Used car buying (£2k budget) - Help please!

parking_question_chap

I would say Focus/Golf or something with a honda badge

Make sure you have a good lock at the service book and previous MOT results, have the advisory works been done. Also I would suggest looking at the tyres, often if you have a car sitting on 4 good quality tyres of the same brand, its a fair indicator that they will have looked after the car in general.

19lottie82

Can someone give me some examples of where you would get a decent VW golf for 2k? I've never seen any remotely like this.

edit. actually had a wee hunt and found this. high miles but it's a diesel so should have a lot left


http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403042244801/sort/pricedesc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-mileage/up_to_90000_miles/postcode/g207en/price-to/2500/page/2/radius/1501/model/golf/make/volkswagen?logcode=p

jimjames

19lottie82 wrote: »

Can someone give me some examples of where you would get a decent VW golf for 2k? I've never seen any remotely like this.

edit. actually had a wee hunt and found this. high miles but it's a diesel so should have a lot left


http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403042244801/sort/pricedesc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-mileage/up_to_90000_miles/postcode/g207en/price-to/2500/page/2/radius/1501/model/golf/make/volkswagen?logcode=p

That's exactly where you'd find them.

Loads will be around the 2k mark. Mileage is not an issue if it has been correctly serviced.

Edit - just checked link. Not sure of your definition of high mileage but 86k to me certainly isn't high. Last Golf I bought at 140k and sold at 190k still going strong. Current one has nearly 240k on clock.

Robisere

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk

Example: a 2005 Nissan Micra 1.2, £1,795.

But please take someone with you who knows cars to view anything you see advertised, anywhere.

The worst thing you can tell a seller is that you are not knowledgeable about cars.

19lottie82

jimjames wrote: »

Not sure of your definition of high mileage but 86k to me certainly isn't high. Last Golf I bought at 140k and sold at 190k still going strong. Current one has nearly 240k on clock.

A diesel i'm guessing? My OH is a mechanic and says he would never buy anything (for his personal use) at over 80k if it was a petrol, but re diesels, as you said, they can keep going to 250k if they are looked after well.

he managed to get a 52 plate a6 Audi 2.5L diesel quattro, with 126k on the clock for £1000, full leather, rear heated seats, the works. it was listed as spares and repairs and was missing a battery. when he got it home and gave it a look over, he found out there was nothing wrong with it. very happy Mr19lottie82 :rotfl:

BeenThroughItAll

19lottie82 wrote: »

My OH is a mechanic and says he would never buy anything (for his personal use) at over 80k if it was a petrol

Seriously? Why not? I've had five or six petrol cars with well over 150K on and no bother with any of them. Had a Subaru with 190K+ on it when I got it. Jeez, I've had bikes with more than 80K on with no trouble.


The Audi may look good now, but the 2.5V6 TDI is the subject of all sorts of well known issues with the Bosch VP44 fuel pump.

jimjames

19lottie82 wrote: »

A diesel i'm guessing? My OH is a mechanic and says he would never buy anything (for his personal use) at over 80k if it was a petrol, but re diesels, as you said, they can keep going to 250k if they are looked after well.

Yes it is a diesel. The lowest mileage diesel I've bought over the last 10 years had 110,000 miles on it. Others 125k, 140k, 145k and now 230k. No issues with any of them, touchwood that's the case for latest one too!

Nice result on the Audi, I do love a bargain!

19lottie82

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

The Audi may look good now, but the 2.5V6 TDI is the subject of all sorts of well known issues with the Bosch VP44 fuel pump.

Luckily, he's a mechanic with 27 years experience, specialising in german autos, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing

BeenThroughItAll

19lottie82 wrote: »

Luckily, he's a mechanic with 27 years experience, specialising in german autos, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing

He'll need to when, not if, that VP44 goes

Ransoman

Golf Mk4's are not reliable! They are horrific. My Gf's parents had one and before it was even 10 years old they had to scrap it.

In its last year it had:

both front wishbones, droplinks, 2x broken springs, VNT unit on the turbo/complete turbo, 2x cv jounts and the passenger seat heater burst into flames. They finally threw in the towel when the autobox diff bearings failed. It also had bad rust spots on all 4 wheel arches and both sills. All this in 1 year on what was then an 8 year old "Reliable" german car.

Another person i knew with a mk4 golf had a complete braking system failure and then the drivers window fell into the door.

Italians may have a reputation for un-reliability and rust but it is completely undeserved.

If your budget can stretch, get an early Grande punto for £2500-£3k. Very nice to drive, economical and simple mechanics. Only a handfull of things do go wrong on them and they cost very little to repair, Strut top bearings, Droplinks and engine breathers are the weak points and you can replace all those parts and have change from £100 if you do them yourself.

Electric power steering failures: if your battery is old, try replacing that first as sometimes a voltage drop from an old battery logs an error.