Very low mileage used car - good or bad?

harveybobbles

Lol! Have a trawl thru Topgear type websites for reviews on the C5 incase you see KX57 VYY in one of their pages

Strider590

lemon26 wrote: »

The dealer said that it had been bought by Citroen to be used for the launch of the C5 but I can't figure out where it has been since then and now - obviously on the road, but not much!

First off, the dealer is lying to you..... If not about one thing, it'll be about something else. It's just common practice.

With that mileage I dare say it's been used as a run around come company car by the sales staff and probably had dealership advertising vinyl stickers all up the side of it. It comes down to how it was driven during that time and the condition of the paintwork now......

Hannah_10

Well clearly we're starting to see the reason why it's cheap- it's got a confusing history and that'd put a lot of buyers off. Does it put you off though? That's your decision to make, given the varied oppinions and points to consider given here you've much food for thought. No second hand car is ever going to be perfect, it's all a matter of making your own judgement call on the drawbacks V benefits analysis. The more information you have to do that the better, but in the end we all pay our money and take our chances.

One other thing to consider is how the engine has been run in. I understand that with any new engine you have to drive like a saint for a set period. Something to fear with ex-demo motorcycles is that when on demo potential buyers/ reviewers have been interested to find out exactly what they can do, and so have been screaching away at the lights and hounding down the dual carriageway hunting for the top speed and so on. I would imagine this could be the case with a demo car. Certainly if I was reviewing something I would wish to Test it. That said though, how long were you going to keep the car? You're selling a similar-ish 5 year old one now so probably not forever. Badly run in engines tend to give trouble in the later halves of thier lives, which may not be your problem. As long as it doesn't cause trouble on your watch it's not too concerning. Beware of it drinking oil though because it's true for bikes that how you run them in has a bearing on thier oil consumption thereafter so it could well be the same for cars. If so it'll be thirsty.

lemon26

Hi again, I've been on the phone to Citroen UK and the DVLA today and the answers they've both given me are that it was manufactured in Oct 07 which is why Section 4b of V5C says so but it was registered in Oct 09. It gets the 57 plate because that was when it was built. It was used to drive to and from motorshows on trade plates where is was displayed to launch the new C5. According to the DVLA it was not imported and they have no record of it having being used anywhere else on Earth. I think that clarifies things, just took a few phone calls. Since Apr 09 it has done 23 miles so I'm assuming it has been sat in the showroom until recently, when it was put on sale.

Sound like a good buy now I've clarified the history? Effectively a nearly-new 2.5 year old car. I don't think it's too bad.

cyclonebri1

Ok, but come back next year and tell it again :T shruggy?, bring back shruggy.

richardvc

So how much is it ?

harveybobbles

10795 I think from memory.

lemon26

Hi again, been busy tonight round the house! Sticker price is £10995 but haven't started negotiations yet. The dealer obviously knows that I'm interested as I've had to ask about the registration issues a few times now but it's all checked out with Citroen UK and the DVLA so I'm happy that it's just not been used much.

Cyclone> why do you say come back in a year? Is it something I shoudl avoid?

Thanks again! L

DistortedVision

I think a few people have told you that its not such a great deal and its something you should avoid.

But you seem to have your heart set on buying it so good luck!

sassy_one

I'd avoid it like the plaque as some others have said, not a good buy.

Maybe looks good on the out set but how has the engine been treated, and its been sat over a year and only done 23 miles? I wouldn't be touching it!

Good luck though if you do go ahead and buy