2013 A8L 4.0t Top Headlight Bracket broken
 

Hey guys new to the forum but have had a few Audi's. I have an issue with this car I'm thinking of purchasing and one thing I noticed upon looking under the hood was the top brackets it broken on both front headlights. Current owner does not know when someone tried to fix it with epoxy but thinks he might have been shafted a couple years ago at a maintenance repair shop for a headlight issue. I'm wondering if there is an inexpensive solution to fix it and how much the price should come down for this. Honestly at the deal he's willing to sell I can't go to wrong.

FWIW, on the one hand those plastic attachment points headlights use tend to be fairly fragile, but likewise from my own personal experience I have never seen them broken except when the car is in an accident, typically rear ending something in front. I suspect you are not getting straight information about the circumstances. At a minimum I would run a full CarFax. But personally I would walk. I don't do business with folks I don't think are being straight with me. Also if damage was home brew or off the books repaired, CarFax won't show anything. If some one duped the present seller, his issue to straighten out rather than yours.

Yes I agree
 

It is definitely his issue to take care of and he sounds like he will. Or If I have an inexpensive option I can further negotiate the price down and do it myself. The Carfax I had run did show the minor accident and yes it was a rear end job. Happened in 2014, so the guy isn't really trying to hide anything.

So, as far as the repair, obviously you can jury rig something like a metal bracket with screws. Been there, done that...on a 20 year old Audi worth basically nothing and used by young adults. Butt attached plastics with epoxy typically don't hold. The practical fix to not make it look really amateurish is find a set used. As usual, a lot of cars that are totaled are wrecked in the front, so harder to find those parts. Probably will be at least several hundreds for each side as a guess.

Thanks for the advice.
 

I went ahead and had a vehicle inspection done for the car at the dealership expense. Low and behold the damage is not good. All the underside panels are gone and the headlights are actually not original, all the top and bottom brackets are broken and JB welded back together. It's 10k worth of damage to repair. Dealership said they could not pay for it. Walking away from this one. Really is a shame as everything else about the car is fantastic and I was really looking forward to it. But once again this looks mysteriously like another deal to good to be true.