Gold or Red Ford Focus

Libertewhite

Honestly can't decided between:

http://www.billgriffinmotors.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=1265227&r=%26z%3D8

And

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/01-focus-1-4-hatchback-nct-2016/9493528?offset=19

Gold one is 4 hours away from me if I can somehow get it back, untested by mechanic, only going by the add.

Red one doesn't have NCT or Tax but it's from a known garage and apparently there is a warranty on it.

Honestly, I want the gold one more but taking a huge risk in believing that the car is fine etc...

bazz26

Am I missing something? The advert for the red one states it's a trade sale, sold as seen which means no warranty. Unless you know you beans then it's best avoid trade sales or sold as seen cars from dealers. It's the same as buying private, no comeback. Even that aside don't hold your breath on any dealer standing over a €950 car, there simply isn't enough money in it for them to give warranties on cars of that value or age.

While gold is not really a colour that stands the test of time or fashion it's not that bad on that Focus, I'd have that gold Focus over the red one all day long. It's a higher spec Zetec, 3dr looks nicer, has over 6 months NCT on it and the owner selling it probably knows more about it than some dealer who took one in as a trade-in/cast off.

Libertewhite

bazz26 wrote: »

Am I missing something? The advert for the red one states it's a trade sale, sold as seen which means no warranty. Unless you know you beans then it's best avoid trade sales or sold as seen cars from dealers. It's the same as buying private, no comeback. Even that aside don't hold your breath on any dealer standing over a €950 car, there simply isn't enough money in it for them to give warranties on cars of that value or age.

While gold is not really a colour that stands the test of time or fashion it's not that bad on that Focus, I'd have that gold Focus over the red one all day long. It's a higher spec Zetec, 3dr looks nicer, has over 6 months NCT on it and the owner selling it probably knows more about it than some dealer who took one in as a trade-in/cast off.

Oh, I just assumed from their advert "Each of our 200+ cars are in stock today and come fully inspected, history checked and warrantied", that it would be warrantied. I didn't know that didn't include trade ins.

Do you think it's still worth trying to get a mechanic to check out the gold one? Or would it be a safe bet?

bazz26

Libertewhite wrote: »

Oh, I just assumed from their advert "Each of our 200+ cars are in stock today and come fully inspected, history checked and warrantied", that it would be warrantied. I didn't know that didn't include trade ins.

Do you think it's still worth trying to get a mechanic to check out the gold one? Or would it be a safe bet?

The tittle of the advert says its a trade sale/sold as seen which usually means the car may need repairs and is priced to be sold with no warranty. Normally trade sales are only sold to other car dealers who are aware of what they are buying and not to the general public. You are just not going to get a warrant on a €950 car.

Regarding the gold one, as with any used car especially a private sale, you should always have it looked at by a mechanic or someone who knows their way around a car. In this price range you are rarely going to find a car that doesn't need money spent on it.

colm_mcm

The gold one is a million times nicer

Id avoid the red one for various reasons.

mhackett102

+1 for the gold. Looks much better, less mileage, NCT'd, alloys, sunroof, fog lights.. And practically the same price as the red one.

punisher5112

Be very careful op and if going for a 1.4 you would want to check its not burning oil or that it will pass on emissions.

I love the focus and had many but came aross 2 with seals and all gone at the 100k miles mark and would have needed huge money pumped in.

Trade sale or sold as seen is as said by others above no come back and no matter what you are buying if you don't know much about cars get someone to look at it.

Even if you don't know a mechanic call a few indy garages around the area car is in and ask could you pop it in for them to give a quick look over with owners permission of course.

Atlantic Dawn

I would go with the red one, purely because the tyre pictures on the gold one is of a brand I wouldn't put on a wheelbarrow. The gold one may have similar but they are not used as a selling point.

Squidgy Black

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I would go with the red one, purely because the tyre pictures on the gold one is of a brand I wouldn't put on a wheelbarrow. The gold one may have similar but they are not used as a selling point.

Those aren't pictures of the tires as a selling point, it's pictures of the alloys....

Also the red one has no NCT, sold as seen which means the dealer wants nothing to do with it after the sale, so there's a chance it could be troublesome.

Libertewhite

I decided to go with buying a car through a mechanic. My family has been getting cars off him for years so felt more comfortable that way. I'm still pining for that gold one though