advice for buying a car from private seller

dubbeat

Hi,

I'm going to go look at a 2nd hand car to buy over the next couple of days. I'm looking for some rule of thumb things to check for when viewing the car. Can you tell me any obvious things to look out for that would raise the "do not buy" red flag.

Seth Brundle

What is the car (make/model/year/fuel/etc)?

Make sure engine is cold before starting it - you are more likely to hear noises when cold.
Look for a complete verifiable service history.

I would recommend getting a mechanic to look over the car before parting with any money.

dubbeat

it's a 97 ford fiesta lx 1.3. It has 140,000 miles on it. The add says the engine was rebuild, not sure about the implications of this if any.

Cha82

Hi dubbeat,

Autotrader.ie has a pretty good advice checklist of things to look out for. I'll try post a link to it below. Good luck with the car hunt

http://www.autotrader.ie/contentv3/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&keyword=BuyingDetails#5

dubbeat

dubbeat wrote: »

it's a 97 ford fiesta lx 1.3. It has 140,000 miles on it. The add says the engine was rebuild, not sure about the implications of this if any.

If it's more than €400 don't touch it.

dubbeat

@RoverJames
Interested to know why you would suggest that?

Because it's a 1997 Fiesta with 140,000 miles on it. It's worth close to sweet feck all How much are they asking for it ?

dubbeat

Ha

I'm not very clued in on reputations of models or mileage:value ratios.

They where asking 800.

shamwari

dubbeat wrote: »

Ha

They where asking 800.

They're dreaming....

dubbeat

dubbeat wrote: »

Ha

I'm not very clued in on reputations of models or mileage:value ratios.

They where asking 800.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1771936

That's an example of why more than €400 for the thing you mention is looney

Jarren

dubbeat wrote: »

it's a 97 ford fiesta lx 1.3. It has 140,000 miles on it. The add says the engine was rebuild, not sure about the implications of this if any.

2000 Ford Fiesta LX 1.25 Kj, Hatchback, Silver, Petrol, Manual, 5 Door, 80000 mls, Air con, Excellent condition. NCT until March 2012.

Price: €850

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1771936

much better value IMO

retrobill

Roverjames is right and also the one he highlighted is the much better 1.25zetec not that old noisey 1.3 pushrod

dubbeat

RoverJames wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1771936

That's an example of why more than €400 for the thing you mention is looney

That spells it out fairly clearly alright!

If you are not bringing someone who has a clue with you look for the following

- long NCT (over 12 months)

- the seller being the owner on the log book and for a good while too (12 months +, to avoid buying off part time dealers many of whom are absolute twats)

- seller meets you at the house the car is registered to (unless they are working away from home)

- as mentioned start the car from cold, tell them this when you ring, you want the car cold when you arrive (also might suggest to them you know your beans so puts you in a good bargaining position if they don't)

- at least a partial service history

- as you are buying at the bargain end look for something without bumper scuffs etc, for every sh1tty car out there there is a similarly priced good one.

- clean interior

- check oil and coolant levels before starting the car, oil shouldn't be completely black on a petrol engined car unless it's gagging for a service

- coolant should be clear, non murky looking

- no mayonnaise type muck in either oil or coolant

- if all the above is ok, if it start's up fine, doesn't appear to have been crashed (ask them this also ask them are there any known issues) drives ok with no weird noises etc and it's priced ok it's probably a safe enough bet.

May still be a total crock of sh1t though.

dubbeat

thanks everybody for the great advice