New to me car -Any advice please?

family355

I've all but decided on the renult kadjar, it fits the bill well but have doubts of taking a loan out.

Another option I have come across is a hatchback @7.5k, 5 seats/5 doors/automatic/parking sensors/sat nav/leather seats however, its a 59 plate (45k on the clock) I can use savings plus my trade in so no loan required. 
My worries are, the age and also the estimate for car insurance payout (if needed) is 2.5k. I know cars are hugely inflated at the minute but is this usual? 

I would be really grateful on anyone's opinion on the hatchback.
Thank you 🙂

Grumpy_chap

Do you mean £7.5k for a 59 plate (2009 / 13 yo) hatchback?  Or is there a typo there somewhere?

For anyone to assess that price against the market, the make, model would be needed.  Audi A7 is a hatchback.  Audi A1 is a hatchback.  Different values for each 

Ebe_Scrooge

I was going to say the same thing - what make/model are we talking about?  Although £7500 for a 12/13 year old car does seem a tad on the steep side.  And the mileage would worry me - that's very low.  Either it's been sat unused for many years, or else it's done nothing more than nip to the local high street for shopping once a week.  Neither of which is particularly good for the engine.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "estimate for insurance payout" - is that the value suggested by the insurance website when you enter the reg number?  If so, that in itself would set alarm bells ringing - for most ordinary (i.e.not rare or classic) cars, the insurer's estimate of market value is usually in the right sort of ballpark.

family355

Unfortunately no typo, that is where the market is at after the last few months of looking. Sorry, I wasn't really looking to assess across the market prices. Its comparable for its age with seemingly okay milage/spec.

I was just generally wondering whether it's insane to spend 7.5k on a 13 year old car and have no debt or spend double the amount on a 5/6 year old car using a loan? 

Ebe_Scrooge

family355 said:

I was just generally wondering whether it's insane to spend 7.5k on a 13 year old car and have no debt or spend double the amount on a 5/6 year old car using a loan? 

Without knowing what the car is, who can say?  If someone was offering a 13 year old Ferrari in perfect condition for £7500, I'd bite their hand off.  £7500 for a rusty 13 year old Fiesta?  No thanks.

In my opinion, the option of buying a car outright is always far preferable to taking a loan.  I've never spent £7500 on a car - I'm usually in the sort of £4000 - £5000 bracket, buying decent cars that are about 5/6/7 years old, something like that.  I fully expect to get at least another 6 or 7 years trouble-free motoring from them - and touch wood, I've never been disappointed yet.  Really, £7.5k will buy you a very tidy used car, a lot younger than 13 years.

family355

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I was going to say the same thing - what make/model are we talking about?  Although £7500 for a 12/13 year old car does seem a tad on the steep side.  And the mileage would worry me - that's very low.  Either it's been sat unused for many years, or else it's done nothing more than nip to the local high street for shopping once a week.  Neither of which is particularly good for the engine.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "estimate for insurance payout" - is that the value suggested by the insurance website when you enter the reg number?  If so, that in itself would set alarm bells ringing - for most ordinary (i.e.not rare or classic) cars, the insurer's estimate of market value is usually in the right sort of ballpark.

Thank you, this is really helpful. It has done around 3/4k miles per year from the mots. I thought less milage would be good? Less wear and tear. What issues could this cause? 

Re insurance, yes this is when I entered the reg. 

Ebe_Scrooge

family355 said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I was going to say the same thing - what make/model are we talking about?  Although £7500 for a 12/13 year old car does seem a tad on the steep side.  And the mileage would worry me - that's very low.  Either it's been sat unused for many years, or else it's done nothing more than nip to the local high street for shopping once a week.  Neither of which is particularly good for the engine.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "estimate for insurance payout" - is that the value suggested by the insurance website when you enter the reg number?  If so, that in itself would set alarm bells ringing - for most ordinary (i.e.not rare or classic) cars, the insurer's estimate of market value is usually in the right sort of ballpark.

Thank you, this is really helpful. It has done around 3/4k miles per year from the mots. I thought less milage would be good? Less wear and tear. What issues could this cause? 

Re insurance, yes this is when I entered the reg. 

Very low mileage can actually be a bad sign.  A car needs to be run properly.  If it's only ever done a 2-mile round trip to the shops a couple of times a week, the engine never gets up to full temperature, which can cause all sort of problems - notably from moisture collecting in the internal workings and rusting things from the inside.  Also, town driving puts a lot more wear on gears, clutch, brakes, steering, the whole drivetrain really, than steady motorway cruising does.

And as to the value - like I said, the estimated "market value" given by insurers is usually not too far off the mark - unless it's something special like a very rare import or a classic car.  Sure, used car prices have risen in recent times, but that's a heck of a different between the insurer's estimate and the asking price.  And do bear in mind - if you were unfortunate enough to write the car off, the insurers would only pay out the "market value" - unless you can provide compelling evidence that it's actually worth more than that (and that doesn't mean simply what you paid for it).

family355

Thanks again for your reply, I didn't realise this about less milage and the insurance is worrying. 

It's a bmw 1 series, 2 owners and full service history. The comparables for the hatchback are a kia ceed 2011 42k miles or a seat Leon 2011 42k miles.  My searches include up to 45k miles and automatic which has increased the price with less choice. 

L9XSS

In my view this is very overpriced. The timing chains can be a problem on this engine variant (particularly the 118d  and 320d) of this year. I would continue your search.

Martin_the_Unjust

family355 said:

Thanks again for your reply, I didn't realise this about less milage and the insurance is worrying. 

It's a bmw 1 series, 2 owners and full service history. The comparables for the hatchback are a kia ceed 2011 42k miles or a seat Leon 2011 42k miles.  My searches include up to 45k miles and automatic which has increased the price with less choice. 

Out of those three my choice would be the Kia every time