Buying a used car in Ireland guide

Sonya.Max · 02-02-2021 3:03pm

road_high wrote: »

Jesus run for the hills. Astra’s and similar are two a penny. No need to dwell on one you’re not happy with

Husband has 131 vauxhall astra for the last 4 years,drives to work 80km each way 5 days a week and it is doi g fine 😅

Just the owner situation looks suspicious..

Sonya.Max · 02-02-2021 3:18pm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How do you know the car was in an accident? There's no official write off record in Ireland so it could have been crashed and repaired. Call your insurer to see if they will insure the car first, could be blacklisted and impossible to insure here.

Out of interest is this car much cheaper than an identical model? You would want to be getting it 30% plus cheaper to even consider it.

My dad noticed it was repaired, he was a panel beater, so he easily sees if a cars body was repaired.

I have done history check and it says the car was written off.

I have rang our insurance and there is no problem to insure it, nct passed this January and the tax until Jan 2022. if it was cat a or b it would not be able to get nct or tax - that info is from RSA.

The price is around 20% lower, he agreed to drop the price more, but we decided to not buy the car and keep looking further.

Thanks.

road_high · 02-02-2021 6:26pm

Sonya.Max wrote: »

Husband has 131 vauxhall astra for the last 4 years,drives to work 80km each way 5 days a week and it is doi g fine ðŸ˜…

Just the owner situation looks suspicious..

Yes they are very good cars especially the new model. But there’s lots of them about, even if it costs a few quid more to get a clean one

ewj1978 · 05-02-2021 7:47pm

Looking to buy a used kia in Donegal. Im in Cork. Whats the story with lockdown and collecting as I'm doing a trade in?
Will it have to be a transporter job?

colm_mcm · 05-02-2021 8:19pm

ewj1978 wrote: »

Looking to buy a used kia in Donegal. Im in Cork. Whats the story with lockdown and collecting as I'm doing a trade in?
Will it have to be a transporter job?

Yeah. Is the dealer offering delivery? Is this Kia way better than the Cork ones?

bazz26 · 05-02-2021 8:22pm

Is there something special or unique about the car in Donegal that similar couldn't be found closer to Cork? There is no way you would drive from Cork to Donegal without encountering at least 1 checkpoint and told to turn around possibly getting a fine imo. Unless the dealer offers delivery then yes transport at your cost is the only alternative I can see. The deal would want to be super to make it worth your while covering the cost of transport versus buying closer to home.

ewj1978 · 05-02-2021 8:35pm

Its an EV so dealer stock of used vehicles is quite low in cork. Best trade in value, by some margin, is from a dealer in Donegal.
He was apprehensive of the transport question when i pushed him on it. I'll push him again tomorrow.

bazz26 · 05-02-2021 9:08pm

Maybe you can suggest splitting the cost of transport with the dealer given that they have to get your trade-in to Donegal too?

ironictoaster · 07-02-2021 2:14am

Had my first experience of attempting to buy a car privately (mk7 golf).

Car seemed fine to drive, immaculate interior etc. I took it to a local mechanic before making any deal. I was shocked to hear the mechanic's feedback.

Completely botched tec 7 job in the boot under the carpet, some panels were not aligned correct. signs of rust/corrosion when viewed under the ramp. Almost bought a lemon.

I ended up researching the car afterwards based on the reg out of curiosity. It was a write off in NI.

Moral of the story: always bring a mechanic

BinnionBenny · 07-02-2021 2:48pm

Any thoughts on this:

2010 i30, 1.4 Petrol with 100km - €5.5k?

I'm probably only going to hold on to it for about 2 years max. I am better off spending a bit more to make selling on easier?

Any help appreciated, thanks!

User1998 · 07-02-2021 2:51pm

ironictoaster wrote: »

Registered User
Had my first experience of attempting to buy a car privately (mk7 golf).

Car seemed fine to drive, immaculate interior etc. I took it to a local mechanic before making any deal. I was shocked to hear the mechanic's feedback.

Completely botched tec 7 job in the boot under the carpet, some panels were not aligned correct. signs of rust/corrosion when viewed under the ramp. Almost bought a lemon.

