I personally wouldn't buy a car thats on hpi as you dont know for sure whats happened to it. Also you will have more trouble selling it. 3 grand ain't that cheap for an F reg sapphire and to be honest any car with a genuine 40k would have history!! Also most of the cars are not on hpi as you was told(although some probably are). Up to you really but you should be able to get an F reg sapphire for 3k that isn't on hpi. Hope this helps.