I bought a C4 sight unseen off eBay for £8k

The story so far: I saw an ad on eBay from a company called Sterling Cars for a 1999 C4 with no reserve. It had 135k miles and was claiming an engine rebuild but that was all the detail in the ad. It looked rough in the pictures, but not unsaveable and it was up to £5.8k. I decided to watch it and see where it went. As it got close to the end I decided I'd have a punt up to £8k. The ad said I could pay a refundable £100 deposit which I would get back if I inspected the car and decided I didn't want it. I won it for £8008 I'm the end (never bid a round number, you need to get yourself ahead!) because it spelt BOOB on my calculator. So, I got to Sterling Cars at about 11:30. Id arranged to meet a friend there's, but he was running a little late, so I went into the dodgy portacabin office, introduced myself. Bloke glances up. 'The keys are in it. Take it for a drive, I'll show you the paperwork when you get back". I had no idea where I was, or where to go, so I did a bit of a run up and down the main road, round a few roundabouts, trying to open it up in 2nd. It drove brilliantly, but I never got over 50mph. The engine sounded absolutely spot on, gearbox felt very smooth, no notchiness, clutch had plenty of bite. When I got back to the yard, my friend was waiting for me. We had a look over it, then went back inside to look at the paperwork. In the bundle was a £9k invoice for the engine rebuild at Hartech, coilovers and suspension refresh (droplinks, coffin arms, bushes etc) at Autofarm all done in 2016 about 20k miles ago (there must be about 8 pages describing all the work done). Sports exhaust (non switchable) or standard exhaust with bypass mod and different tips. Outside needs a good wash. Engine cover looks like is been attacked by a Brillo pad and there's a scar on the back bumper that needs attention. Other than polishing the headlights that's all that's wrong outside, it's not bad at all. Even the wheels are really good and the Michelins tyres are almost brand new. I think maybe one of the track rod ends needs doing as there's a bit of kickback/vagueness over 80mph that isn't there when you're going slower. I'll have a look tomorrow. Inside the a/c doesn't work (I knew it wouldn't) and the LCD screen for the heater control is dodgy and the aftermarket stereo is awful. There's also a bit of trim needs popping back on. But, it's filthy. The steering wheel is possibly the stickiest thing I've ever voluntarily touched. Having said that, the cracking of the leather isn't as bad as it looked, I think it might clean up not too bad. Not perfect, but acceptable. I absolutely love it. I've haven't felt like this about a car in years. Possibly ever. At £8k, it was an absolute steal.

Congratulations! :thumbs: Brilliant mews about how it drives and that you're happy with it. The AC didn't work on mine either, cost £370 to get it all sorted so not bad in the end (it's quite noisy though)

Cost me £150 to sort my aircon when I bought mine. New condensers and a regas and was good as new.

We made it home safely! It even had half a tank of petrol and a George Ezra CD in it. #winning

Damit man, it looks better than mine!

Admittedly I never wash mine unless I absolutely have to (like when it got covered in bird poo)

It's got a lot of bird poo on it. It's filthy inside and out. I'll actually enjoy cleaning it up...once :thumb:

George Ezra CD? That's why it was going cheap lol. Well done, hopefully a genuine bargain. Looks like it's had pint but most cars have. Enjoy

Thanks! Yeah, it has fewer stonechips than my mate's 10 year newer 997 on 1/3rd of the mileage so it's definitely had paint at some point.

Hello you 🤬 Hartech engine #winning

That is a steal indeed! 8) £8k with a Hartech rebuild and a 'not too long ago" suspension overhaul. Wow. You got lucky there.

Good work! Clean that up, fix one or two small things, advertise it properly and you could make a tidy profit... But then this thread would be no fun!

Welcome aboard :thumbs: Often wondered what Sterling Cars gig is as they've been around a while and often have interesting cars to sell. Repossessed? Cheap trade-ins that won't sell at auction?

I wonder the same. Either way its good news for those of us looking to jump on the 996 wagon.

I have dealt with Mark from Sterling cars, admittedly only over the phone but he is very helpful and seems to know his stuff, it looks like you got a good deal there.