it then i'll lookat putting an offer in.

Thanks for all the replies,

Chris

[fantasiagreen]

my advice too...

if that car's got an MOT with that airbag light on, I'd be walking away.

I agree - I smell a rat here.

If you go on to (I think) VOSA's website you can get a complete printout of all the mot records for the car since MOT records went electronic. This will show you when a car passed, when it failed and when any advisories were issued.

[constablechris]

I've emailed the guy for the MOT number from the certificate. I'll run it through when he replies, and post up the findings.

Ta :-)

[constablechris]

Is it officially a testable item? I can't find it on here:- http://www.motuk.co.uk/mot_testing.htm