***** Motors chat - round 12 *****

So yer man from Dublin Diagnostics went and looked at the car, on my behalf.

He rang me mid-test-drive and said he reckons the car is generally fine, well kept, in good condition all-round. He said the only thing that draws his attention is that the car seems to be rough between 1,000-2,000 RPM. He said in his opinion it could be an injector issue. Reckons it's possible it needs a new one (he speculated they could be about €280, plus labour costs).

I'm a bit torn. On one hand he said you probably wouldn't really notice it unless it was pointed out to you, and on the other he said it could also be a sign of something worse, but his opinion would be that it's an injector related issue. Reckoned it could also be that someone replaced an injector and just never coded it, which can apparently cause the issue and isn't a big job to address.

So I'm not sure what to do. I like the car itself, it's €5,450. I'm not sure if i should just try to haggle that off the price, and bring it straight to my own mechanic to have it sorted, or if i should walk away. He reckons it's clean and above board in all other ways, which is good. Never mentioned any leaks or issues around the engine itself.

Just not sure where do I draw the line on buying.. there'll always be some issue on an 8 year old car, but not sure what to call it a day at..

colm_mcm

Keep looking. It’s entirely possible to buy an 8 year old car without issues. You want one where the owner fixed the issues.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Keep looking. It’s entirely possible to buy an 8 year old car without issues. You want one where the owner fixed the issues.

I am working tomorrow, but thankfully have the GFs car. I have to go through Dublin on the way home, so might take a look at this, and ask yer man from dublin diagnostics to look at it, also..


A boardsie recommended it ages ago, and I keep coming back to it.




https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2013-renault-grand-megane-gt-line/25144442

Ta ceist agam

Deleted User wrote: »

So yer man from Dublin Diagnostics went and looked at the car, on my behalf.

He rang me mid-test-drive and said he reckons the car is generally fine, well kept, in good condition all-round. He said the only thing that draws his attention is that the car seems to be rough between 1,000-2,000 RPM. He said in his opinion it could be an injector issue. Reckons it's possible it needs a new one (he speculated they could be about €280, plus labour costs).

I'm a bit torn. On one hand he said you probably wouldn't really notice it unless it was pointed out to you, and on the other he said it could also be a sign of something worse, but his opinion would be that it's an injector related issue. Reckoned it could also be that someone replaced an injector and just never coded it, which can apparently cause the issue and isn't a big job to address.

So I'm not sure what to do. I like the car itself, it's €5,450. I'm not sure if i should just try to haggle that off the price, and bring it straight to my own mechanic to have it sorted, or if i should walk away. He reckons it's clean and above board in all other ways, which is good. Never mentioned any leaks or issues around the engine itself.

Just not sure where do I draw the line on buying.. there'll always be some issue on an 8 year old car, but not sure what to call it a day at..

What car is it?

Any link to the said advert?

Also, there's questions around John Lynch from Dublin Diagnostics being an actual qualified mechanic.

Ta ceist agam

Ta ceist agam wrote: »

What car is it?

Any link to the said advert?

Also, there's questions around John Lynch from Dublin Diagnostics being an actual qualified mechanic.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/renault-megane-gt-1-5-dci-110bhp/25765575?campaign=3


To be fair, he didn't give a wholly glowing review. He seemed fairly reasonable.

I've booked him again tomorrow to look at the estate Megane (albeit this time I'll be there with him as it's on my drive home).

Ta ceist agam

Deleted User wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/renault-megane-gt-1-5-dci-110bhp/25765575?campaign=3


To be fair, he didn't give a wholly glowing review. He seemed fairly reasonable.

I've booked him again tomorrow to look at the estate Megane (albeit this time I'll be there with him as it's on my drive home).

That 'private seller' of the Megane is actually a dealer as change of ownership states change of ownership to a dealer on 26th August 2020.

He also has a Reno Scenic again transferred to dealer on 20th August 2020

He also has had 18 adverts in 2020. This is his Facebook page...Used car centre Dublin. Why is he disguising himself as a private seller??

https://www.facebook.com/usedcarcentre.ie/

I would be dubious about Dublin Diagnostics doing checks on dealer cars as a previous boardsie stated he could be swayed......

Would these guys not be better (and cheaper) given they are recommended by Donedeal

https://autoguru.ie/pricing

CIP4

@KKV I would just avoid anything with injector issues it could be something small or it could be an expensive disaster to put right. It might be slight now but could run completely rough in a months time. Let's face it there are loads of MK3 Renault Meganes out there its as easy to buy one with no issues as one with engine issues. For all you know someone could of put bad diesel or petrol in that car and the signs are starting to show now. When you are spending a bit more this time on a car you want something that is mechanically right to start of with at least you are starting with a clean slate. I done the whole buying cars that needed a bit of work thing where they were cheaper than a clean example. By the time I had them right it generally cost me more than I saved by buying a rougher example.

Also I thought a Megane Hatchback would be too small for you thought you were only looking at the estates ?

