Expectations on a €2k car

sdraobs

Im impressed with all the expertise from you guys on this forum. So would be grateful for any offered views:

Im looking to spend about €2,000 on a 2007 1.2 litre car from a dealer. At this low price, am I buying a piece of junk that is bound to have serious problems. Inheriting someone elses problems. Or should I expect to be okay for 1 or 2 years, and expect at least another NCT?

In other words, why are these cars on the likes of carsireland, carzone priced so low?

For example, and I only use this as an example:

carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1907308&r=s.php%3Fl%5B%5D%3Dp2%26d%3D1500%26e%3D4000%26nx%3D4%26yn%3D2007%26g%3D0

ba_barabus

Link to ad?

bazz26

Cars generally being sold by dealers in that price range are usually not great. The market dictates the value of the car but dealers still have to make a profit in that price so that usually means they have to reduce their costs by not spending much if any money on fixing or preparing the cars for resale. Your also not going to get much in the way of warranty on cars in this price range either as that just eats into the small time dealer's profit margin.

These cars are usually taken as trade-ins by the larger dealers who won't retail them on their forecourts as they are too old or make no money from sticking their warranty on them, so they just sell them off to the trade (smaller independent dealers with lower operating costs) who sell them on for a smaller profit.

sdraobs

bazz26 wrote: »

Cars generally being sold by dealers in that price range are usually not great. The market dictates the value of the car but dealers still have to make a profit in that price so that usually means they have to reduce their costs by not spending much if any money on fixing or preparing the cars for resale. Your also not going to get much in the way of warranty on cars in this price range either as that just eats into the small time dealer's profit margin.

These cars are usually taken as trade-ins by the larger dealers who won't retail them on their forecourts as they are too old or make no money from sticking their warranty on them, so they just sell them off to the trade (smaller independent dealers with lower operating costs) who sell them on for a smaller profit.

Would you personally touch a car at this price. im just looking to get a year or two out of it.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

bazz26

sdraobs wrote: »

Would you personally touch a car at this price. im just looking to get a year or two out of it.

Have a look at the bangernomics thread, there are some good buys that pop up in there regularly.

road_high

Don't go near a dealer at this price point. You'll only get knackered rubbish.
Do some research in the private classifieds, have your wits about you and get a mechanic to look over a car or two for you.

road_high

draiochtanois wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Please don't buy this! They were nasty when new, can't imagine what a ten year one would be like. That's had a hard life, the seats are covered in stains.
I'm sure you could get a nice Honda Jazz or Skoda Fabia worth the money and similar years. Much better prospects.

Steviesol

road_high wrote: »

Please don't buy this! They were nasty when new, can't imagine what a ten year one would be like. That's had a hard life, the seats are covered in stains.
I'm sure you could get a nice Honda Jazz or Skoda Fabia worth the money and similar years. Much better prospects.

Don't buy it because of the seats?

road_high

Steviesol wrote: »

Don't buy it because of the seats?

Did you read my comments? I said don't buy it because there are far better options in that class as I outlined. And yes, to any canny car buyer will check the seats as a clue to how the car has generally been treated and maintained. If the owner couldn't give a ****e about the interior where they sat daily, what hope for the mechanicals. It's called having your eyes open and you need to at this price point.

sdraobs

Thank you all very much for that. I appreciate you taking the time for me.

theteal

We bought a 05 1.3 Yaris for her ladyship for £1300 a couple of months ago. I've no fear she'll get a few years out of it. My own car is a 07 Mazda 3. Probably worth £2,000 (optimistically). I've had it 3 years and I'd expect it'll easily go for many more - especially with my minuscule mileage. Plenty of bargains to be had in that price range, just keep an eye out for obvious issues, I'd probably be sticking to Honda and Toyota as first choices for reliability too.

Effects

Steviesol wrote: »

Don't buy it because of the seats?

Yeah, I'd say the reason the owner treated the inside of the car like trash was because they spent all their time maintaining the engine properly.

Wildcard7

I don't know, my car always gets serviced on time, every broken part gets properly fixed and i get the best tyres I can get. But it still looks like a dump because i mainly use it to drive my dog to the forrest or mountains for hikes and I'm really not particular about cleanliness. If you think that a clean car is automatically a well maintained car, you might end up with a polished turd.

