Asking for repairs on a used car prior to buying
Discussion
Hi,
I wondered if I might ask for a bit of advice on negotiating buying a used car?
I have a 10 year old manual Mondeo (32k miles) and I would like to sell it and buy an automatic mondeo of the same age. I have found one (48k miles) and had the best RAC check done on it.
I have not seen the car because it is too far away for me to get to, but the RAC man says it seems like a solid car. He only tested up to 40 mph and not from cold.
There are a number of things that need done, and the garage said they'd do the work for free in return for me giving the full price for the car (£2500). They said they would not want to knock the price down to let me have my own mechanic do the work.
The things that need done are:
A service
fix aircon which is cooling to 2.4 degrees instead of 4 degrees
check error codes (They have looked and say they are all historic codes)
Replace two tyres (One perished, one on wrong side)
There is also slight bubbling on the allow wheels and number of small paint chips which they will not fix.
My friends say that I should be very wary of used car sellers and that they will sell me rubbish. They say I should insist on a price reduction and have my own mechanic do the work.
I wondered if anyone has views on this? I'd be really glad of advice. I've only bought nearly new before.
I'm a Mum stuck at home with a small child, and some health troubles that prevent us travelling long distances, hence not having met the car.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
I wondered if I might ask for a bit of advice on negotiating buying a used car?
I have a 10 year old manual Mondeo (32k miles) and I would like to sell it and buy an automatic mondeo of the same age. I have found one (48k miles) and had the best RAC check done on it.
I have not seen the car because it is too far away for me to get to, but the RAC man says it seems like a solid car. He only tested up to 40 mph and not from cold.
There are a number of things that need done, and the garage said they'd do the work for free in return for me giving the full price for the car (£2500). They said they would not want to knock the price down to let me have my own mechanic do the work.
The things that need done are:
A service
fix aircon which is cooling to 2.4 degrees instead of 4 degrees
check error codes (They have looked and say they are all historic codes)
Replace two tyres (One perished, one on wrong side)
There is also slight bubbling on the allow wheels and number of small paint chips which they will not fix.
My friends say that I should be very wary of used car sellers and that they will sell me rubbish. They say I should insist on a price reduction and have my own mechanic do the work.
I wondered if anyone has views on this? I'd be really glad of advice. I've only bought nearly new before.
I'm a Mum stuck at home with a small child, and some health troubles that prevent us travelling long distances, hence not having met the car.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Thanks, yes we paid £337 for the RAC test, which seemed an awful lot, and they promised up to 20 miles road test but then only did 7.4 miles.
The man said there were no fast roads nearby which meant he couldn't go any faster "within the half hour".
It sounded like a real cop out to me, but the grade of test I paid for also included an oil analysis so if I ask to be discounted down to the lower grade I suppose they'd refuse as they're doing that test.
Good idea to get it all in writing. It's going to be hard to have any comeback if it goes wrong though as we live to far away to take it back.
The man said there were no fast roads nearby which meant he couldn't go any faster "within the half hour".
It sounded like a real cop out to me, but the grade of test I paid for also included an oil analysis so if I ask to be discounted down to the lower grade I suppose they'd refuse as they're doing that test.
Good idea to get it all in writing. It's going to be hard to have any comeback if it goes wrong though as we live to far away to take it back.
The RAC guy said he found multiple codes but his machine didn't say if they were serious or not. The garage said they checked and they were all historic codes. That's all I know really.
The RAC guy just kept saying "you should take this car to a Ford garage for a full check up before buying" but that's clearly impossible, and I know the Ford garage would charge an arm and a leg for that anyway.
The Ford garage tried to charge me £2000 to replace the turbo on my current car when another guy fixed it buy cleaning it for £50. I gather that car owning is a tricky business, but I'm just not sure where the lines are.
The RAC guy just kept saying "you should take this car to a Ford garage for a full check up before buying" but that's clearly impossible, and I know the Ford garage would charge an arm and a leg for that anyway.
The Ford garage tried to charge me £2000 to replace the turbo on my current car when another guy fixed it buy cleaning it for £50. I gather that car owning is a tricky business, but I'm just not sure where the lines are.
Buying a £2500, 10 year old car from miles away is a recipie for disaster IMO.
You always buy a car like this on condition, the RAC check is a start but it's no replacement to seeing it and driving it yourself.
It's a gamble no matter what, I personally never believe these 'historic' fault code guff. Normally people get fault codes checked!