I ended up researching the car afterwards based on the reg out of curiosity. It was a write off in NI.

Moral of the story: always bring a mechanic

I think moral of the story is do a history check before anything else. It would have saved you a lot of time and hassle

colm_mcm · 07-02-2021 5:58pm

BinnionBenny wrote: »

Any thoughts on this:

2010 i30, 1.4 Petrol with 100km - €5.5k?

I'm probably only going to hold on to it for about 2 years max. I am better off spending a bit more to make selling on easier?

Any help appreciated, thanks!

Seems quite expensive for what it is.
If you want to make selling on easier, spend less.

BinnionBenny · 07-02-2021 6:26pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Seems quite expensive for what it is.
If you want to make selling on easier, spend less.

Thanks @colm_mcm.

The car does seem in pretty good condition (i can't link as im a new user but it's up on done deal), but i did feel its a bit on the pricy side, even if it is through a garage.

If you don't mind me asking, why would i spend less to make reselling easier?

colm_mcm · 07-02-2021 10:39pm

You can’t buy your way out of depreciation. The more you spend, the more you lose.

Also, if you overpay, you lose normal depreciation plus what you overpaid by.

Peppa · 10-02-2021 9:25pm

Hi I wonder can anyone advise as I am just overwhelmed with this car buying. Current 2001 won't pass NCT in March and tax is up end Feb. I only have this car and 5k but can't afford to buy a total wreck. Would anyone be able to advise on this? There seems to be mixed reviews on dealer too.

https://www.carsireland.ie/2718682#&gid=1&pid=10

I did a mother check. Its a UK import - 1 owner in UK and one Irish owner for last 6 yrs but I think everything seems OK. Couple gaps in tax and a factory recall that may or may not be for this car. Other than that doesn't seem to be anything to worry about. Just afraid I am missing something. I will try find a Dublin mech to look before I buy as I am down the country but that's costs everytime so need to be fairly sure b4 I ask one.
Thanks for reading.

L-M · 10-02-2021 9:31pm

I would just becareful with those engines. If they’re not minded or if they’re just a bad one, they can be terrible. The vast majority of them are fine.

If you’re anyway mechanically minded you should be able to tell if it’s good:bad. If not, bring someone.

Peppa · 10-02-2021 11:09pm

L-M wrote: »

I would just becareful with those engines. If they’re not minded or if they’re just a bad one, they can be terrible. The vast majority of them are fine.

If you’re anyway mechanically minded you should be able to tell if it’s good:bad. If not, bring someone.

Thank you I will as I wouldn't have a clue.

Ninap · 03-03-2021 4:08pm

Bit random, but i have now sent message enquiries via Done Deal for three separate cars, and have failed to get a response on any of them. Two were to small garages, the last to a private seller (with 4 cars for sale at present). In all cases, I asked about the date of the car's last service. No one arsed to respond. Anyone similar experience?

User1998 · 03-03-2021 4:11pm

With all due respect, it’s mostly time wasters who use Donedeal messenger. Better to call them and ask

Ninap · 03-03-2021 9:13pm

User1998 wrote: »

With all due respect, it’s mostly time wasters who use Donedeal messenger. Better to call them and ask

Ok fair enough. (although i wasn't offering him a broken Iphone 11 in exchange or the like....)

PMBC · 03-03-2021 10:52pm

Looking to buy a second hand i10 and trading in same 2014 reg which served us well. Would you go for 2018 or 2019? The 2014 we are trading was bought as a two year old.
Thanks for any help.

ifeelabreeze · 11-03-2021 1:41am

Any idea why an old early 2000s Mx-5 would have last been NCT'd in 2008 but taxed up until 2014.
It's now got an NCT but no tax, NCT in January, done 60 miles since then.
Car is very low mileage.

