help buying used car!

lolo62

Hi can anyone offer some advice on buying a used car..more specifically a Ford fiesta within nct with Zetec engine for as cheap and cheerful as possible?

Drove a 97 one of these for 7 years until last year and got rid of it when nct was out as I figured it was too old to put any more money into. But great little car.

Looking at a 00 with one years nct for €950, only problem no service history...looks in good condition though.
Guy says his uncle is a mechanic, bought it off him, drove for 7 months, wants something bigger. The motor tax thing verifies that,I checked

Does nct guarantee much in this case? I know 950 isn't going to get you much but really can't afford to be putting in new clutch or exhaust in the near future..


Thank you

bazz26

All the NCT guarantees is that the car was in a roadworthy condition at the time it was tested. You need to have a mechanic or somebody mechanically minded look over the car before buying it. The biggest concern with that model Fiesta is rust, the arches and sills can rot on a lot of them.

dgt

Rust at b pillar sills, dodgy clutch slave cylinders, lock mightnt work on drivers side, erratic speedo needle, idling problems due to dirty or failing sensors.

Otherwise a fantastic little car at that price for a mk5 if it checks out :cool:

RedDeadMarshal

you shouldn't be expecting service history from a car that is 13 years old

holdmybeer

RedDeadMarshal wrote: »

you shouldn't be expecting service history from a car that is 13 years old

My Mitsubishi Galant is 11 and it has a full history.

88manta

where is the car located?

bazz26

holdmybeer wrote: »

My Mitsubishi Galant is 11 and it has a full history.

Yours is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to Irish owned cars.

lolo62

Thanks for the replies. All the stuff listed above were problems I had with the old one but, except for new clutch, it was just a few quid here and there. Always felt like I had gotten great value for money with the fiesta.
The car I'm looking at is in finglas...young guy. L plates on the pics could mean hard on clutch and car in general.
Said his uncle put in a new gear box. Only thing is I wouldn't have a clue by test driving if the gear box is new etc
What would a mechanic charge for taking a look on your behalf?

88manta

You'll be charged at least 50 euro.

This is cheap considering the expense of faults they may find.

This course of action usually saves you money longterm

JohnBoy26

lolo62 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. All the stuff listed above were problems I had with the old one but, except for new clutch, it was just a few quid here and there. Always felt like I had gotten great value for money with the fiesta.
The car I'm looking at is in finglas...young guy. L plates on the pics could mean hard on clutch and car in general.
Said his uncle put in a new gear box. Only thing is I wouldn't have a clue by test driving if the gear box is new etc
What would a mechanic charge for taking a look on your behalf?

Young lad, L plates, new gearbox. That's a car to avoid imo.

lolo62

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Young lad, L plates, new gearbox. That's a car to avoid imo.

I think you are right...but I was tempted by the mega speakers he had put in..not very practical!

What would the difference between a 1litre polo and a 1.25 fiesta feel like driving? There are a lot of the polos around at the moment...

bazz26

lolo62 wrote: »

I think you are right...but I was tempted by the mega speakers he had put in..not very practical!

What would the difference between a 1litre polo and a 1.25 fiesta feel like driving? There are a lot of the polos around at the moment...

The Fiesta will be nippier and if the Polo is older than 2000 it may not have power steering.

gussieg

Hi I'm also looking to buy a used car, Daewoo matiz 2000 . he wants 550 for it. I'm only in this situation as I broke my trusty old Subaru justy 1992 by changing points etc and after driving it 9 miles there was a slow down, losing power than an almighty loud bang and then it cut out. It started again revved up and all but only got 20 yards down the road before stopping again. Found out the distributor was not turning at all. So I must've done something wrong. Previously it had been running fine !
I know there was a guide to buying a used car somewhere on boards but I can't find it. Very good it was. Anybody any idea if my car is savable or is it hello rusty matiz bye bye brilliant justy....

JohnBoy26

gussieg wrote: »

Hi I'm also looking to buy a used car, Daewoo matiz 2000 . he wants 550 for it. I'm only in this situation as I broke my trusty old Subaru justy 1992 by changing points etc and after driving it 9 miles there was a slow down, losing power than an almighty loud bang and then it cut out. It started again revved up and all but only got 20 yards down the road before stopping again. Found out the distributor was not turning at all. So I must've done something wrong. Previously it had been running fine !
I know there was a guide to buying a used car somewhere on boards but I can't find it. Very good it was. Anybody any idea if my car is savable or is it hello rusty matiz bye bye brilliant justy....

If your justy is in good condition I can't see why it can't be fixed. The problem seems to be very minor. You should get a decent independent mechanic to have a look at it, they should be able to fix it for you.

As for the matiz. Id avoid them tbh. The are a very poor car imo.

gussieg

Thanks for that as it is . just dont know enough mechanics . or about machines. Or both

gussieg

And apologies for hiking on this thread , as you were !