Looking for a family car

Dodgybloke

I've posted this before and with you budget, the following should suit you:

Best bet is to look at the The AA motoring advice page. Select the help me choose the best car for my needs and follow the steps. It will tell the cars to look at and give you a mile adjusted value for the cars according to the motor trade bible, the Glass's Guide. The link is as follows:

http://www.theaa.com/motoring-advice/index.jsp

Hope this helps.

nomoneytoday

Take a look a cargiant.com or other car supermarkets.

£5000 will get you a choice of LOADS of ex rep-mobile stuff (mundeos, lagunas, vectras etc)

Usually its 2/4 years old, high mileage, full service histories, a few stone chips or other cosmetic stuff but £2000 cheaper than a main stealership

Victor_Meldrew

mrwibble wrote:

Could you explain what happened ? Why do you think the engine is kaput ? Cambelt failure ?

According to the AA I had a blocked exhaust probably due to Catalytic Converter failure. They towed me home and told me to drive it carefully to the garage to fix it. However when I got it home and turned the ignition key it made a loud crunch sound and it now won't start. I had someone look at it and they say the engine is damaged + not worth repairing. Same person also said it would be difficult to find a reconditioned engine to put in it. Is this true? I would have thought there are plenty of spare engines about - where would I get one (+ fitted).

ALso would I be able to part-exchange it in this condition. The guide says its worth £1900 part-ex or £2200 for private sale but obviously if it costs £1500 to repair it may be that I'd part-ex it if I could get say £750.

ANy opinions?

vansboy

Not sure how old yours is, but don't put too much faith in price guides - they're sometimes a bit out of touch with REAL values.

You'll find current shape Mondeaos in auction for around £2-2500 without too much difficulty.

The NEW engine route isn't perhaps the best idea, if you've an old car - but sometimes the salvage operators can help for say £500ish - but then you'll spend as much again to fit it - then the exhaust - so you will end up with a hefty bill.

If you do a search Google for Modeao spares - you'll register with someone like Find a Part & your phone will be red hot in minutes, with offers!

They'll all want your business, so HAGGLE!!

& as for part ex, not too many dealers will want the hassle, so best e bay it yourself!!

VB

Victor_Meldrew

Its a W reg Mondeo 1.8LXi.

What's the best thing to do:-
1. Put a recon engine in it and fix the exhaust.
2. Try to part ex it
3. Sell it for parts/scrap
I really don't know what to do - I know next to nothing about cars.

We are looking to get 2 cars now as we've always been a 1 car family and I was going to get another and keep the Mondeo as a "second" car. Now I suppose I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy 2

I have a feeling the Mondeo is worth next to nothing

I'm a little fed up at the moment.

And its Friday so I may seek solace in beer :beer:

vansboy

OK, so W reg is hardly throw away time, just yet!!

The exhaust is an item that you'd replace from time to time anyway - just awkward it's due now!!

The engine - is it seized/smokey/noisey or what?? Think a bit more investigation needs doing before you scrap it.Is there a local garage that could give an opion - WITHOUT it costing anything - maybe whoever does your servicing, or MoTs??

If you were going to have 2 cars anyway, it'd be well worth sorting this one, rather than buying 2 more vehicles, right away.

The value of it now is maybe £500 as an ebay item - but if it's OK bodywise & tyres etc & was running OK before this problem, it ought to be worth more to you in real terms.

If you think of the expense to sort it now, it'd certainly be a better £1500 spent, rather than what you might buy for the same amount, if you see what I mean!

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk post your dilema there - clik The Backroom - Discussion - you'll get more feedback & suggestions from the folk there!

VB

Gibblestick

If you want a reliable car, you can't beat a Honda
They are fairly expensive for their age but thet are worth it.
I have a Civic with 106K miles on it, all driven (badly) by me. I am not kind to my cars and yet the civic has never failed to start or let me down in any way despite being crashed twice. I had an Accord company car before that. I got it at 60K miles and it had had only 1 service. I thrashed it for another 30K and again, not a single problem.

tomstickland

Engines are easily available for a 1.8 Mondeo. A reasonable garage can do a swap in a day. Most big time breakers have racks of engines available.

vansboy

Have a read thru' this link - then you'll REALLY be confused...or clear, as what to do!!

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=40525

VB

lily_the_pink

Victor_Meldrew wrote:

Many thanks for the replies. I could certainly go for another Mondeo but life's short so why not try something different? Are the Renault and Skoda cheap and easy to repair?

What about Motorpoint in Derby. Hearing bad things about them - justified or not? And availablecar.com they're close by - any good?

Once again thanks in advance

My father in law had a Skoda which didnt cost too much to run - I think they are based on VW so are quite good value for money - not easy to sell afterwards though. He had an Octavia which is a similar size to a mondeo. Fabias are a little smaller - prob more equivalent to a focus.