Advice on what to look for when buying a used car please.

up for anything

I have two young adult children in the market to buy their first cars. Their father is no longer around to be able to advise them, my car knowledge is very out of date and I have no car-savvy friends. They are both looking for cars around the €5K mark. What do they need to look out for? What should they steer clear of? Is there a way to check a car's history? I'd hate to see them paying out on a money pit. Everyone I've asked seems to have a favourite car and think the cars that other people like are rubbish.

I'd be very grateful any advice or tips that I can pass on to them.

JVince

Keep it simple.

The less bells and whistles, the less issues.

Check insurance quotes before buying a car - a Volvo can be 30% cheaper to insure than a BMW.

Look for a car that has a full service history - I wouldn't be caught up on main dealer as many independent garages are as good or better.

If 130,000+ km check if the timing belt has been done - check online what interval for that car - some are at 160,000km, others at 120,000km

It's fairly expensive.

User1998

In my opinion, if you know nothing about cars and just want something for the kids to learn to drive in, then you need something Japanese with a small petrol engine.

Toyota Yaris, Toyota Aygo, Nissan Micra, Mazda 2, Suzuki Swift, Honda Jazz. VW Up/Seat Mii are pretty safe bet too.

These are the most reliable cars on the road and the cheapest to repair when something goes wrong. Its hard to buy a bad one. Most will have timing chains too which shouldn’t ever need changing. They are in a low insurance group too.

kirving

As very general rules for buying around the €5k mark…

1. Buy privately, you really don't want to be giving a garage profit out of that budget. You're not really getting much value in terms of warranty - 3 months engine and gearbox would be all you'd really get.
2. Bring a mechanic of someone reasonably knowledgeable to do a basic check of all the major components
3. Aim for something Japanese, or something smaller. There's less to go wrong in each case.
4. Do a history check online after viewing, no point beforehand.
5. Try to meet at the sellers home - some rightly will not want to meet there to begin with and I understand totally, but meeting at home just seems to be more genuine to me.

Ignoring point 3 above…. Looking to get rid of a 2007 Corsa. It needs a clutch to be perfectly honest, and a few small dings, but everything else is OK. I'm not sure on exact price as it's my sisters old car (only reason to sell is that she's in NZ), but certainly well under €2k. Based in South Dublin.

hoodie6029

This old thread is full of great advice that is still relevant today. Well worth a read.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2056198864/buying-a-used-car-in-ireland-guide

alan partridge aha

Toyota Yaris all day long, you might be able to get a Mk 3 one. Try and avoid the Terra model if possible it's the base model.

alan partridge aha

Something like this private sale so would need to bring a mechanic..

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-yaris-2011-1-0-petrol-new-nct/37225523

murt101

Have a look at the used car reviews on this site: https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews

It Has some good advice on what to look out for on particular models.

advisemerite

Delete

advisemerite

Stick to a small Toyota. Re the offer of a 2007 opel corsa. A 2007 will be very hard to insure for a first time policy it's too old. And been honest a 2007 corsa with a clutch gone is worth scrap money under €200 no where near under €2000. Avoid as the price is waaay over priced and it would break your heart mechanically.

TigerTim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122308095#Comment_122308095

Did I hear somewhere that the 1.3 is better than the 1.0 as the 1Litre burns oil. Could be wrong but think I heard or read this somewhere.

T.

alan partridge aha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122309380#Comment_122309380

I have heard that, however my wife has had Mk 1, 2 ans 3 1.0 Yaris's without ever having to top up between services. Admittedly they were low mileage ones.

The 1.33 is a lot more refined but are like hens teeth to find. She also had 2 of these as well, 6speed with no issue.

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122308215#Comment_122308215

What specifically, is wrong with Corsa's in general, from a mechanical point of view? I've found it incredibly reliable, and exceptionally easy to work on mechanically, in some ways even easier than my mountain bikes as it needs fewer specialist tools.

(Not to derail general advice, but the suggestion was a fleeting thought for someone looking for an inexpensive starter car. Asking prices on Donedeal is €1850 or so, so maybe €1500 after haggling and could come with problems of their own. I did say "certainly well under €2k", without even checking prices beforehand. Also, the clutch isn't "gone" as you said. The car is perfectly drivable, but the bite is a little high, so I was honest about needing a new one. Many drivers probably wouldn't even notice.)

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122310855#Comment_122310855

I think they are known for timing chain issues and head gasket issues among other things. In my experience any Corsa I have bought and sold has failed the NCT miserably or had some major issues. I think the type of people who drive Corsa’s don’t really look after them. Not everyone obviously!

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122311026#Comment_122311026

Fair enough, my sample size is 1 but have been pleasantly surprised with it's quality.

Funnily enough on the head gasket, I found mayo on tho oil cap once, but was actually just condensation after investing further. I can imagine they get an incredibly bad rep for that alone.

up for anything

Thanks so much for all your information and comments. They are much appreciated and taken on board. He is going to look at a Kia Ceed which is quite old but low in mileage. She has other stuff going on so she has shelved looking for one for the next few weeks.

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122341325#Comment_122341325

Just be aware of the previous points on difficulty for new drivers to get insurance on older cars - and also the insurance groupings of individual cars. (They're not published in Ireland, but an underwriter I spoke to did tell me that the reason they had to manually review my quote, was because I was trying to add an N Driver to a car in Group 41.)

A Cee'd is actually a good choice in this regard, because it's generally in a lower insurance than say a VW Golf.

https://www.parkers.co.uk/kia/ceed/hatchback-2012/insurance-groups/

https://www.parkers.co.uk/volkswagen/golf/hatchback-2013/insurance-groups/

Shellfishfcuker

Do not touch a corsa, or any opel if you're a first time buyer, they're dirt. As previously said, yaris first and any small jap after that. The lower the mileage the better.

SupaCat95

"If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is". Seen it happen the car was bought in a south dublin garage, cheapest in its spec in the country at the time, broke his heart fixing it and trying to get his money back.

Buy simple, safe and price to spec ratio. Bring a mechanic

SupaCat95

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122341367#Comment_122341367

The milage can be adjusted for the sale. Does the milage sound right for the age?