Buying Used Car

lynseydee

I was wondering if anyone could help me out.

I need to buy another car and need to look at second hand. I've looked at the guide for buying second hand and what to look for when you view the car but out of three cars I've found I would like to look at I was just wondering which looked better on paper.

The first one is

Ford Fiesta 1.4 Ghia 5dr 35,000 miles

Top spec low warranted mileage full service history good body work clean interior cd player ac .12 month mot., Air Conditioning, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels (15in), Electric Windows (Front), Heated Front Screen, In Car Entertainment (Radio/CD), Rain Sensing Wipers & Auto Headlamps. RED, CAMBELT changed at 24k.Alloywheels.2 keys.lods of invoices., £1,475

The second one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE 5dr 89,220 miles

12 months MOT, No service history, Excellent bodywork, Interior - Clean Condition, Tyre condition Good, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, In Car Entertainment (Radio/Cassette), Electric Windows (Front/Rear), Air Bag Driver, Airbags, Folding rear seats, Power steering, Electric windows, Sunroof. SILVER, £1,450

The third one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE 5dr 124,442 miles

New mot just serviced, Upgrades - Metallic Paint, Standard Features - Air-Conditioning, Alarm, In Car Entertainment (Radio/Cassette), Electric Windows (Front/Rear). SILVER, £995

And the last one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE Sport 5dr 163,220 miles

Full service history, Good bodywork, Black Cloth interior - Good Condition, Tyre condition Good, Sunroof Electric, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Electric Windows (Front/Rear), In Car Entertainment (Radio/CD). Metallic blue, £850

Any help would be gratefully received, thanks.

BeenThroughItAll

lynseydee wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone could help me out.

I need to buy another car and need to look at second hand. I've looked at the guide for buying second hand and what to look for when you view the car but out of three cars I've found I would like to look at I was just wondering which looked better on paper.

The first one is

Ford Fiesta 1.4 Ghia 5dr 35,000 miles

Top spec low warranted mileage full service history good body work clean interior cd player ac .12 month mot., Air Conditioning, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels (15in), Electric Windows (Front), Heated Front Screen, In Car Entertainment (Radio/CD), Rain Sensing Wipers & Auto Headlamps. RED, CAMBELT changed at 24k.Alloywheels.2 keys.lods of invoices., £1,475

The second one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE 5dr 89,220 miles

12 months MOT, No service history, Excellent bodywork, Interior - Clean Condition, Tyre condition Good, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, In Car Entertainment (Radio/Cassette), Electric Windows (Front/Rear), Air Bag Driver, Airbags, Folding rear seats, Power steering, Electric windows, Sunroof. SILVER, £1,450

The third one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE 5dr 124,442 miles

New mot just serviced, Upgrades - Metallic Paint, Standard Features - Air-Conditioning, Alarm, In Car Entertainment (Radio/Cassette), Electric Windows (Front/Rear). SILVER, £995

And the last one is

Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE Sport 5dr 163,220 miles

Full service history, Good bodywork, Black Cloth interior - Good Condition, Tyre condition Good, Sunroof Electric, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Electric Windows (Front/Rear), In Car Entertainment (Radio/CD). Metallic blue, £850

Any help would be gratefully received, thanks.

Be handy if you also told us the year of each vehicle, your budget, the driving you do, etc.

BeenThroughItAll

Number 4 actually has 170K on it according to MOT history.

Number 3 only shows one MOT history entry which is interesting, possibly a glitch due to private plate, or it's an import, or, or... Would make me very carefully check its history.

Number 2 I'd probably consider alongside the Fiesta. No service history but if the condition is good I'd not personally worry about that but I'd budget for a cambelt change and full service on purchase. Jazz buyers aren't usually the sort to not bother with servicing.

Number 1 sounds like the best choice as its lowest mileage and with full history - on paper. I'd very carefully check its history, personally. Plate is covered in the photos which always puts me off. No need to do it, but it prevents buyers checking the MOT history without contacting the seller.

