Buying a used car in Ireland guide

angrybeaver wrote: »

Just moved back from the UK recently and need a commuter wagon. Not a massive commute. 70kms Round trip daily and then roughly twice a month 400km round trip to Dublin-Limerick.

I may not be in diesel territory but struggling to find any decent petrol equivalents of Focus. They all seem to be 1.6tdci. Same with VW. Majority are Diesel.

Yesterday when I explained my situation to a local mechanic he told me the 2.0 Tdci focus/mondeo 2010 + would be his choice of car. I do like the look of the Focus 2011+.

I've around 7-8K to spend. Not concerned what badge just something relatively reliable and economical with 5 doors (2 small Kids)

Any advice would be great.

I have a Mazda 6 in the adverts section that could suit you.

angrybeaver wrote: »

Thanks,

Do the same issues with the 1.6tdci exist with the 2.0tdci?

Any advice on the 1.6 petrol focus same era?

Isnt that the PSA sourced 1.6 diesel? If so, the 2.0 is much better (but still not amazing in itself). The aul lad has the 2.0 in a Peugeot 407 with 300k+ on the clock.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would avoid the 1.6 TDCI engine where possible.

The 8V versions (DV6C, DV6D, DV6FC and DV6FD) installed in the Focuses from 2011 are much better than the older 16V design.

2.0 HDi/TDCi is safe regardless of the generation.

Ejeca wrote: »

This caught me eye. What do people think?

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2008-118i-msport-3dr/16598093

Fixed link.

You’d be the 5th owner, which is a good few in 10 years. Doesn’t make it a bad car of course, but it’s certainly high.

It’s a niche product though, not everyone wants a petrol 3 door 2.0 1 series. It’s also 10 years old now.

I quite like the idea of one, especially a 3 door.

James is selling a number of other cars too which miraculously only went up for sale 10 hours ago, if you google his number it shows that he has been wheeling and dealing in alot of cars. That makes him a part time dealer in my books so he knows more about selling cars than you know about buying them.

That 1.6d engine is not known for its reliability and there are more bad examples out there than good ones. Do you actually need a diesel? It's also rather cheap for a 08 Focus diesel given the cheap tax would make a bit more valuable, this would make me suspicious straight away as usually cheap cars are cheap for a reason. It's a UK import too so I'd be doing background checks especially on the UK history as 110k miles is very low on a ten year old diesel. It's also the UK base model which is a very drab and bare place to be in.

If it were me I'd just keep looking for something else.

The risk is lower but if your not savvy yourself then it's best to bring someone along who is a bit car savvy as they might spot something that the dealer needs to sort before finalising the sale. I'm talking about things like worn tyres, scuff marks, etc. Some dealers are better than others at preparing cars for resale while others will wait until the buyer points them out. Bring a mate or relative who knows their way around cars where you can reward them with a few pints for their trouble. It can be alot easier to get things fixed at time of purchase before you hand over the money than afterwards.

Ask about the warranty, it could just be a 3rd party warranty which a lot of sellers think gets them out of any consumer rights you might have.

Reversal wrote: »

Looking for a new motor for lugging two kids and buggies around. Coming from a 05 A4 Avant, 1.9tdi. It's pushing 200k miles and starting to have various snags, so it's gotta go.

Mostly doing urban driving these days so unsure if I need a diesel anymore, doing 15-20k Kms a year. Ideally don't want to spend more than 7k, but as herself will be relying on it everyday do need a reliable motor with room for the sprogs and their possessions.

Suggestions for hassle free motoring?

How many sprogs? I like the ford s max.

mrcheez wrote: »

If buying a used car from a reputable showroom, and it comes with 2 year warranty, is there any reason to bring along a mechanic, or can I generally assume a showroom wouldn't sell rubbish?

I know zilch about cars, beyond how to check oil and refill petrol and pump tires

Just again on this, is it possible to hire a mechanic or similar to come and look at a car I may buy?

Don't know anyone myself who would be familiar enough with cars to identify possible issues.

You'd think a service like this would be pretty common. Not everyone is best mates with a car mechanic/aficionado.

Right so for people that don't have a mechanic on hand, I guess we just need to take a gamble ? Not sure a Nissan dealership (for example) would allow me to take a car to another garage for inspection. They would say their own mechanics inspected it.

Do these dealerships offer any sort of quality guarantee so that I could bring it back after purchasing if a mechanic subsequently found an issue? I.e. is there a warranty i should make sure they include ?

bazz26 wrote: »

If your buying from a dealer then there should be a warranty with the car otherwise what's the point in buying from a dealer?

I've no idea what point of buying from dealer is vs private sale, just that they seem to have a few nice cars I'm looking at

But yeah if safer to buy from dealer, in terms of more guarantee regarding quality, then I'll certainly stick to looking at dealers only.

