petrol car with towbar

trepasers

Looking to buy a 1.6 ford focus and it has a tow bar...should I be worried about this ? any help appreciated

Anan1

What was it used for?

trepasers

the current owner said her father used it for towing a small trailer now and again for gardening she isnt sure how much it was used by the previous owner..

Anan1

If everything else stacks up and the suspension and clutch are in good order then I wouldn't worry.

trepasers

this is the car
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3174192

looks fairly clean and she said it was only light trailer work it was doing..

might give her a test drive tomorrow

Anan1

She looks well. There's no mention of a service history, though, what's the story there?

trepasers

shes due a service now allright...dont mind that though can do it myself

Anan1

trepasers wrote: »

shes due a service now allright...dont mind that though can do it myself

Grand, but what about the last six years?

trepasers

just checking now...forgot to ask....cheers !!! half asleep this weather:o

Mr Bump

Hi
It depends on what it was used for, if it is just general house hold use like is would use it for then there is not problem, if it was for building use etc, well then you might need to review what you are buying and move onto another seller who has what you are looking for, thats just my opinion,

trepasers wrote: »

Looking to buy a 1.6 ford focus and it has a tow bar...should I be worried about this ? any help appreciated

Anan1

trepasers wrote: »

just checking now...forgot to ask....cheers !!! half asleep this weather:o

You need to go through the SH in detail - find out what needed to be done and when, and make sure that it was done by ringing the garages who did the work to check. So many people skip these steps and then end up with avoidable bills/breakdowns/clocked cars.

colm_mcm

I'd actually see the tow bar as a sort of plus point on a car like this, there's a good chance this car is owned by some retired chap who has too much time on his hands and does his kids gardens and keeps his house immaculate, these sort of people tend to mind their cars.
Tht said, a 1.6 3 door focus isn't the car of choice for this type of chap, so I'm guessing he's not the original owner.

MuppetCheck

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd actually see the tow bar as a sort of plus point on a car like this, there's a good chance this car is owned by some retired chap who has too much time on his hands and does his kids gardens and keeps his house immaculate, these sort of people tend to mind their cars.
Tht said, a 1.6 3 door focus isn't the car of choice for this type of chap, so I'm guessing he's not the original owner.

My own father has a tow bar on his car that has never, ever been used. For protection apparently.

colm_mcm

Country parking sensors.

MuppetCheck

colm_mcm wrote: »

Country parking sensors.

Exactly!

Mycroft H

colm_mcm wrote: »

Country parking sensors.

Exactly. If you walk into the car park in Supervalue in Belmullett you will see the entire wall pock marked from people reversing towbars into the wall. Its hilarious actually

trepasers

was chatting to the mechanic of the car as the log book isnt stamped...he had a mechanic business which closed down ...The owner of the car was friendly with him so they got him to do the servicing hence the reason for no receipts as it was cash...what do you guys think ??

worth a look ?

trepasers

also she has had the car for 3 years...will be giving her a good service if I do go for her

Mar4ix

do the online car check(carcheck.ie or other ... there is bunch of them) , see what history is from that side.

Why need car particularly with tow bar ? Actually you may put tow bar on any car, find one which is in good nic, and put towbar yourself/garage.

tomthumbe

I would never buy a car with a towbar, mainly because it could have been someone like me that owned it. I destroyed my last car pulling trailers or as my mechanic says "I pulled the heart and soul out of it"

trepasers

yes will definitely do a check ...cartell would probably be the best ??

Is there much downsides when selling on again with having to history book but the numbers to get in contact with all the mechanics and dealers ?

Anan1

trepasers wrote: »

was chatting to the mechanic of the car as the log book isnt stamped...he had a mechanic business which closed down ...The owner of the car was friendly with him so they got him to do the servicing hence the reason for no receipts as it was cash...what do you guys think ??

worth a look ?

Doesn't sound great, TBH. A cash job wouldn't stop him from issuing reciepts for the owners records, or even stamping the service book. You could have a mechanic check it out, but the price would still need to reflect the lack of service history. Personally i'd find a car with a record of having been cared for.

Mar4ix

he he ... just looked on that ad, .... "female owner emigrating" ... would put me off that car....

trepasers

Mar4ix wrote: »

he he ... just looked on that ad, .... "female owner emigrating" ... would put me off that car....

ya ??

Mar4ix

trepasers wrote: »

ya ??

I dont know if others have same feelings, but i think, in lots ads she / he want get rid of car as soon as possible, and emigrating is not an actual reason, just make potential buyers grab a "bargain", which at the end turns in to lemon.

Maybe in your case it is genuine .

If you really want buy that car, check it in garage, which you know, and wont tell you lies .

lifer_sean

Don't be worrying so much about towbars and service history. Go look at the car, meet the owner, bring a mechanic with you if you are not confident of checking the car yourself. Make sure to do an online history and finance check.

It's an Irish car, not an import (judging from the reg). Irish cars rarely have service histories, so if you restrict yourself to ones with service histories you will be a while looking.

Check the condition of the interior of the car. If the towbar was used by a guy building his own house for example, the interior and boot will show wear from tools etc getting thrown in. Also check if there is a lighting socket on the towbar ... if there is none then it did no serious towing.

Make sure to check the bodywork for accident damage / crash repairs.

Meet the owner. If the owner is the same person whose name is on the tax book, then after a chat you will have a good idea if she is a genuine seller or trying to pull a quick one.

The car you picked out is cheap. It's a Focus, so it's as trouble free as you get, it has the best engine option in the 1.6, it's a 3dr in probably the best colour, and it's well spec'ed (Zetec). I'm tempted to go for it myself !

ThisRegard

tomthumbe wrote: »

I would never buy a car with a towbar, mainly because it could have been someone like me that owned it. I destroyed my last car pulling trailers or as my mechanic says "I pulled the heart and soul out of it"

I have a 2001 Octavia I bought second hand that came with a tow bar. Not a mark on it, still on the original clutch and no issues with the gear box.