looking for a 2008 diesel for 7k or less

That's a 2007 though

Go back a few years and get a 520d.

If you think a 100bhp 1.8tdci Mondeo LX looks and drives well then you need to get out there and test drive something decent IMO. They are one depressing place to be....

Go to the UK and pick up a 08 Prius.

Skoda might be the best bet, if only for all round build quality and reliability.

Audi, BMW, and Merc diesels are all possibilities but unless you can afford to run one, better to stick with Skoda.

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Brought in an '08 T-Spirit last April. 102k, Leather, and everything else T-Spirit spec.
€7,000 inc VRT, Ferry, Flight over, Train from Luton to Bedford, Fuel home, even inc lunch on the way back.
The VRT has risen by about €200 or so since then....when checking VRT quotes note that one 1st registered in Jan will be a liitle dearer than one 1st registered from April onwards ?????

You did well there. Cheapest 08's (typ 110k miles) are just under 5k stg, approx. 7000 euro home incl transport costs. VRT 996 euro. Sub 100k T-Spirit will be a bit more.

VRT has gone up on a good few cars recently. 05 Golf VRT went from a 750 euro estimate when I bought it to 1130 when I cleared it. 11 Insignia went up 350 euro also.

VRT priced on average mileage. For a Jan car, the average mileage is less per month for an April car. For cars with high or low miles, the VRT doesn't change, it only changes for a band around the expected average mileage.

lifer_sean wrote: »

I doubt you would get a 08 Prius in from UK for that. Just did the maths on a 08 T-Spirit with 97k miles on it, more like 8500 euro home and cleared.

One with 65k miles working out around 9500.

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Brought in an '08 T-Spirit last April. 102k, Leather, and everything else T-Spirit spec.
€7,000 inc VRT, Ferry, Flight over, Train from Luton to Bedford, Fuel home, even inc lunch on the way back.
The VRT has risen by about €200 or so since then....when checking VRT quotes note that one 1st registered in Jan will be a liitle dearer than one 1st registered from April onwards ?????

lifer_sean wrote: »

You did well there. Cheapest 08's (typ 110k miles) are just under 5k stg, approx. 7000 euro home incl transport costs. VRT 996 euro. Sub 100k T-Spirit will be a bit more.

VRT has gone up on a good few cars recently. 05 Golf VRT went from a 750 euro estimate when I bought it to 1130 when I cleared it. 11 Insignia went up 350 euro also.

VRT priced on average mileage. For a Jan car, the average mileage is less per month for an April car. For cars with high or low miles, the VRT doesn't change, it only changes for a band around the expected average mileage.

Last December, we got our 08 T-Spirit with leather, 65k miles, FTSH, one owner car for €7630 all in, including all travel expenses. And that was buying from a Toyota main dealer! Trying to remember exactly how we played the game, but we offered them £1500 less than the asking price, explaining we didn't need a warranty, the car would be taken out of the country, and they'd never hear from us again. They didn't go for the £1500, but did agree to £1300! That was when they were asking around £7000 for the car!

I rang to make the offer. I'd imagine they'd ignore any email making an offer. So I rang, asked for sales, got through to Henry, and made the offer. He said he'd have to check and he'd ring me back. So he did around 15 minutes later saying they could only do £1000. I thanked him for his time, but said it was too pricey for me with the exchange rate, taxes, etc. He rang back half an hour later, taking £1150 off the price! I gave him (ie. made up!) my total budget, what the exchange rate was, what the vrt was, etc. and said the minimum I'd need off is £1300. Also told him if he could do it, I'd give him the deposit over the phone, and I'd be over at the weekend (this was a Tuesday). He put me on hold, and 2 minutes later he'd agreed.

So there are definitely bargains to be had over there. Especially if you're buying from a garage that are giving a warranty. To my mind, they're giving the warranty because the car is in good enough condition that it won't come back to them under warranty. So if you can get it for a trade price without warranty, even though it's good enough to be warranteed, then you're flying. We've ours nearly 10 months at this stage, and she's not missed a beat.

It would be no bother to the engine, it's the rest of the car I would be worried about tbh....

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-avensis-d4d/7527869
Just one example.

Always worth a look at one of these. The interior will hide the mileage better than the Mondeo.
Timing Chain rather than a Belt.
Should be a lot more reliable than a Mondeo.

TBH at the year you want and the cash you're willing to spend you will get much better value with a private sale than a Dealer....just bring the aforementioned Mechanic with you

George Dalton wrote: »

That Avensis is far too cheap to be legit, private sale or not.

Also why is he selling it so soon after getting it???

VEHICLE

Vehicle Registration Number 08WX1575
Vehicle Details TOYOTA / AVENSIS

Change Of Vehicle Ownership

Transferred to an Individual on : 01/08/2014

Notified on : 01/08/2014

Vehicle Registration Certificate

Most recent Vehicle Registration Certificate issued on : 06/08/2014

Morpheus wrote: »

Any tips as to what else I should look out for when checking it over? Will try to grab a mechanic to come with me if I can.

Common issues are rattling b pillar, rear trailing arm bushes, usual dmf and injector issues associated with all common rail diesels.

Also be on the look out for interior trim being broken. The arm rest has a small cubbie hole in the lid and the catch can break causing that section to be difficult to open and the main lid will no longer secure to the larger storage section.

Dpf pressure sensor and fuel atomiser hoses can perish, Samsung dpf below/above threshold issues.

Early cars have issues with water entering the boot when you open it after it rains. Water collection rs below the rear screen and then drips into the car rather than down the side channels. Look for rubber and plastic guttering running the length of both sides if the boot. If this is present the issue won't occur if you open the boot slowly.

The car is generally hard on front tyres. Discs and pads can take a beating too.

There's many mk4 cars that have suffered steering rack failure at anywhere from low miles to over 100,000.

Search on Honest John or similar websites for the review of the 2007-14 mondeo for more details of reported faults, including those I've listed and some rarer ones.

Recommended service interval is 12500 miles or each year, whichever comes first. I'd have filters/oil etc changed before this interval etc.

Cambelt kit, water pump and aux belt is due every 125,000 (100,000 to be safe) miles or 10 years, whichever comes first.

Keep well clear of an lx spec, look dire and have very little equipment as standard. Titanium/Titanium X ideally, Zetec is even a decent improvement.

MidlandsM wrote: »

getting a Titanium or Tit X anywhere near 7k is mission impossible.

Didn't even notice the budget! OP either drop back a year and/or raise the budget. You will be getting the rough, abused, poverty spec ones if you limit yourself to 7K for an 08.

MidlandsM wrote: »

getting a Titanium or Tit X anywhere near 7k is mission impossible.

Agreed. We got €7k for an 07 Titanium X with 220,000km on it recently and judging from the level of interest in it we had it priced a bit on the cheap side.

If it had been 08 it would have made near €10k.