1999 mitsubishi colt question

zenno

hello all.

i was looking at an add of a mitsubishi colt 1999 1.3 L and was thinking of going out to this person to have a look at the car but i rang him first and asked him a few questions. he said there is 130,000 miles on the clock and a small scrape/dint on the side of the passenger door as well he said there is 6 months left on the nct. the price this guy is asking for is €800 i would haggle though to get that down a bit. my question is, is 130,000 miles that bad for one of these cars ? i was of course going to bring a mechanic out with me to go over it as well. as far as i have heard these mitsubishi colts are a decent car but is 130,000 miles a bit too far or can this particular model get alot more out of it in milage. thanks for the reply.

Tea 1000

zenno wrote: »

hello all.

i was looking at an add of a mitsubishi colt 1999 and was thinking of going out to this person to have a look at the car but i rang him first and asked him a few questions. he said there is 130,000 miles on the clock and a small scrape/dint on the side of the passenger door as well he said there is 6 months left on the nct. the price this guy is asking for is €800 i would haggle though to get that down a bit. my question is, is 130,000 miles that bad for one of these cars ? i was of course going to bring a mechanic out with me to go over it as well. as far as i have heard these mitsubishi colts are a decent car but is 130,000 miles a bit too far or can this particular model get alot more out of it in milage. thanks for the reply.

If it was minded, it'll do another 100k.

zenno

Tea 1000 wrote: »

If it was minded, it'll do another 100k.

thanks for the quick reply. well i'll leave it to the mechanic to go over it. do you think if i got him down to €700- €750 would you recon it would be a reasonable price for the year ? thanks in advance.

bazz26

As said if it was cared for properly then the 130k miles should be nothing to the engine. Things to check though are other components that wear out alot faster than the engine are the clutch, gearbox and suspension components. If any of these things are on the way out then you could be looking at some hefty repair bills.

Also ask when the timing belt if it has one, was last changed as a replacement will cost a few hundred euros.

mondeo

Lunch Box on wheels....they are reliable though, I know one with a 153k miles on the clock and running fine.

Absurdum

first car I ever bought was a 97 Colt, I wouldn't be too worried about the mileage if your mechanic gives it the ok

zenno

thanks for the replies much appreciated. well i'll leave all that for the mechanic and will give the "lunchbox" a short drive to feel clutch and gearbox myself. well i am only looking for a small car this time and no higher than a 1.3 which are hard enough to find at the moment for financial reasons tax/insurance. once it gets me from A to B i'm happy. thanks again.

mecanoman

Great liitle car, if you get it, first thing i'd get is a total steering lock for
it, car theives are mad for stealing theses cars. Hopefully it'll have an alarm/immobiliser, but a lot of cars this age don't.

zenno

mecanoman wrote: »

Great liitle car, if you get it, first thing i'd get is a total steering lock for
it, car theives are mad for stealing theses cars. Hopefully it'll have an alarm/immobiliser, but a lot of cars this age don't.

thats correct this doesn't have an alarm plus a girl friend of mine had one only a week after she bought it and they wreaked the steering wheel and pulled the guts out of it trying to rob it. i use a homemade red light emitting diode i put together that blends into the front top of the dashboard but it looks legit so you wouldn't know whether it was really alarmed. seemed to do the job with my other old car i sold ages ago. better than nothing but a steering lock will be used as well if i do get it.

Vertakill

My first car was a '99 GLX and I loved it. Great little car and never let me down for about 16 months driving. Didn't put anything in it other than petrol in that timeframe as well!

zenno

well i went around to the guy tonight and had a look at the mitsubishi colt and the engine sounds great a fare few pebble dints on the bonet and a 7 inch scrape on the passenger side but i can easily fix that myself. the inside is nice and comfortable as well nice looking car. so i will be dropping in tomorrow early again with my mechanic and if he gives it the all clear i'll go for it.

Buffman

zenno wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply. well i'll leave it to the mechanic to go over it. do you think if i got him down to €700- €750 would you recon it would be a reasonable price for the year ? thanks in advance.

zenno wrote: »

well i went around to the guy tonight and had a look at the mitsubishi colt and the engine sounds great a fare few pebble dints on the bonet and a 7 inch scrape on the passenger side but i can easily fix that myself. the inside is nice and comfortable as well nice looking car. so i will be dropping in tomorrow early again with my mechanic and if he gives it the all clear i'll go for it.

With that many bumps and bangs offer €500 and work from there. Around €600-700 would be fair enough.

zenno

Buffman wrote: »

With that many bumps and bangs offer €500 and work from there. Around €600-700 would be fair enough.

thanks for the reply buffman. I haggled with the guy and he gave it to me for 700 so i saved a hundred as it was on for 800 euro well i had a good look around the car today in the daylight and it wasn't as bad as i thought. i can easily get most of the little scrapes and pebble marks off it. well the mechanic gave it a good test in and out and done a testrun on it and he said it was perfectly fine. clutch is grand and gearstick fine as well as the engine. so i just have to sort the cosmetics out on it and it will be fine. runs great. all in all it's a nice little jammer. almost forgot, the timing belt needs changing soon but my mate is a mechanic this is a different guy and he said he would put a new one on it for 30 euro for me so thats good.