Estate car for £2500?

comberspud

Check its not a cat c or d. Bonnet locks can become locked when car has been hit front end and not put back right.

Just a heads up.

forgotmyname

Only the higher spec ones have self levelling suspension, The LX and Zetec generally do not.

Its a plastic rod that gets brittle and breaks, Leaving the key detached from the lock mechanism. But its about owners skimping on their cars. Its not an expensive fix so why have they not done it. And since it broke they wont have been able to check the fluids.

Not my idea of a good owner.

wild666

What about a C5

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/citroen/c5/postcode/yo19uq/radius/1501/sort/default/body-type/estate/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/price-from/1500/price-to/2500/fuel-type/diesel

BigDaddyGee

Well, I took a gamble and bought the Mondeo despite not being able to look under the bonnet. I checked the cars history online before going to look at it, and it was good in all the categories. The bodywork was in great condition, a couple of dunts on some doors, but no rust on the bodywork.
Engine ran great on the test drive and the hour long drive home, which included a city drive, dual carriageway and country roads.
I've a friend who also has a mondeo and has done a lot of work on his, and he's going to fix the lock for the price of the parts.
I got the price down to £700, so the way I look at it, even if it needs a few hundred quids worth of work, I'll still have got a bargain.

Fingers crossed there are no nasty surprises under the hood!

Cheers for all the input folks. I'll let you know if I've been sold a lemon

forgotmyname

Hope its not the red one i looked at about 6 weeks back. Oil covered everything under the bonnet. Oil in the water.

It was immaculate on the outside and interior though.

BigDaddyGee

No, not a red one. Thank God! It's a silver Ghia 2.0 TDCi

skivenov

getmore4less wrote: »

This is a reasonable strategy worth £100+ as scrap,

look in the £400-£800 bracket you get a few goes to find a good one with £2500 available.

chances are if reasonably careful the risks are similar at £400 as at £2500.

I'd agree with this. The best way to buy a £2000 car is to buy a £1000 car and keep £1000 back to sort any problems out that appear.

BigDaddyGee

Ok, final update for anyone who is interested. Got the bonnet open finally today with some assistance from a friend of mine. And hallelujah! The engine is in great nick! All the fluids were at acceptable levels, no obvious leaks any where. My mate says it's in better nick than his similar aged Mondeo , and he paid twice the price. Also managed to fix the bonnet lock with the parts that were there, so no additional cost in fixing that. All in all very happy with the car. Cheers once again for the help folks!

harveybobbles

Thanks for the update. Head over to TalkFord for other Mondingo owners.

lexington013

2004 2005 Volvo V70 petrol 2.4. Go for the 170bhp version as the 140bhp are a little underpowered. Steer clear of the auto gearbox and go for the manual. Very well built safe solid reliable load Lugers.