How much can I expect to get off an old (cheap!) car?

Araboo27

Hi all,

Currently got a lovely Kuga but at £300 a month for the finance, its a no brainer to get rid now I'm a poor student.

Looking for a cheap seven seater, probably a Grand Voyager, Kia Sedona or a Galaxy - I'm pretty easy with what make but I do prefer the Chrysler,

Anyway, my absolute max budget is £1150 but I'm more comfortable with £1000. What am I looking at in terms of haggling for a better price, is it worth going to see a car that's say £1375?

Luckily my partner is a VW mechanic which helps so he can spot any issues which can be used to knock money off. We saw two today which were knackered...I'm not used to old/used cars and kind of expected to turn up and buy the first one we saw!

Any advice re haggling would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Spicy_McHaggis

Maybe not then best car to buy for a grand.

Can your oh not keeps his eyes out for a trade in?

motorguy

Araboo27 wrote: »

Hi all,

Currently got a lovely Kuga but at £300 a month for the finance, its a no brainer to get rid now I'm a poor student.

Looking for a cheap seven seater, probably a Grand Voyager, Kia Sedona or a Galaxy - I'm pretty easy with what make but I do prefer the Chrysler,

Anyway, my absolute max budget is £1150 but I'm more comfortable with £1000. What am I looking at in terms of haggling for a better price, is it worth going to see a car that's say £1375?

Luckily my partner is a VW mechanic which helps so he can spot any issues which can be used to knock money off. We saw two today which were knackered...I'm not used to old/used cars and kind of expected to turn up and buy the first one we saw!

Any advice re haggling would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

All of those will be trouble waiting to happen at £1,000.

I'd go for a 1.8 or a 1.6 petrol Zafira at that price point. Simple mechanicals and easy to run.

arcon5

For £1k you need to be realistic, they will all have a couple of problems.

I'd stick with an older petrol car, much less to go wrong.

OnanTheBarbarian

Do you actually need a 7 seater/ MPV?

For a grand you are likely to buy some grief

Araboo27

Why would you say petrol over diesel? I have no idea about cars and having looked at fuel economy the diesels are obviously much better (I probably do about 100 miles per week). OH can fix the car should problems arise but having my car off the road isn't great when I have school/nursery runs to do and uni every day.

Zafira's are the one car that I really dislike! I'd have preferred a car with seven 'full' seats if you know what I mean?

Araboo27

Yeah, seven seater only I'm afraid :-( As much as I love my Kuga, it's a nightmare fitting two adults and three car seats in it. I used to have a grand c max and stupidly swapped for the kuga - biggest car regret ever!

Araboo27

If a petrol Zafira is a good option then I'd be stupid not to consider it, thanks. Any other advice??

motorguy

Araboo27 wrote: »

Why would you say petrol over diesel? I have no idea about cars and having looked at fuel economy the diesels are obviously much better (I probably do about 100 miles per week). OH can fix the car should problems arise but having my car off the road isn't great when I have school/nursery runs to do and uni every day.

Zafira's are the one car that I really dislike! I'd have preferred a car with seven 'full' seats if you know what I mean?

Your typical £1,000 Sharan is going to be 15-17 years old at that price and likely to have between 150K to 200K miles. It will be tired, rattly, and close to end of life.

£1000 would buy you a 10 or 11 year old Zafira with less than 100K miles.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201501210339820/sort/default/make/vauxhall/postcode/bt622hb/model/zafira/page/1/price-to/1000/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/fuel-type/petrol/usedcars/radius/1501?logcode=p

The Sharan might do 45mpg. The Zafira will do 35-38mpg.

Older diesels can be very expensive to maintain - particularly something like a Voyager / Grand Voyager or a Sedona.

I've sold three Grand Voyagers. One cost me several thousand in warranty claims (and it was an 07 car with 98k miles), one was "ok" and one, some months down the line the buyer had electrical problems with the immobiliser and ended up scrapping it (£700 car)

99% of the cars you will go to look at will be knackered - its typically why people are selling them.

motorguy

Araboo27 wrote: »

If a petrol Zafira is a good option then I'd be stupid not to consider it, thanks. Any other advice??

Grand Scenic Petrol.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201409247662356/sort/default/postcode/bt622hb/radius/1501/page/1/fuel-type/petrol/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/renault/price-to/1000/body-type/mpv/usedcars/model/grand_scenic?logcode=p

Electric windows fail but its a £30 fix per window. Other than that, fairly decent cars.

Bear in mind that a 2005 7 seater car with 80k miles for £1,000

motorguy

Fiat Multipla

Ugla as sin, cheap as chips.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412039415471/sort/default/radius/1501/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/postcode/bt622hb/fuel-type/petrol/usedcars/page/1/price-to/1000/make/fiat/body-type/mpv?logcode=p