Mullinabreena · 15-03-2021 7:55pm

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a little advice on buying and selling. I have a 2010 Volvo s40 1.6 with 175k miles on it. Its probably not worth much. I've got a budget of about €11k and looking for something similar size maybe 2015/2016. If anyone in the know could point me in the direction of a make and model I'd really appreciate it. I'm not very clued in on what is a decent car to buy at that price. I never had any problems with my volvo s40 but alot of people have said the engine in them can be problematic and its the same engine in other makes and models too? Also would I be better going to a dealer or private now with Brexit and less UK cars on ghe market. I'd be worried id be left with my old car sitting outside and not been able to sell it.

bazz26 · 15-03-2021 9:24pm

Realistically your car is worth nothing to a dealer plus financially you will get a better deal on the newer car if buying without a trade in. If your S40 is in good shape, has a decent length NCT and priced realistically then it will find a new home. Anything you get from selling it privately will be better than what a dealer will give you for it.

As to what to replace it with, the S40 was based on the 2nd generation Ford Focus and alot of small saloons in this segment have been discontinued as people prefer crossovers nowadays. If your looking for something similar then look at the Mazda 3 but only in petrol form, the diesels are a gamble but the petrol model is reliable car. However I think you might struggle a bit getting any decent 2015/2016 saloon car for 11k.

Mullinabreena · 15-03-2021 10:15pm

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. I might actually down grade the size of car to be honest.

bazz26 · 16-03-2021 1:01am

Have a look at the Mazda 3 hatchback then:

d43864c90df075c94489ddbe4ca5ffe94d7a92b9bb803a52e3b420e6b2c1ce8c.jpg

https://www.carsireland.ie/2757673

Vicxas · 24-03-2021 7:20pm

Has anyone used BOI to transfer money to a dealer? The limit is 20k a day. Anyone been able to contact BOI and have it temporarily raised?

Raedwald · 25-03-2021 6:17pm

Hi All,

First time car buyer and looking for some general advice.

My budget is €9k max and the models I’ve been looking at are Fiesta, Polo and Clio 2014 / 2015 with less than 100,000 kms and a year on the NCT. Ideally I’d like to get an i20 but out of my price range unless I go for something with more miles on the clock.

Would anyone have a recommendation for either of three models? I really like the styling of the Clio myself but am told the other two would be cheaper to repair if anything happened.

I also don’t know anyone who is a mechanic, how do I go about sourcing one and likely cost?

Thanks so much!

boomshakalaka · 26-03-2021 10:08am

Raedwald wrote: »

Hi All,

First time car buyer and looking for some general advice.

My budget is €9k max and the models I’ve been looking at are Fiesta, Polo and Clio 2014 / 2015 with less than 100,000 kms and a year on the NCT. Ideally I’d like to get an i20 but out of my price range unless I go for something with more miles on the clock.

Would anyone have a recommendation for either of three models? I really like the styling of the Clio myself but am told the other two would be cheaper to repair if anything happened.

I also don’t know anyone who is a mechanic, how do I go about sourcing one and likely cost?

Thanks so much!

Hey!

I was in the market during the summer of last year, looking at similar models in a similar price range.

I ended up buying a 141 Fiesta (1.25l, the 1l ecoboost engine isn't worth it according to some well informed boardsies). I test drove an i20 and a Suzuki swift from the same year. The swift was garbage unfortunately, it was covered in a lot of rust (the swift on the whole probably is great but the one I drove wasnt). The i20 was fine, but slightly more expensive than the Fiesta.

Loved driving the Fiesta and still do, for me it was the best combo of what I want and need from my vehicle, should be reasonably cheap to maintain and repair as well.

I did have an issue with it shortly after I bought it where the fan stopped working causing the car to overheat which took a while to get rectified because the dealer didn't want to buy the part from Ford (he had to in the end, and it was under the dealers warranty so didn't cost me anything).

Other than that it came recently NCTd, with warranty from a reputable enough dealer so I ended up buying it without a mechanic to look it over.
Delighted with it still!

nathan99 · 31-03-2021 3:06pm

Hi guys

Would any one have any experience in what is the best way to downgrade your car?

I have a 162 BMW 320d M sport its probably worth over €20k. Im looking to switch to a cheaper golf probably 151-152.

Im just wondering should i sell my BMW privately and then buy a golf. or use the BMW as a trade in when buying the golf and get some cash as the difference ( I don't know if this is a common thing among dealers ?)

any suggestions let me know thanks.

Buying a used car in Ireland guide

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