Mehaffey1

Expectations on a 2k euro car = no expectations beyond the year or test period. Driving my 07 Focus 1.8TDI bought last September for 1,200 euro and would be happy if it tests again without any major issues.

road_high

Wildcard7 wrote: »

I don't know, my car always gets serviced on time, every broken part gets properly fixed and i get the best tyres I can get. But it still looks like a dump because i mainly use it to drive my dog to the forrest or mountains for hikes and I'm really not particular about cleanliness. If you think that a clean car is automatically a well maintained car, you might end up with a polished turd.

It’s a good pointer as to the general up keep of a car. There are exceptions but generally is a good guide. That’s why you keep your eyes open and focus on the whole car.

Heres Johnny

In 2013 I bought a 9 year old 2.5 litre bmw e39 525i for 2500. I was just back in Ireland and wanted something to do me for a few months until I got a company car I thought I was getting.
Car never materialised and I kept the 2500 euro bmw for 3 and a half years and was best car I ever had.

So don't worry about it being cheap, it's just because it's old. Get it checked out though and you could have a few years trouble free and cheap motoring. But plenty of work out badly looked after cars at all price points so just be careful and have a good look around.

lalababa

Heres Johnny wrote: »

In 2013 I bought a 9 year old 2.5 litre bmw e39 525i for 2500. I was just back in Ireland and wanted something to do me for a few months until I got a company car I thought I was getting.
Car never materialised and I kept the 2500 euro bmw for 3 and a half years and was best car I ever had.

So don't worry about it being cheap, it's just because it's old. Get it checked out though and you could have a few years trouble free and cheap motoring. But plenty of work out badly looked after cars at all price points so just be careful and have a good look around.

Bought a 92 Nissan Micra for 300 euro in 2008 ,good car. I still see it motoring around. That's 26 years old. You really have to know some basics or use an independent mechanic to look over a car. Or you can trust the dealer if he gives a 3 mth warranty on engine & gearbox, which is good for a 10 year old car.

sdraobs

Thanks again for all the helpful replies. Based on the earlier comments,

(i) ill get a honda or toyota for about 2k.
(ii) from a garage with a 3 month warranty or have it checked first
(iii) with a decent looking interior as indication car is looked after, unless owner brings dog to forest
(iv) but wont expect it to last more than the year.

bazz26

Your not going to get much in the way of warranty on a 2k car from a garage unless your paying the dealer 2k for a car that's actually only worth around 1k.

road_high

sdraobs wrote: »

Thanks again for all the helpful replies. Based on the earlier comments,

(i) ill get a honda or toyota for about 2k.
(ii) from a garage with a 3 month warranty or have it checked first
(iii) with a decent looking interior as indication car is looked after, unless owner brings dog to forest
(iv) but wont expect it to last more than the year.

If possible up the budget a little (say 3k) and buy on the basis of condition of the car rather than warranties that probably won't be worth the paper they're written on.

Dravokivich

road_high wrote: »

Don't go near a dealer at this price point. You'll only get knackered rubbish.
Do some research in the private classifieds, have your wits about you and get a mechanic to look over a car or two for you.

They aren't always rubbish.

OP you just need to have a good idea of what you are looking for and make sure you have someone else to confer with before buying something.

Last 6 months I've bought 2 sub 2K cars through small dealers. Only major issue I had that wasn't them passing on a lemon, was someone crashing into the side of me.

There's a lot of good cars getting dumped into this price range due to engine size and age. Just approach'em all with caution.

sdraobs

Dravokivich wrote: »

They aren't always rubbish.

OP you just need to have a good idea of what you are looking for and make sure you have someone else to confer with before buying something.

Last 6 months I've bought 2 sub 2K cars through small dealers. Only major issue I had that wasn't them passing on a lemon, was someone crashing into the side of me.

There's a lot of good cars getting dumped into this price range due to engine size and age. Just approach'em all with caution.

Thanks, I hope you are okay after the accidents.


A car is A-B for me. awful thing to say on a motoring forum. As long as its got 4 wheels, and works.

ill bring a friend, not a mechanic to a dealer. I reckon ive 1-2 weeks to test the car out to determine if there are no serious problems and thus can claim refund/repair/replacement under sale of goods act. So I don't see mechanic is necessary. I realise some of the dealers are dodgy, but ill take my chances

Dravokivich

You'd want to be careful on your assumptions. Genuine traders will be well versed on their obligations and cowboys will just ignore you.

knipex

sdraobs wrote: »

Would you personally touch a car at this price. im just looking to get a year or two out of it.

I have bought cars for less that lasted much much loner then 2 years with no issues.. I even bought one from a dealer. It drove in one gate as a trade-in and before the oil was cold I drove it out the other..

BUT. While I am no mechanic I know enough to know what I am looking at.

