When is too low milage a bad thing? 7000 miles, 8 yr old car

howardmarks

So ive made some bad car buying mistakes the oast few purchases. Trying to avoid making the same mistakes. Went to view a 2005 punto today with 7000 miles on the clock. Yeah thats 7 thousand. The car looks and feels like new. Owned by a dead old lady rip.

Now ive read previous threads just now and im of the thinking
1 timing belt is due
2 it should have been serviced more than once in 8 years regardless of miles.

So theres some smarter car heads here can anyone advise? Its priced bigger than most other similar for the year because of milage. It did drive nice and tight and when I say it looked immaculate ita an understatement. But I really cant afford to buy a duck again. One other note it passed the nct last month. But thats subjective at best no?

Thanks for any and all replies

CiniO

howardmarks wrote: »

So ive made some bad car buying mistakes the oast few purchases. Trying to avoid making the same mistakes. Went to view a 2005 punto today with 7000 miles on the clock. Yeah thats 7 thousand. The car looks and feels like new. Owned by a dead old lady rip.

Now ive read previous threads just now and im of the thinking
1 timing belt is due
2 it should have been serviced more than once in 8 years regardless of miles.

So theres some smarter car heads here can anyone advise? Its priced bigger than most other similar for the year because of milage. It did drive nice and tight and when I say it looked immaculate ita an understatement. But I really cant afford to buy a duck again. One other note it passed the nct last month. But thats subjective at best no?

Thanks for any and all replies

If it was serviced annually and used regularly (f.e. 16 mile round trip every Sunday for the last 8 years), then I would pay bigger price than average for that year because of low mileage.
If it wasn't serviced regularly and used regularly, no point in paying anything more than average. Possibly it would be worth even less, due to not being serviced.

rocky

I wouldn't pay more for a low mileage car with no service history, than for an average mileage car with full history; I'd even prefer the latter ...

Bigus

Go for it.

You might get some oddball issues that wouldn't occur on a normal mileage car but on balance it'll work out better, recent NCT is the clincher here,and that's a good comprehensive test.

Ded_Zebra

If it was serviced every year it should be perfect, Nearly a shame to use it

If it wasn't serviced every year (or 2) I would leave it, cars generally don't respond well to such little use.

howardmarks

Was told it was serviced once. Even my limited knowledge thought that wasnt right. The pull was it looked, drove and dare I say it even smelled like a new car.
Getting better at not buying cars as soon as I see them and taking a timeout for a think about it.

Mech1

Garaged or kept in the open, (very important question)

howardmarks

Asking price was 3500e and there wasnt a lot of wiggle. Part of the reason I said id think about it.
Felt it was over priced. But the car was basicly unused in and out.
Only went to see it as a friend called me about it and said it seemed a good deal

maidhc

Even if not serviced I wouldn't mind at all with those sort of miles.

I would however change all the fluids as soon as it is bought, and would expect a few things to go wrong early on in your ownership.

3500 is stong money mind...

howardmarks

Mech1 wrote: »

Garaged or kept in the open, (very important question)

Unknown. Its with a dealer at the minute and apart from old lady owned. 7k miles. Drove to shops. Didnt really use it. Serviced once that all the info forthcoming

CiniO

howardmarks wrote: »

Asking price was 3500e and there wasnt a lot of wiggle. Part of the reason I said id think about it.
Felt it was over priced. But the car was basicly unused in and out.
Only went to see it as a friend called me about it and said it seemed a good deal

It's a 8 years old small Fiat.
I 2008, I got 2001 fiat bravo (so it was 7 years old) with 80k miles for 1300.
I have in until today, now it has 135k miles and I had no issues with it.

So it looks horrendously overpriced to me.

howardmarks

maidhc wrote: »

Even if not serviced I wouldn't mind at all with those sort of miles.

I would however change all the fluids as soon as it is bought, and would expect a few things to go wrong early on in your ownership.

3500 is stong money mind...

My thinking too. Oils, coolant flush, plugs and filters. Drive it hard during the 3 mths warranty period. Prob get it for 3200 as its cash. Tried lower and no dice

Mech1

IF you buy it, Timing belt kit including water pump, coolant flush, oil and filter, real good check of the tyres, brake strip and rebuild just to be sure. Then thrash it. It will be grand.

catastrophy

Unfortunately op, a lot of cars like you describe never even get to operating temp on the short runs they do. I'd rather see a well serviced high mileage car than the proverbial old lady owner car with low miles.

howardmarks

Thanks to all the posters here. Much appreciated.
decided to keep on looking

Toyotafanboi

3500 for a 05 punto? plus the cost of a full service, timing belt kit and 4 tyres. talking 4250 easy again it's usable.

JohnBoy26

catastrophy wrote: »

Unfortunately op, a lot of cars like you describe never even get to operating temp on the short runs they do. I'd rather see a well serviced high mileage car than the proverbial old lady owner car with low miles.

This car has barely even been run in though. There will be no damage done in a mere 7k miles. As long as all the consumables are changed and provided the car was stored indoors, id say it would be a much fresher car than a ''well serviced high mileage'' example.