You always buy a car like this on condition, the RAC check is a start but it's no replacement to seeing it and driving it yourself.
It's a gamble no matter what, I personally never believe these 'historic' fault code guff. Normally people get fault codes checked!
Butter Face said:
Buying a £2500, 10 year old car from miles away is a recipie for disaster IMO.
This. This again. Cue the next thread - "car has issues, he won't answer my calls, I can't afford to take the back to him as it's too for away, he won't pay for repairs by my local mechanics, I've been robbed!"
Thanks for the advice.
We have been testing the rented focus and it is very good. I managed to dim down the dash lights with a bit of polaroid film so they work for my over-sensitive eyes. Now we're just trying to work out how to make the ride less bumpy, but hopefully going down to the normal 16" tyres will sort that out. Fingers crossed anyway.
Thanks for the good advice. I appreciate it.
We have been testing the rented focus and it is very good. I managed to dim down the dash lights with a bit of polaroid film so they work for my over-sensitive eyes. Now we're just trying to work out how to make the ride less bumpy, but hopefully going down to the normal 16" tyres will sort that out. Fingers crossed anyway.
Thanks for the good advice. I appreciate it.
To be perfectly honest I would not be spending over 10% of the cars value on an RAC check. That could cover a sizeable repair.
I would be asking for a new mot, a warranty won't be much use on a car that age and at that price point I would class it almost disposable. If it had reasonable tyres, 12 months mot and a service I wouldn't be worried about much else. Check through its old mot history to see if it has any known issues and forget about stone chips and kerbed wheels it's a used car, if you want new then buy one.
I would be asking for a new mot, a warranty won't be much use on a car that age and at that price point I would class it almost disposable. If it had reasonable tyres, 12 months mot and a service I wouldn't be worried about much else. Check through its old mot history to see if it has any known issues and forget about stone chips and kerbed wheels it's a used car, if you want new then buy one.
Edited by steve-5snwi on Saturday 18th March 23:24
condor said:
This ^
10 year old car will probably need cam belt and water pump replacing very soon - has that been done? that's quite an expense on any car.
Could be, but the parts are cheap for that, for the same age focus I paid 120 quid for the parts (belt, tensioner, water pump).10 year old car will probably need cam belt and water pump replacing very soon - has that been done? that's quite an expense on any car.
If RAC said up to 20 miles, then 7.5 is included isn't it?
So...
After ages of testing Ford Focuses, I still like the idea of the Mondeo.
I phoned up and they are going to get the aircon checked by an independent aircon specialist and they are doing to knock of the price of the service, tyre replacement and aircon fix from the price, so we can have those done locally.
I also checked and it turns out that warranty is not with the garage, it is a national thing that will work with any vat registered garage. If I take it to a Halford's autocare centre then they will do the work and bill the warranty people direct.
That all seems better to me and I'm still tempted. As one poster said above, this is basically a disposable car at that price and I'm tempted to have a go.
Would anybody interested in further running commentary if we try it, so we can see how the story plays out?
After ages of testing Ford Focuses, I still like the idea of the Mondeo.
I phoned up and they are going to get the aircon checked by an independent aircon specialist and they are doing to knock of the price of the service, tyre replacement and aircon fix from the price, so we can have those done locally.
I also checked and it turns out that warranty is not with the garage, it is a national thing that will work with any vat registered garage. If I take it to a Halford's autocare centre then they will do the work and bill the warranty people direct.
That all seems better to me and I'm still tempted. As one poster said above, this is basically a disposable car at that price and I'm tempted to have a go.
Would anybody interested in further running commentary if we try it, so we can see how the story plays out?
Who's the warranty with ? Some are pay and reclaim subject to an excess and are also reduced by age and mileage and have an hourly rate cap. Basically don't rely on them.
If it makes you feel any better I flew to Belfast this morning and I'm on a ferry with a 7 hour drive I. Front of me when I get to Scotland
If it makes you feel any better I flew to Belfast this morning and I'm on a ferry with a 7 hour drive I. Front of me when I get to Scotland
i would save your money, get a higher milage if you don't do long journeys.
something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-1-8-LX-MANUA...
900 quid. looks ok to me but i wouldn't be fixated on condition and mileage, just if it has been looked after mechanically.
something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MONDEO-1-8-LX-MANUA...
900 quid. looks ok to me but i wouldn't be fixated on condition and mileage, just if it has been looked after mechanically.
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