Ta ceist agam

Ta ceist agam wrote: »

That 'private seller' of the Megane is actually a dealer as change of ownership states change of ownership to a dealer on 26th August 2020.

He also has a Reno Scenic again transferred to dealer on 20th August 2020

He also has had 18 adverts in 2020. This is his Facebook page...Used car centre Dublin. Why is he disguising himself as a private seller??

https://www.facebook.com/usedcarcentre.ie/

I would be dubious about Dublin Diagnostics doing checks on dealer cars as a previous boardsie stated he could be swayed......

Would these guys not be better (and cheaper) given they are recommended by Donedeal

https://autoguru.ie/pricing

I did see that he had the other car for sale, and had a few previous "lifetime" ads on DoneDeal, so I assumed he was a trader, but when I checked the ownership transfer date on the Megane it was 2016 (on Cornmarket's site) so i presumed it might be his own car he was selling on (at first, until i see the other car and amount of previous ads).


So I did know he was a trader.




Those Guru guys are actually more expensive. Dublin Diagnostics is €120 including a history check. So it's pretty decent value. The other lads are €150 with no history check. Quickly adds up if you use them more than once, but hopefully it's money well spent in the long term.

CIP4

CIP4 wrote: »

@KKV I would just avoid anything with injector issues it could be something small or it could be an expensive disaster to put right. It might be slight now but could run completely rough in a months time. Let's face it there are loads of MK3 Renault Meganes out there its as easy to buy one with no issues as one with engine issues. For all you know someone could of put bad diesel or petrol in that car and the signs are starting to show now. When you are spending a bit more this time on a car you want something that is mechanically right to start of with at least you are starting with a clean slate. I done the whole buying cars that needed a bit of work thing where they were cheaper than a clean example. By the time I had them right it generally cost me more than I saved by buying a rougher example.

Also I thought a Megane Hatchback would be too small for you thought you were only looking at the estates ?

Yeah, I do agree with you. And it's the sensible approach. I've ruled out that Megane as a potential purchase now, altogether.


I do need an estate, but i was kind of settling on the hatchback as that particular one looked well kept, well priced and well specced. I'd always prefer an estate car for the space.


To be honest, I'd like another Galaxy, but i think i've just been soured by this experience. Maybe I'd get third-time-lucky with one!

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

That could be down to owner been anul about keeping her right though.... Is great to see though.

Be interesting to see what sort of repair/maintenance was required. Lots of cars have easy enough lives on UK roads if you wash the salt off frequently.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

.........

I've booked him again tomorrow to look at the estate Megane (albeit this time I'll be there with him as it's on my drive home).

I can't imagine him saying anything is 100% perfect TBH and that's what you want to hear presumably.... You could get him to check out 5 cars and still be afraid to pull trigger on any if them.

With the uncoded injector theory what did the seller say?

wotzgoingon

I was looking at a car on Donedeal in Donegal which is UK reg.(wasn't looking to buy but looking at it anyway) Looked up the MOT and was low on oil a few times over the years while brought into the test. Not a good sign at all. Great system to be able to look stuff up like that.

Augeo

Augeo wrote: »

I can't imagine him saying anything is 100% perfect TBH and that's what you want to hear presumably.... You could get him to check out 5 cars and still be afraid to pull trigger on any if them.

With the uncoded injector theory what did the seller say?

Ah much like the NCT, I am sure he would give two thumbs up to a car, but would do so in the knowledge that he's telling you that is how the car was at a particular point in time. Doesn't mean it won't explode into a ball of fire 5 minutes later.


Had he said anything other than something engine related I wouldn't have been as fussed, to be honest.


I haven't contacted the seller about it. I know he's a trader and will either shrug his shoulders or tell me it's a sign of a good solid car or something.

User1998

Augeo wrote: »

I can't imagine him saying anything is 100% perfect TBH and that's what you want to hear presumably.... You could get him to check out 5 cars and still be afraid to pull trigger on any if them.

With the uncoded injector theory what did the seller say?

He did say a car I was selling was 100%, literally not a thing wrong with it.. and it had over 150k miles, the only negative he could find was that it was high mileage. And your man still didn’t buy it, wasted my entire evening

punisher5112

Kkv why didn't he do a diagnostics on it?

Ta ceist agam

User1998 wrote: »

He did say a car I was selling was 100%, literally not a thing wrong with it.. and it had over 150k miles, the only negative he could find was that it was high mileage. And your man still didn’t buy it, wasted my entire evening

The guy is a sham, don't know why KKV keeps using him, no wonder he's had problems with so many cars, by not taking advice on here!

wonski

Unless the service provider takes the car you want to buy for a proper diagnostic with on ramp visual inspection there is no way I would pay someone 150 for just driving the car and having a look.

What if he tells you there is knocking in the suspension when he drove it, do you walk away?

I paid 180 euro today for tie rod ends end arb links to a local mechanic. Simple job that wouldn't stop me from buying a car.