You can get very good cars for under 2K. I have been good reliable cars go very cheap for cosmetic reasons. (Red cars with the dreaded "pink fade", or scrapes down the side.)

Some just due to the age, or an unloved model or bad color or the person who owned it didn't know what it was worth.

Dont be afraid of cheap cars look on done deal and just make sure you bring someone who knows cars.

sdraobs

Appreciate you guys taking an interest and the time to respond. in case anyone is interested, ill update with what I get and if it makes it home haha

wpd

for 2K i would be looking for a 2008 car which has gone thru nct recently so should have nearly 2 years nct on it

i would stick to petrol and look for a service history of some sort

these are pretty bullet proof

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/suzuki-sx4-1-6-low-mileage-2-years-nct/16936180

Agricola

€2k doesn't necessarily mean old rubbish at all. Have bought plenty of cars in or around that and they have all been solid, reliable buses that gave me little trouble bar wear n' tear items and general maintenance.

There are some pre '08 larger engined bargains available all the time. Most people just want as new a reg as they can afford, don't want higher tax and don't want a bit less mpg.

I'd agree with others though about staying away from dealers at this price. Plenty of very decent private sales but you'd just be paying a dealer 2k for a car that's probably worth 1 - 1.5k private.

Effects

My other half bought a car a good few years ago and was determined to pay as little as possible.
We got a focus from a dealer on the Naas road for €1400. Obviously one he had taken in as a trade in. It had one previous owner and full history.
Ended up keeping it for four years when we sold it on for €600.
Only trouble we had was having to replace the brake lines after an NCT failure.
Luckily it sailed through the following years NCT the week before we sold it. It wouldn't have been worth repairing anything if the value was only €600.

sdraobs

Effects wrote: »

My other half bought a car a good few years ago and was determined to pay as little as possible.
We got a focus from a dealer on the Naas road for €1400. Obviously one he had taken in as a trade in. It had one previous owner and full history.
Ended up keeping it for four years when we sold it on for €600.
Only trouble we had was having to replace the brake lines after an NCT failure.
Luckily it sailed through the following years NCT the week before we sold it. It wouldn't have been worth repairing anything if the value was only €600.

Thanks for that. I was looking for someone to say at this price from a naas road dealer, a car would be okay. I'd dread paying 10k for a car and finding some serious flaw. at least if I have a serious flaw, 2keuros isn't the end of the world

Effects

To be honest, I think we got lucky with the Focus.

In 2011 I bought a VW Caddy from a Dunne Deal ad. I'd just had my car burnt out in an arson attack and needed it for work and was under financial pressure. Over the years everything that could go wrong with it did. I ended up spending more on it than it was worth! At least I could write off the loss against my taxes but it broke my heart. I think at the low price range it's a lucky dip.

I eventually got rid of the Caddy when a guy I know was selling his, recently deceased, mother in laws low mileage Golf.
Knowing where it was coming from made me feel a lot better about buying it.

sdraobs

Thanks for advice guys.

i went with a 2006 focus 1.4l petrol for 1200 euros. bought privately.

its actually not great value to buy this old. id be lucky to get 9 months out of it. even buying a brand new car would probably depreciate slower than the yoke i bought.


oh well, live and learn

kirving

sdraobs wrote: »

Thanks for advice guys.

i went with a 2006 focus 1.4l petrol for 1200 euros. bought privately.

its actually not great value to buy this old. id be lucky to get 9 months out of it. even buying a brand new car would probably depreciate slower than the yoke i bought.


oh well, live and learn

What's wrong with it? I've plenty of experience of Focus's in the family and have only ever had one major issue on a mk.1 The rest has been general maintenance that is needed on all cars.

Notch000

ther a world of bargin out there for 2K, just be careful or bring someone conpetent in mechanise to look at a potential perchase.
few years ago i bough a really clean 12yr old micra for 550E and drove it for 12months, cost me nothing but one tyre and a wheel brearing, i sold it for 500 and it was still motering about 2-3 yr later.
After that i got a almera for 800E that again was faultless(needed starter and windscreen) and i passed on for 750 E 12 months later.

Afterthat i bough a Mx5 for 2.5K that is still going strong 4yrs later.

ive now moved on to better pastures and most recent purchase was a 3k golf GTI (a bit rough but i knew that, 700e in parts fixed it up), again a bargin for a car that cost circa 40K new, hope to keep this for several years now.

there tons of bargin out there that most people woudent touch out of sheer ignorance, Age, milage, high tax rates, or dodgy cosmetics that can easily be fixed etc.