The only negative I see (and it's a big minus) is the price.

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

This car has barely even been run in though. There will be no damage done in a mere 7k miles. As long as all the consumables are changed and provided the car was stored indoors, id say it would be a much fresher car than a ''well serviced high mileage'' example.

The only negative I see (and it's a big minus) is the price.

Assuming engine oil was never changed over those 8 years, those might have catastrophic consequences for future of that engine.

After 8 years, most rubber element will need to be changed - alternator belt, timing belt, radiator hoses very likely. Tyres.
Thermostat is very likely stuck open.
Shock absorbers might not last long when car will start to be used daily, and bump stops are most likely perished by now.
Exhausts usually don't last much longer on fiats than 8 years.

Mech1

CiniO wrote: »

Assuming engine oil was never changed over those 8 years, those might have catastrophic consequences for future of that engine.

After 8 years, most rubber element will need to be changed - alternator belt, timing belt, radiator hoses very likely. Tyres.
Thermostat is very likely stuck open.
Shock absorbers might not last long when car will start to be used daily, and bump stops are most likely perished by now.
Exhausts usually don't last much longer on fiats than 8 years.

your an awful eejit, to be honest.

CiniO

Mech1 wrote: »

your an awful eejit, to be honest.

Thank you very much for you compliment.
Any particular reason for it?

Toyotafanboi

if the car was 2 grand i'd happily take a chance on it because chances are if you change the perishables and give it a service it will be absolutely fine.

it's just a crazy price.

JohnBoy26

CiniO wrote: »

Assuming engine oil was never changed over those 8 years, those might have catastrophic consequences for future of that engine.

That's highly unlikely because the car did not get enough use to cause any damage. The oil has also been changed once in it. I Just can't see anys issue occurring related to low mileage with that engine. remember it's only 7k miles. things would be different if it was 30 or 40k miles without a service.

CiniO wrote: »

After 8 years, most rubber element will need to be changed - alternator belt, timing belt, radiator hoses very likely. Tyres.
Thermostat is very likely stuck open.
Shock absorbers might not last long when car will start to be used daily, and bump stops are most likely perished by now.
Exhausts usually don't last much longer on fiats than 8 years.

Well the tyres must of been changed as they passed the NCT. Things like the shocks and the thermostat are more than likely fine. Most of the other things you mention are cheap to buy.

JohnBoy26

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

if the car was 2 grand i'd happily take a chance on it because chances are if you change the perishables and give it a service it will be absolutely fine.

it's just a crazy price.

You probably would get that car for 2k if was a private seller. Dealers always seem to get their hands on cars like that first though.

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

That's highly unlikely because the car did not get enough use to cause any damage. The oil has also been changed once in it. I Just can't see anys issue occurring related to low mileage with that engine. remember it's only 7k miles. things would be different if it was 30 or 40k miles without a service.

OP heard it was serviced once, which looking at ad, could be as well just recently by the dealer who is trying to sell it.
Oil which is 8 years old, probably has very little properties of real oil, and provides very little lubrication.
This could have already made some damage to the engine.
Obviously I'm guessing, as car could have been serviced reglarly every year. We don't know that, but I'd personally doubt it.

Well the tyres must of been changed as they passed the NCT.

8 years old tyre will pass NCT no problem if it's not perished. After 7k miles tread is surely good. But those tyres are not safe anymore and anyone reasonable would put new ones on it.

Things like the shocks and the thermostat are more than likely fine. Most of the other things you mention are cheap to buy.

Shocks and thermostat for punto are also cheap.
My experience tells me though, that shocks, thermostat and exhaust are or will be gone soon.
Biggest reason for stuck thermostat in fiats is leaving it for prelonged time not used. It rusts on the inside and stops moving.
Also I havent seen a fiat where shocks would last 8 years, no matter if it was used or not.

JohnBoy26

CiniO wrote: »

OP heard it was serviced once, which looking at ad, could be as well just recently by the dealer who is trying to sell it.
Oil which is 8 years old, probably has very little properties of real oil, and provides very little lubrication.
This could have already made some damage to the engine.
Obviously I'm guessing, as car could have been serviced reglarly every year. We don't know that, but I'd personally doubt it.

Very doubtful that any damage has been done. Imo with that mileage that engine should be perfect.

An old lady in my area had a ford fiesta once that had only 8k miles on it and had never been serviced. The car was always kept indoors and looked and felt brand new. When she died a couple of years ago the car was sold on locally. I still see that car around the place and it still looks better than most fiestas of the same age. I believe It's also on it's original engine which gave no mileage related issues.

CiniO wrote: »

8 years old tyre will pass NCT no problem if it's not perished. After 7k miles tread is surely good. But those tyres are not safe anymore and anyone reasonable would put new ones on it.

