are people really so gullible?
Discussion
So I am looking for a nice diesel ZTT for my business as a runaround car. I spotted an advert in Autotrader for (what looked like) a nice silver one - facelift model, low miles, high spec etc.
Spoke to seller and he assured me it was "lovely, perfect,no accidents etc etc" so I arranged to drive the 40 odd miles to view.
WHAT A JOKE
All 4 wheels curbed to buggery was not a good start. Then, I spotted the rear light cluster was out of alignment. I touched it and it fell out completely! (held in by white mastic rather than screws) The other tail lamp was the same. One of the rear doors refused to unlock, and the drivers door card flapped in the breeze. The NSF wing was so badly fitted it was a joke, and the paint was so new on it that the puddles of rainwater under the bonnet and in the plenum were covered in a film of silver paint! (it was easy to check the plenum cos the cover was missing too. ) The boot was full of water and the rear glass looked decidedly dodgy. In short, a bit of a wreck! - and he wanted top dollar for it too! Is it likely that someone would be gullible enough to buy that shed and assume (wrongly)that all the faults that would quickly come to light were the result of (supposedly) crap Longbridge assembly standards?
So, I'm still looking.... cash waiting!
Spoke to seller and he assured me it was "lovely, perfect,no accidents etc etc" so I arranged to drive the 40 odd miles to view.
WHAT A JOKE
All 4 wheels curbed to buggery was not a good start. Then, I spotted the rear light cluster was out of alignment. I touched it and it fell out completely! (held in by white mastic rather than screws) The other tail lamp was the same. One of the rear doors refused to unlock, and the drivers door card flapped in the breeze. The NSF wing was so badly fitted it was a joke, and the paint was so new on it that the puddles of rainwater under the bonnet and in the plenum were covered in a film of silver paint! (it was easy to check the plenum cos the cover was missing too. ) The boot was full of water and the rear glass looked decidedly dodgy. In short, a bit of a wreck! - and he wanted top dollar for it too! Is it likely that someone would be gullible enough to buy that shed and assume (wrongly)that all the faults that would quickly come to light were the result of (supposedly) crap Longbridge assembly standards?
So, I'm still looking.... cash waiting!
(at least not in the midlands there isn't) Bought mine on Autotrader with no problems, 20k+ in last 12 months. The problem with buying a ZT is that there aren't that many about compared to say Mondeos, Vectras and BMW 3 series, even less if you're after an estate. So you can't just nip around the corner and find what you want. We needed a car quickly after the car I had at the time expired big time and I suppose I took a risk but it's worked out ok. Just walk away if you don't like it. I thought that there were some nice ones on here but you need to be prepared to travel, ours was a 100 mile journey, twice........dealer was pretty straight with us. Keep looking, they're brilliant cars.
Oh right, you should get a lovely one for that!
I was going to say that I'm about to put mine up for sale - belts done in May, 60k miles, refurbed wheels, new exhaust and a load of other stuff that comes to £1600 in the last 8 months. Problem is that it's a pre facelift and had an unloving lady owner beforehand, if you get my drift? (Quite a number of light scuffs and scrapes - looks great from 10 feet away but get close and you can see a few marks.) Couple of thousand under your budget though, but to be honest there are better cars out there for a similar price to what I'm looking for - they're just few and far between. Happy to pass you the details though!
Have you tried http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay...? I spent ages looking at ZTs and got the impression that most of them end up rather unloved and neglected. As a result I think the best bet is to try and get one owned by an enthusiast, i.e.by one of the beardy types off a forum like that.
Not trying to put you off but those later models are likely to need the belts doing in the next year or so, so make sure you factor that into your decision. It's a £500+ job.
Fantastic cars though! (He says touching a big piece of wood!)
I was going to say that I'm about to put mine up for sale - belts done in May, 60k miles, refurbed wheels, new exhaust and a load of other stuff that comes to £1600 in the last 8 months. Problem is that it's a pre facelift and had an unloving lady owner beforehand, if you get my drift? (Quite a number of light scuffs and scrapes - looks great from 10 feet away but get close and you can see a few marks.) Couple of thousand under your budget though, but to be honest there are better cars out there for a similar price to what I'm looking for - they're just few and far between. Happy to pass you the details though!
Have you tried http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay...? I spent ages looking at ZTs and got the impression that most of them end up rather unloved and neglected. As a result I think the best bet is to try and get one owned by an enthusiast, i.e.by one of the beardy types off a forum like that.
Not trying to put you off but those later models are likely to need the belts doing in the next year or so, so make sure you factor that into your decision. It's a £500+ job.
Fantastic cars though! (He says touching a big piece of wood!)
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