Ex M.O.D. to buy or not to buy…?

[The Seer]

I appreciate this is a topic that has been discussed previously but I wondered if opinions had changed in recent times.

I’m looking a 2018 Kia Cee’d with low mileage as a daily driver. It’s an ex MOD car and like most MOD cars, an excellent full service history at a Kia dealer.

I’ve yet to see the car and test drive it and it is a distance from me but the price is very appealing. Question is should I pursue this one or being ex MOD is it very likely to have been driven without mechanical sympathy? It may drive ok on the test drive but may have suffered excessive wear due to a hard life?

[Cylon2007]

If as you say it's low mileage and full service history why would you think it more likely to be a bad buy rather than private/retail???

Just go see it and if it fits the description buy it.

[PoorCarCollector]

The Seer said:

I appreciate this is a topic that has been discussed previously but I wondered if opinions had changed in recent times.

I’m looking a 2018 Kia Cee’d with low mileage as a daily driver. It’s an ex MOD car and like most MOD cars, an excellent full service history at a Kia dealer.

I’ve yet to see the car and test drive it and it is a distance from me but the price is very appealing. Question is should I pursue this one or being ex MOD is it very likely to have been driven without mechanical sympathy? It may drive ok on the test drive but may have suffered excessive wear due to a hard life?

Why would you think this way? Any second hand car could have a hard life, maybe look at buying new if that worries you?

I do know the road tax is higher on the ex-MOD cars, if that is something that would bother you.

[The Seer]

Cylon2007 said:

If as you say it's low mileage and full service history why would you think it more likely to be a bad buy rather than private/retail???

Just go see it and if it fits the description buy it.

I’ve heard ex MOD lead a hard life like rental vehicles

[The Seer]

PoorCarCollector said:

Why would you think this way? Any second hand car could have a hard life, maybe look at buying new if that worries you?

I do know the road tax is higher on the ex-MOD cars, if that is something that would bother you.

I don’t believe the road tax differs from what I’m aware of

[Auto810graphy]

The Seer said:

I’ve heard ex MOD lead a hard life like rental vehicles

Like all cars it depends on the driver and the purpose of the car. Most are very well maintained and may just be in the Motor Transport pool and used to go between sites as a when needed so In theory they may just do occasional long motorway trips. It’s also unlikely road cars will see any form of off road use as there are plenty of more suitable vehicles available.

[DodgyGeezer]

I would imagine that there'd be a awful lot of short trips and, like American cop cars, a lot of static time just spent idling

[The Seer]

Auto810graphy said:

Like all cars it depends on the driver and the purpose of the car. Most are very well maintained and may just be in the Motor Transport pool and used to go between sites as a when needed so In theory they may just do occasional long motorway trips. It’s also unlikely road cars will see any form of off road use as there are plenty of more suitable vehicles available.

Ok, thanks for the incite there perhaps an ex MOD wouldn’t be too bad then

[dai1983]

If it's an MT car then it'll have a system fitted that will warn the driver of excessive cornering, speeding, braking and engine revs etc. it's all recorded and if flagged up the driver may have to explain their poor driving.

Bear in mind a lot of military drivers get fast tracked to their licence and I consider them "aimers" as opposed to "drivers" . Also no sympathy for the vehicle and I wouldn't buy an ex MoD combi van for example.

[hidetheelephants]

Evaluate it as you would any used car; the MOD lease thousands of vehicles, some get abused by neanderthal squaddies, some get driven around by normal people doing normal things, it's pointless to speculate.

[123DWA]

The Seer said:

It’s an ex MOD car and like most MOD cars, an excellent full service history at a Kia dealer.

I haven't bought MOD cars for 5/6 years now (too much faff waiting for new V5's for them) but when I did they were all serviced internally not sent out to dealers.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

The Seer said:

an excellent full service history at a Kia dealer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395526281248

[Kevin-2g5x2]

I have a registered business as a sole trader and purchased two ex m.o.d. Kia estate cars a couple of months ago out of a batch of approximately thirty 2017-18 cars that came up at Auction. The condition and mileages varied from 24k to 75k as despite all being M.O.D they were based at different locations in the UK and used for different purposes, some had full Kia history and some didn't but as with most 'company' cars under warranty if anything goes wrong you book it in and it gets sorted. As you would when purchasing any vehicle judge each one on it's condition and mileage, fortunately they're Kia diesels which have a good reputation for reliability, you will find however that they have no MOT history on DVLA website other than the current one required to register them as the M.O.D run them on service number plates before disposal and are not subject to MOT requirements as 'normal' cars.
The spec is exactly the same as any other Kia Ceed estate manufactured at that time, mentioned by another poster the only 'hassle' is the time it takes for DVLA to sort out the registration paperwork you have to complete but the selling dealer will have done all that for you beforehand.