If it were my money, I'd look at the Jazz first then the Fiesta, just based on the fact that although I would rather eat nails than drive either, I dislike Fords more than Hondas, and The Jazz has an excellent reliability record.

lynseydee

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Be handy if you also told us the year of each vehicle, your budget, the driving you do, etc.

Ok if I do it by car numbers it's 03,04,03,04. My budget is up to £1,500 and I do minimal driving i.e. school run and occasional long distance, holiday etc.

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Number 4 actually has 170K on it according to MOT history.

Number 3 only shows one MOT history entry which is interesting, possibly a glitch due to private plate, or it's an import, or, or... Would make me very carefully check its history.

Number 2 I'd probably consider alongside the Fiesta. No service history but if the condition is good I'd not personally worry about that but I'd budget for a cambelt change and full service on purchase. Jazz buyers aren't usually the sort to not bother with servicing.

Number 1 sounds like the best choice as its lowest mileage and with full history - on paper. I'd very carefully check its history, personally. Plate is covered in the photos which always puts me off. No need to do it, but it prevents buyers checking the MOT history without contacting the seller.

If it were my money, I'd look at the Jazz first then the Fiesta, just based on the fact that although I would rather eat nails than drive either, I dislike Fords more than Hondas, and The Jazz has an excellent reliability record.

How did you find the cars from the information I've provided? And how did you find out the information you have provided?

What's your car of choice? I've pretty much always driven Fiestas since I passed my test but have quite fancied a Jazz since seeing one on Top Gear.

BeenThroughItAll

lynseydee wrote: »

Ok if I do it by car numbers it's 03,04,03,04. My budget is up to £1,500 and I do minimal driving i.e. school run and occasional long distance, holiday etc.



How did you find the cars from the information I've provided? And how did you find out the information you have provided?

What's your car of choice? I've pretty much always driven Fiestas since I passed my test but have quite fancied a Jazz since seeing one on Top Gear.

Simple, I searched Autotrader for a low mileage Fiesta at the price you quoted, then assumed the postcode as the centre of a 20mi search radius (because few people can be bothered to travel a more sensible distance to buy a car) and looked at all examples of the Jazz for sale.

If it were me, and I had to choose, as I say I'd look at the Jazz first, because I hate Fiestas more than I hate the Jazz. But at this age and price, I'd choose what I wanted first, then buy on condition rather than worrying about service history etc.

All information I've got is from check-mot-service.gov.uk

gabitzul

Jazz engines of that age (not sure of the latest ones) are chain driven and virtually bomb proof.

As long as it has service history, I would always go for one of these compared with a similarly aged Fiesta. The pluses are many for me, also related to space inside, magic seats, bigger boot etc.

I have a 2010 one (1.4) and I get 50 MPG from it on average, with a very light foot. I suppose the V-Tec tech really helps it. You will struggle to get that in the Fiesta.

lynseydee

gabitzul wrote: »

Jazz engines of that age (not sure of the latest ones) are chain driven and virtually bomb proof.

As long as it has service history, I would always go for one of these compared with a similarly aged Fiesta. The pluses are many for me, also related to space inside, magic seats, bigger boot etc.

I have a 2010 one (1.4) and I get 50 MPG from it on average, with a very light foot. I suppose the V-Tec tech really helps it. You will struggle to get that in the Fiesta.

Does it matter if it has high mileage or does that not matter so much?

BeenThroughItAll

lynseydee wrote: »

Does it matter if it has high mileage or does that not matter so much?

As I've said, at that budget buy on condition, not mileage. Look at that Jazz with 170K on it - that one has made it to nearly 200K; so you tell me, is high mileage a problem?

lynseydee

It's not a problem, just didn't know if it was better to go for a lower mileage car. I'm more interested in price and condition so if I can get a high mileage car which is cheap and in good condition I'd rather go for that over one which is more expensive and lower mileage.