Buying advice please!!
Discussion
Hi guys
Just joined PistonHeads, and this is my first post.. always logging onto this site at work and love it - just hope the boss doesn't realise how much!!
I'm looking to buy a VX na, budget about £12,500 - problem being I live on the Isle of Man and they are a tricky car to source. A friend of the family is willing to sell his, and has suggested £13,495 with the following spec:
* Sports Exhaust full system
* Full K&N induction kit
* Uprated brakes
* Body colour hardtop
* Europa blue with tan leather
* 2002 with 11,400 miles and garaged every night
* couple of marks on the body work but nothing serious, and not as many stone-chips as I thought - I heard this was a normal problem
* never tracked although I think that might change if I do buy it!!
What do people think? Is this a good deal? Can anyone suggest any negotiating points or point me in the direction of any buyers advice?? I've read all on vx220.org and may post similar there as well.. I'm willing to go in with a lower offer but have to factor in the convenience and cost-saving in not having to import a car from the mainland..
Looking forward to some help!!
Alex
Just joined PistonHeads, and this is my first post.. always logging onto this site at work and love it - just hope the boss doesn't realise how much!!
I'm looking to buy a VX na, budget about £12,500 - problem being I live on the Isle of Man and they are a tricky car to source. A friend of the family is willing to sell his, and has suggested £13,495 with the following spec:
* Sports Exhaust full system
* Full K&N induction kit
* Uprated brakes
* Body colour hardtop
* Europa blue with tan leather
* 2002 with 11,400 miles and garaged every night
* couple of marks on the body work but nothing serious, and not as many stone-chips as I thought - I heard this was a normal problem
* never tracked although I think that might change if I do buy it!!
What do people think? Is this a good deal? Can anyone suggest any negotiating points or point me in the direction of any buyers advice?? I've read all on vx220.org and may post similar there as well.. I'm willing to go in with a lower offer but have to factor in the convenience and cost-saving in not having to import a car from the mainland..
Looking forward to some help!!
Alex
Sounds like a good buy to me.
Do the obvious checks, ie
• Full Service History
• The correct Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres
• Look for cracks on the sill (the part your hand goes as you try to clamber out)
• How worn is the centre tunnel
• Does the driver’s seat need repairing on the bolster?
• Is the windscreen chipped or cracked, (expensive to replace)
• Look underneath for signs of the car being jacked up.
• Drive it, if it feels like the wheels need balancing, it probably has a buckled wheel
• Are the front mesh grills starting to rust
• Be very attentive to the paint work, if it has a small blister, it’s going to be expensive
• Check the service history and old MOT’s against the mileage, a lot of VX220’s had replacement Stack instrument clusters which reset the mileage to zero
• Ring Vauxhall to check the car has had all its recalls, there have been a few
• Check the inside of the doors at the bottom, there should be a screw at either end the adjust the window tilt, but people often over tighten them and loose them inside the door, being alloy, they are a sod to get out.
• Check the soft top carefully, the cables can snap, just check there not frayed, (cheap enough to replace at Elise parts, but he doesn’t have to know that)
• Look at the screws around the petrol filler, they nearly always rust.
• The rear lights and sometimes the fronts will probably have paint blisters inside.
• Have a look at the bolts underneath the ‘B’ pillar; if they look like they have been undone, it’s probably had a new rear clam at some time.
• Check for differences in the paint quality and thickness, it should be crap quality all over, Lotus put one coat of paint on it, body shops always put on more.
• If it doesn’t have side pockets on the inside of the sill, then it was made in 2000, likewise, fog lights were optional until 2001, there were a lot of cars sitting around at dealers for years.
• If it has a full Vauxhall service history, it’s probably worth less, as monkeys have arsed around with it for years, until a specialist put it right.
• Does the key move freely in the lock, they do wear out sometimes?
• Has the face of the VDO Dayton CD player started to wear off, it should have completely worn away by now.
• Check the bolts aren’t coming loose in the under trays, they have been known to fall off before.
If all looks okay, tell him you were really looking for one with power steering or air con, but for the right price you'll compromise.
Best of luck mate, your just about to buy one of the best sports cars ever made.
Wayne
Do the obvious checks, ie
• Full Service History
• The correct Bridgestone Potenza RE040 tyres
• Look for cracks on the sill (the part your hand goes as you try to clamber out)
• How worn is the centre tunnel
• Does the driver’s seat need repairing on the bolster?
• Is the windscreen chipped or cracked, (expensive to replace)
• Look underneath for signs of the car being jacked up.
• Drive it, if it feels like the wheels need balancing, it probably has a buckled wheel
• Are the front mesh grills starting to rust
• Be very attentive to the paint work, if it has a small blister, it’s going to be expensive
• Check the service history and old MOT’s against the mileage, a lot of VX220’s had replacement Stack instrument clusters which reset the mileage to zero
• Ring Vauxhall to check the car has had all its recalls, there have been a few
• Check the inside of the doors at the bottom, there should be a screw at either end the adjust the window tilt, but people often over tighten them and loose them inside the door, being alloy, they are a sod to get out.
• Check the soft top carefully, the cables can snap, just check there not frayed, (cheap enough to replace at Elise parts, but he doesn’t have to know that)
• Look at the screws around the petrol filler, they nearly always rust.
• The rear lights and sometimes the fronts will probably have paint blisters inside.
• Have a look at the bolts underneath the ‘B’ pillar; if they look like they have been undone, it’s probably had a new rear clam at some time.
• Check for differences in the paint quality and thickness, it should be crap quality all over, Lotus put one coat of paint on it, body shops always put on more.
• If it doesn’t have side pockets on the inside of the sill, then it was made in 2000, likewise, fog lights were optional until 2001, there were a lot of cars sitting around at dealers for years.
• If it has a full Vauxhall service history, it’s probably worth less, as monkeys have arsed around with it for years, until a specialist put it right.
• Does the key move freely in the lock, they do wear out sometimes?
• Has the face of the VDO Dayton CD player started to wear off, it should have completely worn away by now.
• Check the bolts aren’t coming loose in the under trays, they have been known to fall off before.
If all looks okay, tell him you were really looking for one with power steering or air con, but for the right price you'll compromise.
Best of luck mate, your just about to buy one of the best sports cars ever made.
Wayne
What he said, and Wayne should know - he sold me mine a few years back before escaping Vauxhall! 
£13.5k is quite rich for a private sale on a 2002 car though, I'd have said. £12.5k would be more like it IMHO, although the hard top might add £500. A quick check through the classified ads here gives lots of VXs within your £12.5k budget...
Dan
£13.5k is quite rich for a private sale on a 2002 car though, I'd have said. £12.5k would be more like it IMHO, although the hard top might add £500. A quick check through the classified ads here gives lots of VXs within your £12.5k budget...
Dan
dont forget that been on the IOM he has a similar issue to you ie it will be harder for him to sell it. Its probably worth a bit more than 12,500 depends on the milage really if its got less than 15k on it its probably worth 13k. I've just bought a similar car with 7k on the clock and I paid 13 for it
turboman said:
If all looks okay, tell him you were really looking for one with power steering or air con, but for the right price you'll compromise.
Haha you crack me up Wayne. When I had my VXT for sale, if I had a punter that asked about PAS and air-con, I would have stuck rigidly to my price.
VX220man - they are awesome cars - if you know the car well, that will save you a lot of unnecessary hassle. The hardtop is certainly worth at least £500, particularly with the onset of winter. Have you bought it as yet?
Best of luck
Edited by theturbs on Thursday 5th October 18:08
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