Buying a used car in Ireland guide

Would they be a good buy in comparison to non imported models ?

Very interesting observations, would the fact that the cars were built in Europe with European parts not mean that the parts specs would be the same ?. The language problem on the dash would be a serious problem unless it's properly replaced. Saw an add for one & not sure if the number plate is still an issue. The lack of a service history would be off putting.

Parts are largely the same and there is very little Japanese on most models. VW and Audi don’t have any Japanese apart from the radios which are usually swapped out. A lot of cars particularly German brands can fit normal license plates too. Most come with full service history although its in Japanese its usual easy to work out the dates and mileage.

You’d be surprised how many Jap imports are out there. Pretty much anything small and automatic is a Jap import

Probably not in the near future, new cars are still pretty hard to get a lot of manufactures are struggling to get the chips etc they need.

100% scam.

Yes either cheque won't clear or it will and will then be recalled by the issuing bank.

Good question. I have my own car up for sale at the moment, and that is one of the things that I've highlighted as a plus, that it's never gone wrong. Other than routine servicing it's never missed a beat, it's a 2014 Audi A4 with 148k miles on it.

I suppose it can be taken two ways. The owner has been lucky and dodged all the incoming costs. Or that the car has been well looked after and driven well and with sympathy.

I've had cars in the past that I've even gone as far as replacing the whole engine, and still things continued to go wrong.

I think it more so comes down to how well a car has been treated. If it hasn't been thrashed, poorly serviced, no mechanical sympathy etc then it's a ticking bomb.

I know with my own car for example, when I start it from cold I won't put it in gear for 30 seconds to let oil pressure and temperature get up. Then for the first few miles I drive it really gently.

I see other jump in their car on a freezing morning, turn the key and drive off straight away at full speed. It breaks my heart to hear it 😨😂

How to tell which car you're looking at is the difficult part.

There's also the "Friday afternoon cars" which just break constantly. My managers last company car was one of these. In 3 years it had a new Turbo, new gearbox, and endless other fixes and was a brand new car.

What make of car is it? Build quality differs a lot between brands.

I'm in the market for a second hand car as I've a baby on the way. I currently drive a 06 ford fiesta and my wife is bugging me to change. My current car use is minimal as I WFH so it's mainly to the shops, the odd spin to the west and to Dublin (from Kildare).

I am not into cars at all to be honest (my radio doesn't even work!) but main thing I'm looking for is comfort and safety after being in my current car for so long.

Any recommendations greatly appreciated.

Your not going to get a thread like that left here because it would just end up with good v bad experiences of businesses from randomers which could ultimately get boards.ie in trouble legally for displaying it on their platform.

10 years ago I bought a 5y old passat estate, now looking at a replacements prices for equivalent are 60+%. DD seems to be the most trafficked site... roughly what % of dealers put their cars up there?

A lot of Independent dealers are offering them apparently, I’m not aware of any in particular unfortunately.

Automatic & usually white in colour I think

Howdy Folks,

Looking for some advice. Am thinking of buying a used 2013 Citroen C4 1.6 diesel with 200,000 kilometres. Is the mileage to high? It’s a second car for the trips around the town, a runaround as such.

cheers thanks for the advice. Have switched my attention to a Renault modus 1.1 petrol 2010. Any thoughts on that?

Quick question: I have to buy a car for a family member. Basically we buy the car, and pay all the costs, they just put fuel into it because they are hard up, with a young kid. Current car is at that cliff edge of unrepairable, is a diesel, and with short trips, ALL the short trip diesel problems.

The driver is also, let's just say, clumsy.

Budget is ~ 7 to 8k. (Assume 2k trade in (trade could spend 3k fixing the current car , and get 10k for it. Cleaned up, it is desirable, but we don't have that skillset, and can't trust the driver not to undo all cosmetic body repairs)...).

we want 2014 oldest, petrol, manual (clutch is cheaper than auto box to repair). Car must be fiesta sized at most. And cheap to repair.

Is there a reason we only see + 100k kms cars? And, what sort of mileage is scary for cars? We are sick of spending 2k a year keeping the old one on the road.

What happened to cars being worth less than a third of their value after 8 years or so?