Advice for buying second hand car please

wovonb

Ok so, I have a feeling my little peugout is about to croak. I know nothing about cars and the whole idea of buying one scares me to death. I am basically skint so am literally talking a few hundred pounds. I have two little girls to ferry around so want something small, economical, reliable and cheap to tax/insure. Am I living in a dream world? Where on earth do I start looking so that I won't be ripped off? Any suggestions or observations at all would be welcome.

benham3160

What's wrong with the Peugeot? What Peugeot is it?

Regards,
Andy

wovonb

it is a 305. The gears are getting crunchy and it is making growly noises:o that's the technical term you know! We have a really nice mechanic who has been keeping it on the road but dh is fed up with how much it costs to tax - more than the astra he uses for work - so is threatening to drop us to one car. I know 2 cars is a luxury but I love my little bit of independence. But dh also gets the total heebie jeebies about the whole car buying bis as he also knows next to nothing and sadly has been ripped off in the past. My dad would help us look I am sure as he does know what he is looking at but I would rather know at least a bit of what I want etc before going to him.

Hammyman

If you've only got a few hundred quid, you'd be far better off throwing it at the Pug. A car for a few hundred quid or even up to a grand is likely to come with faults that are or very close to needing to be fixed. The reality is that until a car costs more than £500 a year to repair, as long as the bodywork isn't rotting to bits its still more financially viable to keep fixing it as the cost of a replacement one is going to cost you far more and it won't be fault free and at least you know whats been done on the current one. The trick is to be smart when paying for repairs so you don't end up paying twice to solve the same problem and to service it to reduce the chances of things cropping up by surprise such as brake pads where if you catch them before they're worn to the metal, it costs you £30 for the pads and not £100 because the pads have scored the discs so they need changing as well.

If the gears are getting crunchy and its worse when you change from say 4th to 3rd rather than the other way round, assuming the gearbox has actually got oil in it (when was it last checked??) its likely the clutch wants adjusting or is worn. Failing that its a synchromesh inside the gearbox but I'd expect to be able to source a guaranteed second hand gearbox and get it fitted for under £300.

As to the road tax, poppycock...the difference between £80 per annum and £200 per annum is just over £2 a week, an amount that'd be more than swamped by the £100's you spend on a different car and would take you years to recoup.

LandyAndy

A 305?



How old is it?

Strider590

^^ Sure it's not a 205 or a 306?

wovonb

Strider590 wrote: »

^^ Sure it's not a 205 or a 306?

oops! 306. ...just to confirm my novice status:rotfl:

Strider590

Ok, I had a 306

Growling is probably the exhaust, something as simple as a loose bracket or a broken down ceramic in the CAT, if it's ok on MOT then I'd leave it......

The gears on the 306 do get a bit that way, is it a big problem?

The point about tax is (as mentioned above) totally daft....

All in all spending more money just to save a few £ a month, really isn't a good idea.

Most people get rid of cars when they go wrong, you could end up buying someone else's problems.