What to look for when buying?

clouds

Hello Petrol Heads

I wonder can you help me. My dear old 97 Fiesta is getting a bit tin-of-beans like for carrying around 2 small kids. I am looking for something with a bit of boot space for buggies & shopping, room for 2 child seats, and feels a bit sturdier.

I only drive into town for work (20 miles good road) out to the mother (40 miles bad roads) and the odd trip on the motorway. Limited budget. When I go looking at cars what sort of thing should I be looking out for?

thanks in advance

johndaman66

I suppose the main thing first and foremost is the condition of the car your looking at. Does the engine look resaonably clean, does it rev freely, any knocking or unexpected noises coming from the engine, any dirty black smoke coming out the exhaust. Does the car reach its operating temperature in a reasonably fast manner and blow hot air in the cabin...if not this could very possibly indicate headgasket failure. Then look for traces of oil in the coolant and if there is I'd be inclined to walk. Bear in mind though that the head gasket could be blown and none of these symptoms may be immediately apparent either.

How is the car on the road when you take it for a spin....taking into account the age and mileage of the car does it feel reasonably tight, any banging that would seem to indicate wear on bushings, ball joints etc. Is the gear change and clutch action reasonably fluent or do you find yourself having to clutch twice sometimes and difficult to get into gear. Brakes work ok, pull the car up efficiently, any metal on metal sounds when you brake which would indicate brake pads need to be changed sooner rather than later. Does the handbrake hold the car. Any lights showing up on the dash. Don't just take the sellers word for it if he says the engine management light just needs to be reset for example. Sellers will often say this either to pull a fast one or because they just don't know. If the NCT is expired I'd be asking why it wasn't renewed upon expiry and don't necessairly buy into the "I didn't get around to doing it" line either. Keep an open mind and don't buy into the now almost expected line of "that'll fly the NCT".

I'd look at the bodywork. Is all reasonably in order there, any paint mismatch, panels out of alignment which could indicate that the car got a wallop at some stage. Have a nose around underneath the car I would suggest. Look for rust in the arches and underneath, in particular if the car was a UK import at some stage of its life. Check all doors, windows and locks work as they should including the boot. If the interior is especially grubby you could perhaps use it as a bargaining point. I would suggest that you are realsistic when it comes to things like scratches on the bodywork and stains on the seats though. For example one would reasonbly expect most 12 year old cars to have the odd scratch and dent and maybe a rip in a seat etc. here and there.

If you are resonably happy with the condition of the car you could probably get down to the nitty gritty of it with the bargaining. Ask yourself do you think if the car will need money spent on it soon. What are the tyres like, is it due a timing belt kit (expensive enough job on a lot of models), motor tax nearly out etc.? Factor these aspects in when you are bargaining and deciding in your own mind what you think is a fair price.

The above is my own thoughts and by no means text book. There are certian things you will need to look out for when looking at specific models that are not in my rough guide above. I know of a few people who progressed from a Mk III or Mk IV Fiesta to a Focus, stuck with the Ford as a fair share of Ford drivers seem to do to be fair. The 1.4 Focus is pretty loathed here for being slow and underpowered but have never drove a 1.4 Focus myself. Do you have a certain model appealing to you more than others?

W.Shakes-Beer

The basic things would be service history, checking for rust or signs of structural damage.

If you dont mind, what sort of budget would you have? Just to give an idea.

clouds

Thanks very much for your help. That's an excellent post Johndaman, a lot of that stuff would have gone totally by me.

WillShakesBeer I am thinking €3,500 . Would I get much for that these days do you think? Sturdiness and reliability are my main concerns, and a bit of room in the boot.
I think my glamour driving days are behind me for a while

Peadar_85

johndaman66 wrote: »

I'd look at the bodywork. Is all reasonably in order there, any paint mismatch, panels out of alignment which could indicate that the car got a wallop at some stage. Have a nose around underneath the car I would suggest. Look for rust in the arches and underneath, in particular if the car was a UK import at some stage of its life.

Just curious what you mean here man. What's the link with UK imports and rust under the car?

clouds

Peadar_85 wrote: »

Just curious what you mean here man. What's the link with UK imports and rust under the car?

Aha! I know this one. It's because in icy weather they grit the roads in the UK with stuff that's v harsh on a cars bodywork.

(Gold star for me)

Plug

clouds wrote: »

Aha! I know this one. It's because in icy weather they grit the roads in the UK with stuff that's v harsh on a cars bodywork.

(Gold star for me)

:mad:

I was going to answer it, that should be MY gold star!

Peadar_85

ah i see! a gold star each for the lads

johndaman66

clouds wrote: »

Aha! I know this one. It's because in icy weather they grit the roads in the UK with stuff that's v harsh on a cars bodywork.

(Gold star for me)

You are spot on there clouds! Not only that but they grit roads with the slightest threat of ice at all there. Brother bought a UK imported Corolla G6 about five or six years back which was by no means an old car at that stage. We were none the wiser then but it turned out that the underside of it was in a pretty sorry state with very advanced corrosion in parts. You learn by your mistakes too I suppose.