About to buy used car, few questions, pls help.

salsagal

I've read the forum sticky about buying a used car and tried to put it into practice, however...am too soft for my own good and now find myself in a situation.

Asked around re finding someone who I could 'trust' to go inspect a car with me. A gal I know a bit, put me in touch with their colleague (lets call him Jimmy, don't know his surname, or where they work) who deals a bit in cars and has a network. She told me Jimmy is dead sound, he's put lots of other colleagues in touch with good car deals.

Jimmy found a car based on my spec (€2K budget, 1 litre engine).

We viewed a car - nissan Micra - like my current car. Instead of doing the whole engine/body/press all the buttons and switches check, I just walked around it, inspected the body for rust (which mine suffers from) and then took it for a test drive.

Jimmy and the guy showing it were yappin away, and me being polite joined in...half paying attention to the drive. Car drove fine - but it's only the 3rd car I've ever driven in my life. Back at base, lifted the bonnet, quick glance - Jimmy telling me it all looked grand, and me (being polite) didn't wanna make a big deal about doing a mega-long check - also as I'm not sure I'd spot anything dodgy anyhows.

I'm interested. But my problem is: Jimmy is making all the calls with his contact ("Eddie" the mechanic who's selling the car) but Eddie's on holidays. The guy showing me the car was a mate, doing Eddie the mechanic a favour, and knew nothing much about the car.

I'm about to show up with 2 grand in cash, hoping I see sufficient paperwork to make it feel legit.

My current car is about to die (it's got about 3 days left I reckon) so I'm under pressure and this one has great mileage.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill -not having done a thorough inspection and not having met the mechanic who's actually selling the car? Is it worth my while buying a report online (entered the reg and it matches the description on cartell)? Should I just be happy if the log book/chassis number etc match those that I get on the report?

Part of me is thinking, hey it's only a €2K micra, ppl aren't going to rip me off over such a small budget car, and I'm being anal (my default nature) about not having i's dotted & t's crossed etc.

So if you're still reading...God bless ur stamina, and feel free to gimme your 5cents worth, thanks!

Anan1

First off - what exactly is 'Jimmy''s interest in helping to find you a car?

salsagal

Hi Anan1

I assume it's a sideline for him...a nixer. He hasn't mentioned money but I assume his time ain't free. From the way he talks he's traded in cars for ever.

Has Jimmy thoroughly checked out the car? Is it NCTd?

Anan1

Sounds to me as if buying with 'Jimmy' is no different to going to any other back street dealer, so, except that the whole 'Eddie' thing allows him to wriggle out of any warranty?

My best advice for anyone who doesn't know cars is to find a friend who does or, failing that, to buy privately from someone who's had the car from a while and who can prove with reciepts that they looked after it. Sometimes being a good judge of character is worth more than being a mechanic, IMO.

salsagal

It's NCT'd till August of this year. It's a 99 reg, with 49K miles on the clock.

Jimmy went out to 'check it out' the day before I met up with him, but while I thought this meant he'd done a full check, he'd only just had a look to make sure it wasn't a complete dud before taking me out to see it.

If I look at the situation on paper I'd be talking myself outta the deal, whereas he seems decent enough, my friend said he's got cars for quite a few ppl, he talks like he's done this all his life.

So I guess: option 1, go armed with a cartell.ie report and check paperwork against this.
Option 2 - wait till I meet Eddie the mechanic who's selling it (not sure when he's bk from hols, & mine may die in mid-morning traffic in the meantime)
Option 3 - insult Jimmy by asking a pal along and taking a proper detailed look at it, as per the sticky checklist,
Option 4 - ask Jimmy to give me Liam's phone number and try talking to him directly.

If it weights in Jimmy's favour, the guy showing the car confirmed the initial sale price, but Jimmy later called to say Eddie would go a bit lower - after I asked Jimmy if there was any wiggle room.

€2000 for a 99 Micra that is due a test in 4 months :eek:
Tell Jimmy & Eddie to stick it up their arse

Whereabouts are you in the country ?

MidlandsM

RoverJames wrote: »

€2000 for a 99 Micra that is due a test in 4 months :eek:
Tell Jimmy & Eddie to stick it up their arse

+1, madness.:P

salsagal

well in fairness, 1900 was initial price, now down to 1750.

RoverJames, I'm south Dublin.

