Help please!

Butchy1993

Iam inexperienced with cars and looking for some advice. There is 00 VW Bora 1.4 petrol available to me with NCT until Jan 2014 for €550 (It's a girl I work with and she is going to foreign on Wednesday and wants a quick sale). I drove it today and it drives perfectly from what I can see. The fan on the inside of the car is broke and wont blow out cold air I presume this is only a minor thing and can be fixed easily. The only other fault with the car is the mug holder is broke and there's no hub caps. She told me she hasn't had a bit of trouble with the car and never done anything with it since she got it (she's an honest girl) as the fella she bought it off had just put it through the nct. I doubt very much she dogged the car in the time she had it.There is 160,000 miles on it which is a lot I guess. Do you think this is worth my while to buy. I wouldn't mind insuring myself on it if I thought it would do me until next summer (i got a quote of around 1250 on it with liberty insurance which im happy enough 20 years old, 1st policy, 2 years full licence) or selling it on for 900 or so. Would it even fetch that? I can also get a 00 Mitsubishi lancer with fresh nct for 500 but the insurance is dearer and I rather the bora cos it's a nicer car and holds the road better. Should I buy the bora and insure it for myself, buy it and sell it for as much as I can and then buy the lancer or just buy the lancer and insure it. Thanks for your help

Toyotafanboi

Iam inexperienced with cars

00 VW Bora 1.4 petrol available to me

She never done anything with it since she got it (she's an honest girl)

160,000 miles

would. not. touch.

maybe if it was free. imo though you will not get a years trouble free driving from it. the blower switch is already broken so there is something that needs fixing before you even begin.

Butchy1993

550 seemed a real bargain to me at 1st though? No? Most on donedeal are going for 1k with nct.

Butchy1993

Thanks by the way.

wonski

So which fan is broken? Does it work at all, or not at all?
You mean air blower I guess?

TBH for 550 euro with Nct and if it drives ok you can't go too wrong.
Would be worried if it didn't blow hot air, but if it is just blower could be something as simple as fuse, or resistor maybe, or whatever they use in Germany:D
550 notes for car that is driving and nct'd = good deal.
500 for Lancer isn't bad either.

Where do you work btw, I might pop in when looking for new car:D

wonski

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

would. not. touch.

maybe if it was free. imo though you will not get a years trouble free driving from it. the blower switch is already broken so there is something that needs fixing before you even begin.

550 euro? That's a cheap car and he drove it. If it was 1000 euro car I would not recommend. They can't be all (1.4 I mean) that bad, can they?

Butchy1993

No it's just cold air. Ya I know that's what I'm thinking myself I really don't know what to do now!!

Butchy1993

My original plan was to buy it and sell it for around 1k and then buy the lancer. But after driving it now and seeing the insurance is cheaper I kinda wanna just keep it.

Butchy1993

Tbh b honest I'm prob gonna end up dogging the **** out of either of the cars when I buy 1 so just going for the lancer straight would be a better option? I've heard the 1.4 engines are useless

wonski

Butchy1993 wrote: »

My original plan was to buy it and sell it for around 1k and then buy the lancer. But after driving it now and seeing the insurance is cheaper I kinda wanna just keep it.

Buying 00 Bora (with 1.4 VW engine) for profit may not work.
Buying 00 Bora with same engine for 500 could work well.

Butchy1993

wonski wrote: »

Buying 00 Bora (with 1.4 VW engine) for profit may not work.
Buying 00 Bora with same engine for 500 could work well.

I don't really understand u there mate. 550 she's selling the bora for? 500 for lancer

wonski

Butchy1993 wrote: »

I don't really understand u there mate. 550 she's selling the bora for? 500 for lancer

What I am saying is if one knows nothing about cars then buying/selling for a profit is not best option. However if car is in fairly good nick, and you pay 500, or 550 in this case and drive it for a year, then it is good deal.
Just make sure it isn't going to die in a week, because wasting 550 like this isn't good option either.

And finally - it doesn't matter if it is Bora, Lancer or Jag. At this price you want some reliability - that is all. Honestly 500 is very low budget for car, so don't expect miracles.

Toyotafanboi

the 1.4 is a dire pile of ****e at best. one that has had no maintenance and 160k miles in my opinion its a miracle it has made it this far, never mind any further. particularly as you say you intend on dogging it yourself.

boraings are pretty pokey imo anyway. if it wasn't wearing a VW badge, people wouldn't look twice. 75bhp, windy up windows, manual mirrors, no central locking, tape deck, un-coordinated plastic trim all over the outside, fog blanks, blank switchgear all over the interior... and on and on... nasty.

you have to ask yourself when buying a car, what does it offer you?

looks?
reliability?
performance?
comfort?
fuel economy?

what box does the bora tick?

wonski

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

the 1.4 is a dire pile of ****e at best. one that has had no maintenance and 160k miles in my opinion its a miracle it has made it this far, never mind any further. particularly as you say you intend on dogging it yourself.

boraings are pretty pokey imo anyway. if it wasn't wearing a VW badge, people wouldn't look twice. 75bhp, windy up windows, manual mirrors, no central locking, tape deck, un-coordinated plastic trim all over the outside, fog blanks, blank switchgear all over the interior... and on and on... nasty.

you have to ask yourself when buying a car, what does it offer you?

looks?
reliability?
performance?
comfort?
fuel economy?

what box does the bora tick?

I agree with all points, but the girl only had it for few months - so the fact she had not done anything to the car isn't that bad. She had no trouble either which is a bonus.

It doesn't tick any boxes indeed.
French made it to 95hp from 1.4, and even my 1.2 Fiat had 80.
Has to do something with motor tax in Germany being based on power, not cc I guess? (Was told some cars been modified for german market - Fiesta for example). But then it is European market after all...

Butchy1993

Decided to leave the bora altogether. Just after hearing such bad things about it from so many dif people. Ill let you know how I get on with the lancer