Would you buy a car with a short MOT?

s_b

personally i would get an insurance quote before anything else
then remember road tax is £115+ for 6 months
then cost of fuel
then short mot
then whatever else turns up wrong

always amuses me that people buy cars locally for all the wrong reasons

Gothicfairy

What are the wrong reasons ? why is it wrong to buy something local ?

Insurance is an issue no matter how far you travel to buy a car as is the cost of fuel and even more if you then need to take 2 people in a car to collect.
Short MOT is not really a problem as if it passes it is only £20 to £40 depending on where you take it and to be honest anything can fail the MOT, newish or old. cheap or expensive. I have had an £85 van pass and a 1k plus car fail when I thought it would be the other way around.

They also did say they were happy to pay the tax in the first post so clearly have already got that worked into the cost..as everyone would as it also means you can bargin a bit and maybe get it down slightly.

LadyMorticia

We really need a car because I have alot of hospital/doctors appointments and car-sharing with the MIL isn't viable anymore and the transport links here aren't great so using public transport isn't an option either.

We've already checked insurance (we check insurance on all cars we're interested in before we even let the seller know of our interest). No point stating your interest in a car if you can't afford the insurance. ).

It's purely coincidental the car is local. We were willing to travel up to 30 miles to look at different cars but because this one is local and we saw it when we were in the village earlier, we decided to check it out first.

s_b

Gothicfairy wrote: »

What are the wrong reasons ? why is it wrong to buy something local ?

Insurance is an issue no matter how far you travel to buy a car as is the cost of fuel and even more if you then need to take 2 people in a car to collect.
Short MOT is not really a problem as if it passes it is only £20 to £40 depending on where you take it and to be honest anything can fail the MOT, newish or old. cheap or expensive. I have had an £85 van pass and a 1k plus car fail when I thought it would be the other way around.

They also did say they were happy to pay the tax in the first post so clearly have already got that worked into the cost..as everyone would as it also means you can bargin a bit and maybe get it down slightly.

They asked would you buy this car,i answered
They said they can tax,they may not be aware of the price to tax
Its an old vw with many miles,these vw cars have major issues at this age predominantly severe front subframe corrosion,rear bushes worn out,corrosion in sills,bushes,strut tops,i could go on and on
Basically as i say but will reiterate i can never understand why people don't look for a vehicle in something like autotrader,you can easily put a 10 mile exclusion zone into your search and see what else is available
Remember we have also been advised this car is stuck up a drive and is unwanted and in the way,if i wanted something like this which i don't ,then seeing as no one else wanted it i would take a 2er with me and having perused the car thoroughly would stick it under his nose on a take it or leave it basis
Ps i used to do this for a living for many years;)

Remember its only a car Gothicfairy theres plenty more fishies in the sea

s_b

LadyMorticia wrote: »

We really need a car because I have alot of hospital/doctors appointments and car-sharing with the MIL isn't viable anymore and the transport links here aren't great so using public transport isn't an option either.

We've already checked insurance (we check insurance on all cars we're interested in before we even let the seller know of our interest). No point stating your interest in a car if you can't afford the insurance. ).

It's purely coincidental the car is local. We were willing to travel up to 30 miles to look at different cars but because this one is local and we saw it when we were in the village earlier, we decided to check it out first.

Sound a thorough and full detailed report so you have done homework,trust me many people buy cars on impulse and then find insurance and tax an issue
please check the major points i brought up in my other post regarding issues on this car anDd obviously make sure it starts and idles fine:)

good luck then:)

LadyMorticia

s_b wrote: »

Sound a thorough and full detailed report so you have done homework,trust me many people buy cars on impulse and then find insurance and tax an issue
please check the major points i brought up in my other post regarding issues on this car anDd obviously make sure it starts and idles fine:)

good luck then:)

We will. I know it's a long shot but no harm going to see it. Definitely going to take FIL along and bring up all the things that people have replied with here.

Flyboy152

Get the owner to put the car through the MOT, before you buy. If it passes, you pay for it, if it fails, he pays for it. If he declines, [STRIKE]walk [/STRIKE] run away. Nonetheless, the cambelt needs changing. I'd go for a price reduction of two hundred pounds and get the belt changed by an small independent garage.

bigjl

Tell the bloke that a condition of sale is you stick it in for an mot to see if it will pass, which you will pay fir.

If it passes you have a new mot or you know what it needs, actually no, just put it in for a pre mot check, he may increase the pruce if it has a new mot.

AA/RAC check may be expensive on a car of this age.

To be honest though the price isn't excessive for an old GTi they are still popular, definatwly check it for crash damage and rust though.

Dippypud

Get an HPI check, not for finance or that, to make sure that a car of that age hasn't had a little shunt and the insurance company have put a Cat D or C on it.

s_b

Dippypud wrote: »

Get an HPI check, not for finance or that, to make sure that a car of that age hasn't had a little shunt and the insurance company have put a Cat D or C on it.

not important at this age