Dónal wrote: »

Have been looking around at cars the last few weeks and have seriously looked at two corolla versos. Both had rust underneath - first one I saw with a mechanic had a lot of surface rust underneath and on the rear axle, while today the Verso had surface rust too underneath, on both sides of the car. No holes today for the Verso and it passed the NCT just last month.

So my question - how much rust is too much on a used car? Am aiming for a 10 year car so don't know if I should expect some rust.

Look into the nct info on rust. It can be the beginning of an expensive problem depending on where the rust is.
I failed my nct because of rusted sils, a common problem on Ford fiestas. My mechanic didn't do the cutting/welding the nct wanted to repair the rust and did a patch up job instead. I failed the retest and was then off the road due to no more money for mechanics. Nct hadn't told me what had to be done, I brought the report to a mechanic assuming he would do what's required. It was only after failing the retest that I found out it's on me (although I'm not a mechanic and know nothing a out cars) to get the right work done, despite the fact I paid a professional to do just that.

Just a warning in rust!

Is a part service history a complete no no?

bazz26 wrote: »

A lot of Irish cars would not have a full documented service history especially once the original manufacturer's warranty expires. The important thing to try and join the dots between what the seller/owner is claiming, mileage on the NCT and what the manufacturer recommends at certain mileage, if stuff doesn't add up and more questions get asked than answered then it's time to walk away. Ideally you would like a car to have invoices and receipts for work and servicing done but unfortunately the average Irish motorist is not very meticulous around that.

Cheers. It's a low mileage car for it's age - 2008, 61k miles with 3 previous owners. I might miss the odd service by 2 or 3 k, but I'd always do it eventually.

I didn't realise it was such a common thing.

Thanks. It's a 1 series BMW that is also on adverts & the seller has all positive feedback.

Seen the car on carzone there now for €1000 more & it seems it's been for sale for a good few months too. Now I'm thinking maybe there's a reason it hasn't shifted.

I if sell mine own this morning, I'll give the seller a ring....

looking over few pages seems issue is always the same seller in many cases buys car that they have no knowledge and as we know history can be blurry on most cars. Ive learnerd that buying cheap ill need to put in 300-600e euro once brought to service as belts,oil, bearings links suspension one or another is always small details that come out after good weeks driving start to appear that eventually add to the cost.


while as most said its almost impossible to find mechanic that will give his time to go look with you at the car, but i found that asking them about specific models they will give you wealth of information regarding reliability and what to look out for, even better if they work a lot on models you look to buy, my first was vw 4 golf and was worst mistake ever since em yokes had 1.4l engine and few weeks later seen oil light and after service got news piston rings were messed up on them models, in other words few months down the road 2k down the drain. smth that really put me off any german cars for years,as found jap imports engine troubles are almost non existent but visit any garage always plenty of german cars in line, nothing against them as comfort is really there but likes of bmw service is really important part which many owners ignore over the years.

amacca wrote: »

Whats the safest way to pay for a used car nowadays (private sale)

Don't want to hand over cash (and I presume cash is a very bad idea anyway)

Bank Draft?........

Very unlikely that someone would accept the bank draft.

Depose the cash directly to the sellers bank account.

Is there a way to pay where seller gets their funds and you get your registration documents to post off to shannon there and then?

Bring an envelope with a stamp. Fill up the registration documents together, pay, put the documents in the envelope and throw into postbox together.

amacca wrote: »

Arse...bank of ireland need you to add the person as a payee...5 working days to get a pin etc......that can be overcome presumably but it still leaves a a problem imo

My problem is that transfer may not be instant or update in the sellers account straight away....your money has left your account or is on way but seller is holding on to vehicle registration document (and rightfully so) is there any way for both parties to get what they want?

Bring cash to the bank of seller, and depose it there. You'll get receipt and seller will see it immediately.

I saw this thread tonight and it made me smile ..

4 years ago I read this for ages , got a pen and paper and wrote a long list of things to look at , and do in regards to looking at this car .

Anyway guy turns up a little late at meeting place and catches me off guard . I forget to bring list. I hardly looked at any of the items ...basically I made a right balls of it !!!

My only saving grace was I caught him on giving me wrong mileage. He said in advert 84km and it was 84miles . Then I found aircon wasn't working , I got price down to 2000 from 2800 .

Next day in light of day (yes I bought car in dark) i couldnt belive eyes !!!!! Car was absolutely mint , my wife even commented on how well I'd done which was a first EVER!!!

That didn't last long once my mechanic fixed head gasket and tie rods and took 1000 off me the following month !!! My wife reminded me why I needed to be kept a close eye on at all times for my own safety .

4 years later that same car is still driving A1 and no money spent since . I keep telling my wife she doesn't appreciate my .mechanical knowledge I learnt from Limerick man .

Move on, but post a link to the ad anyway