No once they go over 6 years it is a Fail/advisory afaik. You will still get your cert but the dealer surely wouldn't risk old tyres that have technically failed the nct.[/QUOTE]

CiniO wrote: »

Shocks and thermostat for punto are also cheap.
My experience tells me though, that shocks, thermostat and exhaust are or will be gone soon.
Biggest reason for stuck thermostat in fiats is leaving it for prelonged time not used. It rusts on the inside and stops moving.
Also I havent seen a fiat where shocks would last 8 years, no matter if it was used or not.

Shocks and exhaust can easily be checked. With regards to the thermostat you are probably right about changing it because come to think of it these cars can give hg issues.

CiniO

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Very doubtful that any damage has been done. Imo with that mileage that engine should be perfect.

An old lady in my area had a ford fiesta once that had only 8k miles on it and had never been serviced. The car was always kept indoors and looked and felt brand new. When she died a couple of years ago the car was sold on locally. I still see that car around the place and it still looks better than most fiestas of the same age. I believe It's also on it's original engine which gave no mileage related issues.

Surely car which is barely used and is kept indoors will looks brand new. Also bodyworks might be in perfect shape, so in case car in question was garaged indoors, exhaust probably would be fine.
I'm not saying that engine is rubbish after 7k miles without changing oil, if really is had oil not changed for 8 years, this must have caused damage, which most likely will reveal bit later - when engine will reach bit bigger mileage.

No once they go over 6 years it is a Fail/advisory afaik. You will still get your cert but the dealer surely wouldn't risk old tyres that have technically failed the nct.

Is it not called pass advisory.
Anyway knowing Irish dealers, I'd be no surprised if they offered a car with 8 year old tyres.

Shocks and exhaust can easily be checked.

Exhaust definitely can be checked visually.
Shocks might just be perfectly fine at the moment, but after half a year they will say bye bye. That's what happens with seldom used shocks.

With regards to the thermostat you are probably right about changing it because come to think of it these cars can give hg issues.

No point in changing it if it's fine, but if car was laid down for a good while, then big chance it's stuck.

ION08

A few years ago, one of my ex's bought a 13 yr old Peugeot 106 with 20,000 miles on the clock. Her first car. Aestethically the car was mint, seats, carpets everything practically new!! Gorgeous little car. It was owned by a little old lady that used it locally to go to shops, church etc.

A week after she bought it, she took it on the m50 for what id say would have been the first time the car went over 80 kmh and the thing caught fire.

Id avoid it to be honest. As was said cars don't usually respond well to such low use.

JohnBoy26

ION08 wrote: »

A few years ago, one of my ex's bought a 13 yr old Peugeot 106 with 20,000 miles on the clock. Her first car. Aestethically the car was mint, seats, carpets everything practically new!! Gorgeous little car. It was owned by a little old lady that used it locally to go to shops, church etc.

A week after she bought it, she took it on the m50 for what id say would have been the first time the car went over 80 kmh and the thing caught fire.

Id avoid it to be honest. As was said cars don't usually respond well to such low use.

Just because your 106 went on fire doesn't mean it was related to low mileage use.

It also doesn't mean that a completely different car such as a fiat punto will catch fire.

Noccy_Mondy

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Just because your 106 went on fire doesn't mean it was related to low mileage use.

It also doesn't mean that a completely different car such as a fiat punto will catch fire.

No harm if a few of them caught fire :pac:

Toyotafanboi

i can sometimes be hard to go up against CiniO in debate. he gets like a dog with a bone.

georgefalls

Is this said Punto..?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-punto-1-2-litre-petrol/5858582

Toyotafanboi

georgefalls wrote: »

Is this said Punto..?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-punto-1-2-litre-petrol/5858582

new NCT and service are a plus.

still a crazy price. its very low spec for a punto and not even the new model shape.

howardmarks

georgefalls wrote: »

Is this said Punto..?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-punto-1-2-litre-petrol/5858582

Thats the one

CiniO

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

i can sometimes be hard to go up against CiniO in debate. he gets like a dog with a bone.

I just have my point of view on many subjects and try to convince others to this point of view by arguments. (sometimes reasonable, sometimes less reasonable ) That's what discussions forums are about.

But I normally don't offend people who I discuss with by calling them iditos.
Surely Mech1 is different story, as instead of taking part in discussion he prefers to make personal comments. That's probably all he can do, as he is not intelligent enough to take part in discussion.

Toyotafanboi

CiniO wrote: »

I just have my point of view on many subjects and try to convince others to this point of view by arguments. (sometimes reasonable, sometimes less reasonable ) That's what discussions forums are about.

But I normally don't offend people who I discuss with by calling them iditos.
Surely Mech1 is different story, as instead of taking part in discussion he prefers to make personal comments. That's probably all he can do, as he is not intelligent enough to take part in discussion.

i never said you do be right or wrong or that you shouldn't , just that you always see it out to the bitter end.

i enjoy reading your comments i'm just glad we've never crossed opinions :P

TestTransmission

CiniO wrote: »

But I normally don't offend people who I discuss with by calling them iditos.
Surely Mech1 is different story, as instead of taking part in discussion he prefers to make personal comments. That's probably all he can do, as he is not intelligent enough to take part in discussion.

It's been dealt with.Don't start insulting other posters.