Help choose a car

highwall32

Ya I’m pretty sure everything will work out, but before I hand over any money I’m gonna be 100% sure everything agreed has been done.
Obviously I’ll know if the NCT is done.
Just need to find out how to know if the timing belt and water pump were done by looking in the bonnet…I know some places write it with tippex. They would hardly just do the timing belt and not the water pump? Also are there any obvious signs that will indicate that it’s been serviced…I assume it will just be a basic oil change and air and fuel filters.
Apologies but my knowledge of car mechanics is minimal!

goochy

What spec is it and was original price?

User1998

Completely normal to only prep a car once the car is sold. Also normal for cars to sit in dealers for months. Especially higher mileage ones. If they are a reputable business they will give you a receipt or some proof of the work being done if you ask

highwall32

Elegance model…€27k trade in price. €25,500 straight.

User1998

Not bad considering its an Elegance model

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123537129#Comment_123537129

Would end up costing 800-900 if it’s a full system swap, and probably 300-400 if it’s just a screen swap.

highwall32

Thanks, decided against that car.

circadian

Keep an eye out for a Camry in that budget, comfortable and reliable. Some pop up from time to time.

If you want to jump through the hoops you could import a high spec low milage one from Japan.

highwall32

Hopefully collecting the car towards the end of the week. I was promised (and the owner wrote it in the quote which I have) that it would be serviced, NCT and timing belt done.
I’m planning on taking it for a spin before I hand over any money. I’ll pull in somewhere and pop the bonnet, but can anyone tell me any sure signs that will indicate the work has been done. My mechanic can’t come with me. For example, If I pull out the oil dipstick and wipe on a rag, should the oil be yellow colour…if it’s black it’s old dirty oil?
Is there a quick way to know if the timing belt has been done?

Apparently the service history is all online now, so I’m going to look for that. And I’ll ask them to write in what work they’ve done. I’ll be getting a 12 month warranty too…is there anything I should look out for on this? Do we both sign it? Any other tips to help would be much appreciated.

Esel

If it's diesel, even new oil will appear black after it has been circulated.

If you can see the oil filter, it should look new. Air filter ditto - easy to check.

Get them to change the pollen filter, and check the Climate Control blows nice and cold.

Be good to have the water pump changed when they are doing the timing belt.

bazz26

Who is the 12 month warranty with? Most small independent dealers will give you a 3rd party warranty from a warranty company. You need to read all the small print of the terms and conditions as there can be many exclusions in these warranties, they are basically an insurance policy.

As for oil, oil turns black in a diesel car almost instantly so that is not an indication of it being old.

As for the online history, if it's an original Irish car and serviced at a VW dealership then contact VW and they should be able to disclose what was done at those intervals.

highwall32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123555379#Comment_123555379

I bought the car from a big dealership in Portumna, I'm sure you know which one. I think they are VW dealership, or used to be? They sold the car from new and this person traded it in, so they should have all the service history so. This is why I'm being cautious…it was only afterwards that I read reviews and while most are good, there are some about people having problems with second hand cars bought there and them not standing over the cars.

Mad_Lad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123469106#Comment_123469106

Not sure, I drove 2024 Etsi passat in Sweden there last week and I wasn't as big a fan of the DSG as I thought I would have been, I thought it would have developed much better. I hadn't driven a DSG is years. Maybe a diesel DSG would be better, my Brother has it in his 2017 A3 2.0L TDI and it's a long time since I drove that so couldn't comment but I'd still rather a manual any day and there's far less risk of issues especially in older cars and the oil needs changing in them too and I don't know how many people would bother to get that done.

It was the DXD engine, so think it's a 1.5 4 Cylinder, 150 Hp.

It was better using the DSG box manually, but can't beat a manual at the end of the day.

Can't get a new passat in Ireland any more because all the Irish want are SUVs.

Fuel economy was around 5.8 L/100 Kms after 200 Kms mostly motorway. Not too shabby.

Sure is a very practical car though but just don't like all this new tech in cars. So much space in that boot !

Maybe if the car had comfort/sport mode it would have let it change up earlier but it felt as if it was in a sport mode all the time as the box wanted to drop gears far too early and change up far too late.

Sadly Etsi only seems to be available as automatic.

Regarding hybrid ? I wouldn't drive another either because I hated the drive of a CVT transmission, it's irritating.

My advice is keep the 1.6 L passat because at the end of the day the speed limit is max 120 and the limits have come down on the roads + there are going to be more average and fixed speed traps in the future. If the engine is good and the car is in otherwise good condition then keep the 10K and invest it. Sure, some bigger maintenance comes up now and again but throwing money into newer cars is rarely justifiable unless it's really at the end of it's life.

My OH has a 2015 diesel outlander and it got a new gearbox slave cylinder in it last year, big enough job, sub frame has to come out so told them to throw in a new clutch kit because it had just over 100,000 miles. Before that she had the unfortunate seemingly unheard of experience of the ECU dying 5 or 6 years ago and that cost a bit but it's otherwise a good car that does it's job of getting from A to B, it's certainly nothing special and it's not the most comfortable car and it's not great to drive but she likes it and doesn't do much mileage these days so she will keep it until it's no longer viable. There's around 115,000 miles on it now.

Higgo84

…. Deleted post as I read something wrong.

conorlyons122

Did you buy any car yet?