KKV you could end up with hundreds euro bill and no car in the end.

If they do no computer diagnostic, no on ramp inspection they give you as much feedback as you can do yourself by driving the car IMO.

Every car can have issues, but unless they can point exactly what's wrong and how much it costs to make it right, they are useless.

Old diesel

Someone I know via Social media is looking for an Astra type car in the 5 to 8 k range.

Any decent dealer recommendations in Dublin area for that price range.

Thank you.

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

Kkv why didn't he do a diagnostics on it?

He did, said it didn't bring anything up.

Folks, what's the craic with buying a car off an indy dealer that's on UK plates? UK imports don't bother me (spec level is generally better anyway) but in terms of VRT.

I'm looking at this, but I believe it's still on UK plates (I believe that dealer sells mostly UK stuff). If the car is listed at 10k, but vrt is 2k, will they only charge me 8k on the day and let me go and VRT it, or do they expect you to pay VRT on top of the price (presumably not, or they'd mention it in the ad somewhere).


https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/152-renault-megane-expression-engery-fsh-wa/25704846

User1998

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Folks, what's the craic with buying a car off an indy dealer that's on UK plates? UK imports don't bother me (spec level is generally better anyway) but in terms of VRT.

I'm looking at this, but I believe it's still on UK plates (I believe that dealer sells mostly UK stuff). If the car is listed at 10k, but vrt is 2k, will they only charge me 8k on the day and let me go and VRT it, or do they expect you to pay VRT on top of the price (presumably not, or they'd mention it in the ad somewhere).


https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/152-renault-megane-expression-engery-fsh-wa/25704846

If they’re a proper dealer with a TAN number (which they seem to be) the car will be pre VRT’d and once the deal is done the car gets registered in your name and you become the first owner in Ireland.

User1998

User1998 wrote: »

If they’re a proper dealer with a TAN number (which they seem to be) the car will be pre VRT’d and once the deal is done the car gets registered in your name and you become the first owner in Ireland.

Ah that sounds promising. Do i have to go and buy number plates and have them fitted or anything like that? Also, does an NCT need doing, or does it's MOT (assuming it has one) carry over?


(It's marked as a 2 year NCT)

colm_mcm

The gaps in the boot door look massive?

User1998

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ah that sounds promising. Do i have to go and buy number plates and have them fitted or anything like that? Also, does an NCT need doing, or does it's MOT (assuming it has one) carry over?


(It's marked as a 2 year NCT)

The number plates get fitted when you buy the car. An MOT can be transferred but MOT’s are only valid for 12 months so if the add says 2 year NCT it means they are giving it a new NCT. I’m almost certain it’s not possible for the NCT to have already been carried out as the car technically isn’t registered in Ireland yet so expect to wait a few weeks until the car is actually NCT’d with the current backlog. Open to correction on the last point

vintagevrs

They'll nct it, and look after vrt including the cost of the plates.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

The gaps in the boot door look massive?

Probably just looks that way in photos. The BLUE ONE looks the same.

User1998

User1998 wrote: »

The number plates get fitted when you buy the car. An MOT can be transferred but MOT’s are only valid for 12 months so if the add says 2 year NCT it means they are giving it a new NCT. I’m almost certain it’s not possible for the NCT to have already been carried out as the car technically isn’t registered in Ireland yet so expect to wait a few weeks until the car is actually NCT’d with the current backlog. Open to correction on the last point

vintagevrs wrote: »

They'll nct it, and look after vrt including the cost of the plates.

Has anyone here had any dealings with them? I'm always suspicious that an indy dealer says they'll do that, but then never actually do... Mind you AIG seem to be around a while?

I googled them and a boards thread from 2015 came up, and mentioned they were in Dunboyne 'before' (I believe they moved from dunboyne to dublin and back again, but kept the name, so if they're around a while you'd assume they must be somewhat okay..)

ba_barabus

Deleted User wrote: »

(spec level is generally better anyway) but in terms of VRT.]

That's a worse spec than any Irish one of that age

ba_barabus

ba_barabus wrote: »

That's a worse spec than any Irish one of that age

How do you figure? Body styling aside, it seems to be the GT spec from the 2012 i was looking at, but with a nav screen and digital speedometer..?


The little wheels look silly on it (vs the nicer ones on the GT Line), but they'll be cheaper tyres, so that's a win for me.

ba_barabus

Deleted User wrote: »

How do you figure? Body styling aside, it seems to be the GT spec from the 2012 i was looking at, but with a nav screen and digital speedometer..?


The little wheels look silly on it (vs the nicer ones on the GT Line), but they'll be cheaper tyres, so that's a win for me.

Plastic steering wheel, basic seats, basic instrument cluster, basic aircon (not climate), different body styling and alloys etc etc

It's a plain jane model and tbh sat nav doesn't age well.

IIRC it'll also have a different suspension setup. It's a world away from the GT tbh. Not saying it's a bad car but just to assume a UK car is better specced isn't right.