Looking at a car tomorrow need some tips please

lindseykim13

Wig wrote: »

Walk away.

helpfull

I never asked for people to tell me what to do just some advice on the questions i asked. thanks

lindseykim13

Wig wrote: »

Walk away.

The EBAY ad in question

I can't believe the dealer has not got an fault code reset tool. If the ABS was easily fixed he would have done it. It will fail an MOT with ABS light. I'd like to know how he got it through it's MOT in May with a faulty ABS light?

I just looked on autotrader for you and found two good examples of a similar kind to yours.

There's one described as Immaculate, 73K X Reg LX (ok, no Aircon a bonus IMHO) 5 mths MOT - £1690
Another one is Y Reg SX 70K 12mths MOT £1790

Both cars would be far more preferable to the Ebay one. And you could haggle a discount.

I need to be able to part exchange though, my main lump of money is in my current car, oh and there are none that price range by me

Wig

So phone up the dealers on autotrader selling those two cars. The point is there are better bargains to be had than risking money on the Ebay one.

danny69

I think the OP has made her mind up. Some people only listen to what they want to hear. They think everyone is honest. With the potential cost of getting the car fixed, this one is worth leaving alone. One thing that made me laugh was the phone number (its a mobile number by the way, what a surprise!) Go ahead and buy the car and take the part-exchange. I'm sure you could find a better deal from a local dealer. They would give you a decent part-ex to get your business and it would come with a full MOT and also the fact that you have somewhere to go back to if there is a problem (you will probably get a few months warranty). Wig, I agree with what you say about the ABS light. I have changed my seats in my car and the light came on and it WAS due to the seatbelt pre-tensioners. No offence to the guy but if he knew what he was doing and had experience selling cars then he would know exactly what the problem was. He would be able to find it out in 5 minutes.The guy will know the problem. He would fix it, or perhaps it is a big job? It PROBABLY is a big job.

danny69

Wig wrote: »

So phone up the dealers on autotrader selling those two cars. The point is there are better bargains to be had than risking money on the Ebay one.

To cut to the chase, this is exactly the point most posters are trying to make. The OP wont listen. Most people learn from their lessons, MOST, not all.......

Also, (sorry, I have to get this off my chest because some people are just frustrating!) if you know very little about cars (as you say) then why on earth would you want to buy a car with so many different things wrong? You dont think they seem big jobs, but you dont know the full extent of the problems. If you are a mechanic or are going to take one with you, however, then that is a different story.

lindseykim13

danny69 wrote: »

To cut to the chase, this is exactly the point most posters are trying to make. The OP wont listen. Most people learn from their lessons, MOST, not all.......

How rude are you i have not made up my mind at all if i had i wouldn't still be here. I am looking at all the options right now i don't have the cash to pay for a better more expensive car so i was hoping to get this one cheap and fix problems later, that is my choice and i am only asking questions to helpfull people. Nobody is answering my actual questions or seeing my point, the car has a full mot until 2009 he knows the fault as its in the service history (fault with wire and do do with the side airbag) if anyone had been able to tell me how much this costs i would have made my mind up by now.

At the end of the day it 1500quid and needs a clutch within 6mths 500quid still only 2grand for a good car if the airbag problem can be fixed easily. I was only trying to find this out for a fact easy or not? I'm being told by some it could be small but no-one has said how big it could be either?

I could just as easliy buy a overpriced car from a garrage with 3months warranty to be fobbed off when there is a problem with it, told its fixed etc when all the did was patch it up until the warrantly ran out. Loads of money later, head gasket, cat converter to find out the whole engine needs to be replaced. That is what happened with the last car i bought from a local dealer! How can anyone avoid any dealer like this?

I'll be taking a chance wherever i go wont i? unless anyone has some good advice on where to go and what to get to make sure this doesnt happen i would appreciate it.

danny69

Nobody can avoid buying a car that is definately 100% faultless guarenteed. What I am saying (along with many others) is that if you have been fobbed off in the past, why go buying a car that has a few faults with it already? If you are a mechanic then go ahead. You have to ask yourself why this experienced car dealer hasnt put the problems right. It isnt to save you money,if thats what you think. I would rather buy a car that hasnt got any problems (to the best of my knowledge). How do you know there arent any other problems with the vehicle?

lindseykim13

danny69 wrote: »

Nobody can avoid buying a car that is definately 100% faultless guarenteed. What I am saying (along with many others) is that if you have been fobbed off in the past, why go buying a car that has a few faults with it already? If you are a mechanic then go ahead. You have to ask yourself why this experienced car dealer hasnt put the problems right. It isnt to save you money,if thats what you think. I would rather buy a car that hasnt got any problems (to the best of my knowledge). How do you know there arent any other problems with the vehicle?

Fair enough but i'm not sure on what sort of dealer he is, could just be someone buying and selling cars?
Anyway i'm thinking along the lines of i'd rather buy a car knowing its faults than buy one thats been hidden by a garage. Perhaps thats just my fear over the last one.
I won't bother with this car and have been searching around locally for a decent garage with a good waranty i guess this is the best way to go?

goldspanners

lindseykim13 wrote: »

At the end of the day it 1500quid and needs a clutch within 6mths 500quid still only 2grand for a good car if the airbag problem can be fixed easily. I was only trying to find this out for a fact easy or not? I'm being told by some it could be small but no-one has said how big it could be either?

I'll be taking a chance wherever i go wont i? unless anyone has some good advice on where to go and what to get to make sure this doesnt happen i would appreciate it.

you would be better asking how long a peice of string is to be honest,there is a fault with the airbag,thats why the warning light is on,it could be as simple as resetting a plug or it could be needing a new new air bag unit (srs unit) as someone else has already mentioned,this could be costly between parts and labour of diagnosing said fault (labour is where the peice of string comes in) nobody knows exactly what is causing the fault on here so you wont get a definate answer so prepare yourself for at least another £500 - £600 if the dashboard has to be removed to replace said unit.
why not sell your own car privatly and get a few hundred more for it and then go and buy a xara picasso (if this is what you really want,im not advising this model) without these faults on it with hard cash rather than trading in.

danny69

Well I looked at the last car he sold via ebay and it said that there was a 3 month- 3 year warranty available at extra cost. Ths would be from a third party. Yes, if I were you and didnt have much knowledge (as I get the impression) of cars, then your best bet would be to look at finding a local garage. Dont worry too much about the cars they have in stock. If you go in, discuss what car you are after with them, and what kind of part-exchange they would offer you then they will buy a car for you. Most garages will do this. Yes, they will buy at auction most probably, but they will get the cars serviced and MOt'ed and a lot of the risk will be on their shoulders. They could well buy a car witha few problems, but this should be sorted out before you buy from them. What you need to note, though, is that they are the experts and although you are taking a risk buying from anybody, the garage has a reputation to look after and also the risks are calculated ones because of the experience they have. Im sorry if you were offended by what I said before. I just saw it that you were prepared to buy a car that had many faults that may have been easy to fix but would have been fixed by the 'dealer' if they werent major problems. They may well be small problems and the car may be a bargain. If I were you then I would be prepared to let somebody else buy the car and take that risk for themselves.

So in my opinion, finda garage you can trust, ask your friends and family who they buy from and look for recommendations from people you trust. As I said, there is no guarentees, you just have to take a calculated risk. You have been ripped off before and you are right to be wary of anybody. If you can, take somebody with you, preferrably with a knowledge of cars. Someone who knows what questions to ask and where to look for potential faults. On the test drive if there are anything you arent happy with, make these things a condition of sale when you collect the car.