Used car market UK - complete joke

steve-L

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

So ten year old mass produced white goods/cars made by pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap French and German makers turn out to be on their last legs, hardly surprising is it.

As said above if you want to buy old cars to run reliably then get something that was designed properly and built well in the first place.
A ten year old ''Properly Maintained'' Toyota will have years of service left in it.

French, yes and German badged cars of this age and type are on the way to the scrap yard.

Nothing wrong with 10 yr old French or German either.

Up to about 2002 there are plenty of reliable French cars, anything with the 1.9 XUD engine for instance. Indeed if you take the PSA car's of the late 90's the reliability situation is reversed.

Some of the bigger cars (like the XM) are long dead due to overly complex electronics failures whereas the pile em high basic 306 1.9D for instance are still going strong.

My OH's honda has VSA, it won't start unless it's checks out at startup, even though you can turn it off??? If the VSA unit fails then £700 for a new one.... or the car can't even start = scrap.
Built in obsolescence?

All said Honda's electronics are a lot better than PSA's.
BUT: The chance of my Honda Accord Executive becoming non economic due to a failure is higher than a 2000 P306 1.9D simply because the PUG has minimal electronics, no turbo and an engine good for 1/2 million miles.

FridgeRacer wrote:

well im pretty much stuck with this citroen.

You have made a series of choices on cars.
You traded the Skoda (which other than either needing a new set of wiper blades or the screen and wiper blades thoroughly cleaning had nothing wrong with it....

Lesson 1?) The cheapest car is usually the one you already have!
You might also consider a non working heater is an inconvenience not a make or break in a sub £1000 car. (etc.) There is a lot you can just ignore ..hence
Lesson 2?) Buying a car with a few scratches and cosmetic things can get it into your price range without compromising reliability.
If it starts, stops and passes an MOT don't spend money on inconvenient things, save them for necessities like brakes, tyres etc.

Lesson 3) When complex electronics fail its often the economic end of a sub £1000 car.... either buy Japanese or go for a model with minimal electronics....
there is a big difference between basic ABS and 'modern' bells and whistles independent wheel ABS... one is way more likely to fail expensively .... and terminally

Lesson 4) If its in a dealers its likely there for the wrong reasons

Hoof_Hearted wrote:

I have bought most of my (cheap) cars privately. I have to say that I make a lot of judgements about the car by talking to the owner.

Yep and you can also see for example what type of tyres they put on which is often a good indication of how much they spend on upkeep...and what if they replaced something they put in its place.... was the new clutch Mr Clutch or a real one?

malik125

Hi there
Any car trader who is using BCA please help and oblige.
I just started trading with BCA. Bought few cars some cars were good and some were bad. I just want to know
1. which auction centers around london are having good cars
2. If you won a bid for a car which is sold as seen(not BCA assured) and after inspecting it if its not good enough or having some problems then can you refuse to pay or buy? If yes then is there any charges for that?

motorguy

malik125 wrote: »

Hi there
Any car trader who is using BCA please help and oblige.
I just started trading with BCA. Bought few cars some cars were good and some were bad. I just want to know
1. which auction centers around london are having good cars
2. If you won a bid for a car which is sold as seen(not BCA assured) and after inspecting it if its not good enough or having some problems then can you refuse to pay or buy? If yes then is there any charges for that?

You would be safer starting your own thread for this rather than tack it on to an unrelated thread.

Generally speaking at auction, sold as seen means sold as seen. You do whatever checks you can and bid accordingly.

I would imagine refusing to pay for a car would be a really good way of getting yourself barred very quickly.

You're motor trade, therefore you need to make a judgement on the value of a car, and take the rough with the smooth.