Buying a used car in Ireland guide

patdahat

lad's in the next few day's ill be looking at a 1.6l focus diesel 06, is there any specific's i should be on the look out for relating to this car??

MidlandsM

patdahat wrote: »

lad's in the next few day's ill be looking at a 1.6l focus diesel 06, is there any specific's i should be on the look out for relating to this car??

Basically, DON'T - shyte engine.....the 1.6 tdci is one of the worst ever placed in a ford as its not a proper ford engine. You'd be lucky not to encounter massive bills - im speaking from experience and not hear'say. Search out a 1.8tdci focus, better engine by a million miles, same mpg, more grunt, and the bit more payable in road tax is negligible over the year.

MarthaMyDear

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anybody would be willing to give me a quick opinion on this car? Thanks for the buying guide it's brilliant! They are selling the car and buying an automatic because the lady who owns it finds driving manual very difficult. So they havn't had it long should I be wary? If it drives well and ticks all the boxes that are listed above do you think it's ok?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3650407

thanks in advance.

MidlandsM

MarthaMyDear wrote: »

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anybody would be willing to give me a quick opinion on this car? Thanks for the buying guide it's brilliant! They are selling the car and buying an automatic because the lady who owns it finds driving manual very difficult. So they havn't had it long should I be wary? If it drives well and ticks all the boxes that are listed above do you think it's ok?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3650407

thanks in advance.

re; the tax, its renewed yet they're selling, caution required alright, could be using that as a sales tool. !
couple of things of note on these from memory.....

they can leak water ...check the carpets for dampness in the footwells, condensation in the windows inside is a dead giveaway....and a musty small inside - watch for too many air freshners in the car of lots of fabrese spray just been used.....
check the wiper linkage for sloppyness...
check the blower fan in the dash, common failure......ensure it works at all speeds....
Re; his quote - Timing Chain = no worries......well, all grand and well isd the chain is not noisey .......then you'd have got an expensive repair bill on yer hands.

...make sure it selecting all gears well and not jumping out of any gears......

...get a good experienced mechanic to eyeball it first if you are unsure.

Good luck:)

MarthaMyDear

MidlandsM wrote: »

re; the tax, its renewed yet they're selling, caution required alright, could be using that as a sales tool. !
couple of things of note on these from memory.....

they can leak water ...check the carpets for dampness in the footwells, condensation in the windows inside is a dead giveaway....and a musty small inside - watch for too many air freshners in the car of lots of fabrese spray just been used.....
check the wiper linkage for sloppyness...
check the blower fan in the dash, common failure......ensure it works at all speeds....
Re; his quote - Timing Chain = no worries......well, all grand and well isd the chain is not noisey .......then you'd have got an expensive repair bill on yer hands.

...make sure it selecting all gears well and not jumping out of any gears......

...get a good experienced mechanic to eyeball it first if you are unsure.

Good luck:)

Thanks a million. I'll take that all into consideration! Think the reason the car is freshly taxed is either because it was bought for this lady to drive recently and now she wants a different car or else because cars with tax usually sell for a bit higher. I'll tread with caution though Thanks

L-M

From personal experience the gear shifter in those older Micra's is always stiff.

As long as the car itself checks out you should be ok, I'd ignore/try to avoid taking into their story and just check out the car.

MarthaMyDear

Limerick man wrote: »

From personal experience the gear shifter in those older Micra's is always stiff.

As long as the car itself checks out you should be ok, I'd ignore/try to avoid taking into their story and just check out the car.

Thank you. First car so fingers crossed it's ok!!

veruca salt

Hi, desperately trying to find a Honda civic 2006+ hatchback (either 1.8 or 2.2) for around 6,000, do you think this is just totally unrealistic? Does this seem a bit dodge? http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3669179
Or this cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3439256 60k milage?
Thanks a million for any advice!

MidlandsM

do the checks on the cars and get them independently inspected if needed be, then you can decide. You'll only know so much over the internet.

veruca salt

Thank you for that, hopefully we will manage to find one!

MidlandsM

one thing about those civic, avoid the auto/semi auto gearbox in them, they can be hassle.

boystarone

hi guys first time posting to this tread, and like everyone else i'm looking for some advice. don't have much experience of buying cars/ or much of a clue when its comes to them for that matter, things is mine just packed in and i ned it for work, I do a lot km, about 20,000 per year. and my budget is 3500/4500 what i'd love to get some advice on is diesel vs petrol. specifically does a 1.8 diesel give as good MPG as a low engine size petrol say a 1.4? it seems like there more diesels available at this engine size for the money I have. would anyone have any recommendations? for 1.8 diesels,

also i'm going to check this later what do you think?

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3655657


any advice would be very welcome

Glebee

Hi guys, looking for an opinions on my choice. Time to change my old reliable 03 Golf TDI. Liking the Volvo S60 Diesel and on the look out for a 2010 model. Dont see to many for sale though. Any opinion on the volvo...
What else should I consider in the same price range..
Thanks all

boystarone

I went to look at this car today:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3669892

I drove it and everything seemed fine but an 'anti pollution warning' message came up on the display when I switched on the engine. The owner said it had been there since shortly after she bought the car (about a year) and she hadn't had any problems. I'm just worried the car won't pass an NTC because of this (its up in 6 months) or it's an underlying bigger issue. I can see online that people encounter this problem a lot with the 307, but just wondering will it pass an NCT with a warning like this? I was going to get a mechanic out to look at it but do you think it's worth my while with a fault like this or should i just try again?

