Any used car advice for a newbie please??

fairygothmother7

Hello There,

I am taking my driving test in a few weeks and I'm looking to buy a used car. I have looked on AutoTrader, Gumtree and eBay and seen a few of interest.

My budget is between £500 - £700 (low, I know) and I'm looking at Ford Kas and Nissan Micras for cheap insurance purposes.

My Father (in a very Victor Meldrew-esque manner) seems to think that I will either be buying somebody's "old pig" that they are desperate to get rid of, or if I buy from a trade seller thet they'll have retrieved it from the scrapyard and carried out cosmetic improvements just to make a quick buck.

Now I'm not so sure that everybody is so hell bent on ripping others off, but I would really appreciate some advice about buying a used car if anybody has any.

Many Thanks, Emma

thegirlintheattic

Do not buy a car with that budget, most cars in that range will have or develop problems that will require £££ of repairs making it uneconomical.

fivetide

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Do not buy a car with that budget, most cars in that range will have or develop problems that will require £££ of repairs making it uneconomical.

Tosh!

I bought a Merc C-class for £700 and ran it for 18 months and 20,000 miles. Apart from some new brake pads it was spot on and never let me down. Dead comfy too.

You do however need to be very careful. People do move cars on because they might need work doing and at that budget servicing could have been skimped on for a while.

Agree with your dad re-dealer. I wouldn't be paying £600 for a car he's only given £200 for!

Micras are good though. Sister has had one for the last4 years (still on her first car) and it has been trouble free. Parents know someone who has done 200,000 miles in one (uses it as his company car).

Take someone who knows what they are looking at and be sceptical is the best advice i can give!

5t.

thegirlintheattic

fivetide wrote: »

Tosh!

I bought a Merc C-class for £700 and ran it for 18 months and 20,000 miles. Apart from some new brake pads it was spot on and never let me down. Dead comfy too.

You do however need to be very careful. People do move cars on because they might need work doing and at that budget servicing could have been skimped on for a while.

Agree with your dad re-dealer. I wouldn't be paying £600 for a car he's only given £200 for!

Micras are good though. Sister has had one for the last4 years (still on her first car) and it has been trouble free. Parents know someone who has done 200,000 miles in one (uses it as his company car).

Take someone who knows what they are looking at and be sceptical is the best advice i can give!

5t.

That is why I said most. The OP is looking at two particular types of cars, both small, cheap cars not designed to do high mileage.

For that money and a Ka your looking at cars over about 9 years old with high mileage. On a Ka at that age your looking at rust issues, a common problem, which will result in money going on welding. A good friend has a Ka with 70,000 odd on it, from new, full servicing, yet in the past 10,000 miles it's needed a new exhaust, lots of welding and a new timing belt.

fivetide

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

That is why I said most. The OP is looking at two particular types of cars, both small, cheap cars not designed to do high mileage.

For that money and a Ka your looking at cars over about 9 years old with high mileage. On a Ka at that age your looking at rust issues, a common problem, which will result in money going on welding. A good friend has a Ka with 70,000 odd on it, from new, full servicing, yet in the past 10,000 miles it's needed a new exhaust, lots of welding and a new timing belt.

Ok but you also said "Do not buy a car with that budget" which is pretty specific.

What you could have said is "Be really careful about buying a car on that budget" and offered some advice (like I did) or things to watch out for on one of the cars mentioned (which you did second time round).

5t.

pixie_girl_3

I have been reasonably lucky with my Ford Ka which I got for £600. Its done 1000 miles (mainly motorways) for me so far so good.

Things to look out for:
Rust around the fuel intake make sure you use the key to open the fuel cap. I only opened the little door and didn't notice much rust. If I had used the key I would have seen the rust and bartered for a better price. Well at least I know for next time (£30 in second hand parts plus lots in labor I expect when I do get it sorted.)

Fords are also notorious for their poor keys and locks. Check the central locking works multiple times. Also known for poor electrics.

Check the doors for rust especially at the bottom.

Rust again! Underside of the car.

Rattling noise when driven - thankfully for me this was the drop links a cheap and easy fix.

Bad suspension-look closely when people get in and out of the car how far it drops etc and how it feels when its driven.

The usual things, white deposits in the oil, feel of the clutch, brakes and gears.

After all those scare stories - I love my Ka, parts are very cheap to come by and with a little help you can easily fit things yourself (a mate showed me how to do the drop links for example). Its a 97 reg, 80,000 miles but still gets 40mpg and starts every time. But its too soon to say whether this will continue to be the case!