Question about buying a new car

Chicke

Put a deposit down on an 07 ford focus zetec.really happy with this make of car as had it before.just concerned that I will be getting a decent car.we had a look at it and it looks great.the garage I am getting it from is reputable.the garage will provide a three month guarantee post guarantee for everything and it is to be serviced by an in-house mechanic before collection
We got a report from a friend of ours from the motor industry which gave it a clean report in terms of crashes etc
The mileage is slightly higher than I wanted but then again it won't be getting heavy mileage with me as in general I tend to stay local
Therre is no log book of prior services as prior owner lost his
Wee haven't gone on test drive
Anything else we should do?
Any documentation we should insist on?
Thanks

Mr Benevolent

Chicke wrote: »

Anything else we should do?
Any documentation we should insist on?
Thanks

Go on the test drive! No service history either... I'd be looking the car over very, very carefully.

StevePH

Chicke, I'm in a similar position to yourself in that I'm close to buying a new (to me) car.

In my approach, I'm prepared to make a few compromises - eg if there's more mileage than I wanted, it should be priced to reflect that etc etc

One of my original conditions was that the car I buy should have a full service history. I've since softened my stance on that...for the right car/conditions.

However, without any history available, an independent mechanic to check it out would be a must for me.
Then again, if it's someone who knows you/is gonna bump into you/your 'people' regularly...maybe it's not such a big deal

But think of the money you're puttin down. An 07 motor (to me anyway) is not the oldest and represents a fair chunk of change. Consider how long it would take to save that up again should things not turn out right on that motor with 'high' mileage.

Puttin down any sort of deposit without a test drive...I just don't get. Did you get a hard sell?...Were you told it won't be there next time you look etc ....There's a LOT of cars out there for the money your'e considering spending.

Anan1

Chicke wrote: »

The mileage is slightly higher than I wanted but then again it won't be getting heavy mileage with me as in general I tend to stay local
Therre is no log book of prior services as prior owner lost his
Wee haven't gone on test drive
Anything else we should do?
Any documentation we should insist on?
Thanks

If the car has been serviced then the garage(s) who did the work should have it on record. The first thing you need to do is track this down. TBH, i'd be trying to get my deposit back.

Chicke

Thing is it is getting serviced by the dealers mechanic which has a garage.is that not sufficient given that they give a full 3 months guarantee from date of sale of car
Also have detailed history of the car which we got from a friend if ours in the motir industry band the car is fine
What would the service history provide me that I haven't got already
Thanks for you're help
Of course we have done a test drive

Henry Ford III

Chicke wrote: »

Thing is it is getting serviced by the dealers mechanic which has a garage.is that not sufficient given that they give a full 3 months guarantee from date of sale of car
Also have detailed history of the car which we got from a friend if ours in the motir industry band the car is fine
What would the service history provide me that I haven't got already
Thanks for you're help

It would indicate when a timing belt, or other important part were replaced. It would also help validate the mileage.

Mr Benevolent

Chicke wrote: »

Thing is it is getting serviced by the dealers mechanic which has a garage.is that not sufficient given that they give a full 3 months guarantee from date of sale of car
Also have detailed history of the car which we got from a friend if ours in the motir industry band the car is fine
What would the service history provide me that I haven't got already
Thanks for you're help

Why would you trust the dealer's mechanic to tell you the car is ok? It's a car, not a fridge, it needs to be checked over by someone and driven BEFORE you pay the money. It could have any number of problems. The warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on and will only include engine and transmission.

Seriously OP, you're taking a fairly big financial risk buying the car without driving it first.

Anan1

Chicke wrote: »

Also have detailed history of the car which we got from a friend if ours in the motir industry band the car is fine

All that tells you is that there are no insurance claims, mileage discrepancies, or finance on record against the car. The check is worth doing, but it's by no means conclusive - I had a car written off (and paid for in full by the ins co) in 2008, and a year later it was still showing up as clean on a history check.

Chicke

Thanks everyone
Will be getting an independent mechanic to examine.we have already driven it overselves
Am a bit concerned op that you had a write off and it disappeared from the motor check .ie report the following year.there is one section on the report that specifically states whether a car has been written off or not and you're saying that for you're car,that the answer to this question was incorrect on you're report.you might verify this for me because this might invalidate the whole report

Anan1

Chicke wrote: »

Am a bit concerned op that you had a write off and it disappeared from the motor check .ie report the following year.there is one section on the report that specifically states whether a car has been written off or not and you're saying that for you're car,that the answer to this question was incorrect on you're report.you might verify this for me because this might invalidate the whole report

Do you mean me? If so, then yes, the report came back clean when I knew that it had been written off. Those reports are dependent on the information available from the various sources they use - they're good for confirming that there's no finance on the car or the like but i'd never trust one for mileage or crash history. For that you need a full, verifiable, service history and someone who knows what they're doing to examine the car.

MrDerp

3 months warranty on an 07 car!!

I'd be expecting 6 months / 10000km on it to be honest. I got that on my 07 bought in March.

hellyeah

MrDerp wrote: »

3 months warranty on an 07 car!!

I'd be expecting 6 months / 10000km on it to be honest. I got that on my 07 bought in March.

as above. Bought a 08 in june and got 1 year warranty. Get at least 6 months op.

Mack_1111

I'm not 100% sure but I think you have a statutory warranty of 1 year! Make sure you check this out. the dealer will throw a 3 - 6 month one into the package but they still have to honour your statutory rights.

bazz26

A 07 car is a relatively new car so I would expect a "reputable" garage to stand over it for a bit longer than 3 months.