MidlandsM

boystarone wrote: »

I went to look at this car today:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3669892

I drove it and everything seemed fine but an 'anti pollution warning' message came up on the display when I switched on the engine. The owner said it had been there since shortly after she bought the car (about a year) and she hadn't had any problems. I'm just worried the car won't pass an NTC because of this (its up in 6 months) or it's an underlying bigger issue. I can see online that people encounter this problem a lot with the 307, but just wondering will it pass an NCT with a warning like this? I was going to get a mechanic out to look at it but do you think it's worth my while with a fault like this or should i just try again?

yeah, move on ......next time when calling about a car/making an appt to view, clearly ask the seller "are there any warning lights currently "illumenated"on the dash, like a airbag,anti pollution or any other warning lights? - be clear in your questioning, and if you get anything else than a straight clear answer, forget about it, and move on.

L-M

That could easily cost you a lot of money OP.

To be honest, try stay away from the 1.6 HDI, they're a very troublesome engine and they're just not worth the hassle.

boystarone

Thanks for the advice Limerick man and Midlandsm. I talked to my mechanic this morning and he was of the same opinion - didn't think it was worth my while having him look at it. He also thought a peugeot with that mileage would probably be a money pit over the next few years so I'm definitely going to keep looking.

MidlandsM

boystarone wrote: »

Thanks for the advice Limerick man and Midlandsm. I talked to my mechanic this morning and he was of the same opinion - didn't think it was worth my while having him look at it. He also thought a peugeot with that mileage would probably be a money pit over the next few years so I'm definitely going to keep looking.

that mechanics a keeper!

my advice in that segment is to seek out a nice 1.8tdci focus....good engine, good mpg, good car and not to bad to tax/insure. Much better all round.

something like this -
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3499601

boystarone

That looks like a great car - 4,500 is my budget though - I do see a few older Focus's coming up there.

What do think about the Ford Fusion? I've seen a few of them coming up in my price range too.

MidlandsM

boystarone wrote: »

That looks like a great car - 4,500 is my budget though - I do see a few older Focus's coming up there.

What do think about the Ford Fusion? I've seen a few of them coming up in my price range too.

they're basically a tall fiesta......the diesels a 1.4 psa unit, same as you'll get in a pug,citroen and the fusion/fiesta .........reliable enough, very frugal, but man, slllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooow ...........:pac:

Mister Jingles

boystarone wrote: »

That looks like a great car - 4,500 is my budget though - I do see a few older Focus's coming up there.

What do think about the Ford Fusion? I've seen a few of them coming up in my price range too.

There an okay car, big enough inside for what they are, plenty of room in the back but only if people in the front haven't got long legs. Grand sized boot. Driving position isn't the most comfortable but they are fine when it comes to handling, bit of body roll in the corners but that's to be expected.

Never drove the 1.4 diesel but have heard they are dog slow. The 1.4 petrol is okay, its a lighter car then the Focus but not by much but as with the 1.4 Focus is does struggle when there is a lot of weight inside. I've always felt that it could do with another 10-15 bhp.

boystarone

Oh ok - the look of them always put me off a bit but you've definitely made up my mind now!

I didn't know that about 1.4 diesel engines and I've never driven one either - so I should be looking for 1.5/1.6 upwards.

MidlandsM

boystarone wrote: »

Oh ok - the look of them always put me off a bit but you've definitely made up my mind now!

I didn't know that about 1.4 diesel engines and I've never driven one either - so I should be looking for 1.5/1.6 upwards.

1.8 upwards tbh imho:pac:

L-M

Those 1.4s are known for their injectors, too.

dark crystal

Limerick man wrote: »

All Corsas are crap! Stay away

Can you explain further...

Am looking at this one tomorrow: http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3675354

On a VERY tight budget and this one seemed like a decent buy. What are the main problems associated with Corsa's?

MidlandsM

dark crystal wrote: »

What are the main problems associated with Corsa's?

head gasket failure just for starters..........horrible insipid yokes.

...and just because its got an nct does'nt mean its not sh|t.




.

L-M

dark crystal wrote: »

Can you explain further...

Am looking at this one tomorrow: http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3675354

On a VERY tight budget and this one seemed like a decent buy. What are the main problems associated with Corsa's?

Just buy a Micra.

I was more refering to the Corsa's with a timing chain rather than a belt, which the above has, but still.

dark crystal

MidlandsM wrote: »

head gasket failure just for starters..........horrible insipid yokes.

...and just because its got an nct does'nt mean its not sh|t.

.

Well I bought a 00 Passat in January and the head gasket went last month, so not sure such problems can be associated purely with one brand over another, tbh. This Corsa seems to have been well taken care of (low mileage for the year, regularly serviced etc.)

I agree Corsas aren't the most exciting cars, but with a budget of €650, beggars can't be choosers!! I'll definitely be using a few of the tips outlined in OP just to be a bit more cautious than I was last time, though

L-M

Someone in the bangernomics thread had a 97 polo for 400 not so long ago!

MidlandsM

dark crystal wrote: »

Well I bought a 00 Passat in January and the head gasket went last month, so not sure such problems can be associated purely with one brand over another, tbh.

yes, yes they can .....