Really under pressure, clueless about cars, have limited budget and as said earlier, my current car has about 2 days left in it.

Suggestions?:D

salsagal

salsagal wrote: »

my current car has about 2 days left in it.

Suggestions?:D

Buying in a hurry is an awful spot to be in. The Micra may well be 100% but you don't seem completely happy and it is a tad expensive. I dunno, shop around at your leisure and get whatever you fancy checked out by someone independent who knows their beans is the ideal situation, but time is not on your side apparently.

166man

2000/2001 VW Polo but try to get a 2001 as they had fewer problems than the 2000 model. Go for the 1 Litre, had one myself and was totally reliable and fun little engine.

Can be easily had for around 2k with plenty of NCT left.

Also STAY AWAY FROM THAT CRAPBOX MICRA!!!

salsagal

Thanks for the input guys!

Yeah, think I was about to talk myself into something to save me stress and time.

Think I'll stick to dealers as I don't know anybody who would independently check out a car for me. Guess that's what I thought Jimmy would do in the first place.

Cheers.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=151661

This lad sells cars in Dublin, I don't know the lad at all but he posts on here a bit. Might be worth PMing him to see does he have anything suitable If he sells you a sh1tter or if you're an axe murderer and chop his head off it's not my fault though :pac:

Anan1

salsagal wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys!

Yeah, think I was about to talk myself into something to save me stress and time.

Think I'll stick to dealers as I don't know anybody who would independently check out a car for me. Guess that's what I thought Jimmy would do in the first place.

Cheers.

Jimmy's interests don't sound to be aligned with yours. Honestly, if you know nothing about cars then you're much safer buying privately - the kind of dealers who sell €2k cars are sharks.

robtri

Anan1 wrote: »

Jimmy's interests don't sound to be aligned with yours. Honestly, if you know nothing about cars then you're much safer buying privately - the kind of dealers who sell €2k cars are sharks.

couldnt agree more....

plenty of nice motors out there for €2k....

salsagal

Thanks all for the input...back to the drawing board but at least I'm not gonna chuck money at an unsure thing.

mickdw

You wanted someone to come view a car with you but you ended up being introduced to a car dealer who 'found' a car for you. Walk away. I wonder if you found a car yourself, would jimmy be so eager to check it out for you?

Humans eh!

mickdw wrote: »

You wanted someone to come view a car with you but you ended up being introduced to a car dealer who 'found' a car for you. Walk away. I wonder if you found a car yourself, would jimmy be so eager to check it out for you?

Good point. Tell 'Jimmy' you have a couple of other similar cars lined up and would he give you his opinion on them, If he seems reluctant, walk away.

P.S €35 euro for an online check could save you many hundreds down the road - no pun intended.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.

padma

2000 for a 99 micra with 3 months nct left in it aint good at all, here is a 2001 micra with 2 years nct for 1500, should give you an idea how much this guy is trying to shaft you. http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2088299

here is a nice '02 Yaris for 2000 euro with 56000 miles on it with a good few months nct. 1.3, http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2085469 reliable with a lot of life in her yet, much superior car in your range and 3 years younger too.

bazz26

padma wrote: »

here is a nice '02 Yaris for 2000 euro with 56000 miles on it with a good few months nct. 1.3, http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2085469 reliable with a lot of life in her yet, much superior car in your range and 3 years younger too.

That's a Yaris Verso which is a mini mpv. Even Postman Pat and his black & white cat didn't want one of them.

Dues Bellator

hi im the guy mentioned by rover james , all i can say is dont rush into buying anything , 2k is a lot of money in the current market and you can buy a lot of car for that type of money , ill give you 3 good tips , bring a guy who knows the workings of a car with you before you buy , 2 only buy whats practical and suits your needs , and 3 Haggle Haggle Haggle best of luck

padma

thats what i get for quick posting from donedeal, only noticed it was the verso afterwards. Truth be said I'm in the market for a small toyota but I need a bit of boot space for courier work and it may suit me.

Dues Bellator

heres a few for you to ponder over , i have nothing to do with these cars i just had a quick look on DD .
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2077355

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2088572

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1402150

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2056423

the clio looks a real winner there , would come in around your budget too

i dont have anything in your budget at the mo so i cant really help you , but if your looking at a car around dublin 16 id have no probs checking it out for you , another thing OP make sure you get a good nct with it as i mentioned 2k is a lot of money .

padma

The Almera and Vectra Almanu belong in the bangernomics thread.

Dues Bellator

padma wrote: »

The Almera and Vectra Almanu belong in the bangernomics thread.

they could do alright

robtri

almanu wrote: »

heres a few for you to ponder over , i have nothing to do with these cars i just had a quick look on DD .
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2077355

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2088572

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1402150

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2056423

the clio looks a real winner there , would come in around your budget too

i dont have anything in your budget at the mo so i cant really help you , but if your looking at a car around dublin 16 id have no probs checking it out for you , another thing OP make sure you get a good nct with it as i mentioned 2k is a lot of money .

clio looks great value......

Anan1

robtri wrote: »

clio looks great value......

David the Clio seller is a dealer, though.

Anan1

SOmething like this might suit?: http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201116202059610

Anan1

Anan1 wrote: »

SOmething like this might suit?: http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201116202059610

Excellent suggestion
Op, you should have a look at that.

MrDerp

I know a 'Jimmy', lets call him Timmy, who's a trained mechanic, but sold his garage to property developers back in the day. He works a factory day job and does the Jimmy on it on the side.

Typically makes 300-500 cash off any transfer. He knows lots about cars, so people typically talk to him when they are looking. He typically advises to sell privately on their own car, and then he manages a musical chairs between buyers, sellers and garages, creaming a transaction fee off it all the time.

Timmy will let you know of anything he hears of, he puts sellers in touch with buyers, but he also tells you to trawl through carzone, donedeal etc and pick out something you like. Timmy, will, as a favour, go look at the car for you first. He'll even go up/down the country for you - 'Ah, don't worry about petrol or costs, forget about it, sure I'm always up and down to <insert place here> so I can pass through <location of car> no bother'.

He's already priced his commission at this point presumably. He then tells you if the car is in good nick, and tells you not to talk money with the garage/seller, he'll just let you know what they are 'looking for' and you can see the car for yourself. He then brings you to see the car and says: "They want x euro, I don't think you should pay any more than y euro. If you want it I'll ring him tomorrow and do the deal with ya". Timmy will then bring you to collect the car.

One can assume something along the lines of the following:

• I suspect Timmy has already agreed a price of y-200 euro
• He calls you then and says: 'I got him to y+400 euro. Bit more than we talked about. It's a good bit less than x, but personally I think its a bit much unless you really like the car. Look, leave it with me'
• Next day Timmy has 'I have him at y+200 euro'.

You never give Timmy a penny. But what's happened is that Timmy just got 400 quid off you, in a tax-free bung back from the seller, for nothing more than a mechanical inspection. If you've good negotiating skills, you could just get a mechanical inspection and agree your price.

However, Timmy is a trained mechanic, provides a decent service and never passes on a **** box. So Timmy is a good port of call for private sellers/buyers looking to avoid a bit of hassle. And to be fair, I've known Timmy to fix stuff a couple of months later and/or service the cars himself as part of it.



The moral of my story is that Jimmy is doing a Timmy:

1. You don't know him, he owes you no favour
2. You know nothing of Jimmy's mechanical background. Lots of people appear to 'know cars' to those of us like me who know SFA
3. F**k Jimmy. F**k him right in the ear. He's not your friend. A Timmy type service (200-400 quid) is not worth it on a 2k car. Get a mechanical check and bargain hard.

MirchMasala

r u interested in my car?:D

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2037537

Driving a micra is imho a heavenly experience...

Dues Bellator

MirchMasala wrote: »

r u interested in my car?:D

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2037537

Driving a micra is imho a heavenly experience...

i actually drove the same model from Donegal to Dublin the other day , i was dreading it , but turned out to be a pleasant enough drive:pac:

salsagal

Hi Almanu,

Wish I'd seen ur advert sooner:-)

I ended up telling "Jimmy" that I wasn't interested..too many unknowns about the car. He dropped me like a hot spud after that.

In the end I got a lovely 2000 Micra, with only 48,000 miles on the clock. I used all the advice on the sticky in this forum about how to buy a used car...very helpful!!

Loving my new car...and so relieved to get something within my 1 week window of opportunity...it came down to the wire 4 sure!!

Thanks again for all the input/advice...it deffo helped steer me clear of the dodgy Jimmy:-))