Bargain of the week?

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

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17 Mar 2004
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I have been on the hunt for a car for my lady with a max budget of £3k. From what we have seen, a Ka 1.3i, Micra 1.0 16v which we put a nominal deposit to get it into the dealers where I purchased my new Focus.

Looked at the Micra yesterday, and it was a shed, and by the looks of the other 2nd hand car dealers we visited £3k was not going to get a decent car with low miliege.

Off chance we saw a Fiesta 1.25 Y reg with 33k miles of it, and phoned the Ford dealers who said it had been sold. The guy suggested a couple others, one of which being the following. Over budget, but totally imaculate.

Pick it up next Saturday.

2005 (05) MK6 Fez 1.25 Finesse 3DR 1owner with just 16k miles on it in 3 years from a Ford dealers. It drove very well, the inside is brand new, with the new car smell. I know how good these cars are as I owned a 1.4 Zetec when they were launched in 2002. My lady is v.very pleased. Cost £4,295, and we opted for a Ford warranty for 3 years which includes home start etc with RAC at £17 a month interest free with a years MOT and Service

I know its too late to say "did I get a good deal", but I think it offers value for money and 3 years hassle free motoring :)

Oh......stopped at Asda on the way home, and she has already bought stuff to garnish the interior! A 'Pink' smily face air freshener. The mats were left on the shelf when I said they would not fit :D
 
Tesla said:
It seems a good price but going over budget by 50% is not intelligent car buying.
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Its available cash, not financed :) and paid £1,200 grand more for a car 5 years newer to what we had been looking at. 3k was our limit based on what we thought was available judging by autotrader etc.
 
thepharcyde said:
Its available cash, not financed :) and paid £1,200 grand more for a car 5 years newer to what we had been looking at. 3k was our limit based on what we thought was available judging by autotrader etc.
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I really don't understand what you just said. Sorry if this comes across as me being a ****** but I really don't. Interested to know your point if you could edit the post :)

(Purely from a salespersons point of view and I am under the impression you were sold up to this car as apposed to being sold something within budget)
 
Tesla said:
I really don't understand what you just said. Sorry if this comes across as me being a ****** but I really don't. Interested to know your point if you could edit the post :)

(Purely from a salespersons point of view and I am under the impression you were sold up to this car as apposed to being sold something within budget)
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Sorry my English sucks at times.

Ford Ka 1.3i 44k miles £2,495 dents scratches etc
Micra 1.0 16v, £2,641 dents scratches cig burns etc etc
Fiesta 1.25 anothe Y reg 66k miles http://users.autoexposure.co.uk/classicdd.cfm?Account=AETA75867&VehicleID=AETV20041435
Overpriced and loads of miles. not willing to drop price

Mk6 one we have bought at least 5 years newer than above imac, and for little more cash IMO. 3k was based on what we thought would be a good budget, not based on what we could afford :). Get what you pay for.
 
No worries, thanks for not taking it the wrong way. There are a lot of posters who jump on other users grammar or spelling just for the sake of it even though it's clear the point they are trying to make, I didn't question your post for this reason at all :)

Ah right I see. I was under the impression you had a strict budget and just went a bit mad and excited when it came to purchasing the car.

I believe you could have found a mint car for your budget, admittedly not as new as the Fiesta you have just purchased. Perhaps, looking at the cars you did put you completely off purchasing one of that age?

The thing is, when you think of the typical life of these cars it's no wonder they are battered. Low mileage due to lots of small, short trips. Which means people get in and out the car more often than a car of similar mileage that has done majoritively long trips.

They are often parked in car parks where most other users think it's acceptable to whack their doors into the adjacent car.

If you look after yours and if it gets a few cosmetic dents then perhaps get them touched up which isn't too expensive and 3-5years down the line it wouldn't of actually depreciated that much at all (as you probably know from the price of not so great condition cars which are 5years older).

Above all I am glad you are pleased with your purchase and I hope it fulfills the requirement for many trouble-free motoring years.
 
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We could have lived with a couple of dents, but when the body has more dents than a Landrover but gets described as 'good' condition, it got a bit disheartening. I think we both underestimated what we could get for 3k. Newer than 5 years under 40k miles, and with full documented service history.

Another car which must have been photoshopped we also looked at. Look like it offered good value. It had a huge score on the bumber which looked as if it had been touched up with a B&Q decorating brush. Pimples on the bonnet also suggested a respray at some time, but the salesman was shifty when we mentioned had it been in an accident. But on the face of it on the internet looked a good buy.

AETV99978223_1b.jpg
 
Firestar_3x said:
Much better choice than the micra, sound good for the money :)
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Think the throttle was on its way out too. When you turned it on it would rev high for a second and then go back down again as if I had my foot on the accelerator. The sales guy was sound when we asked for our deposit back, no questions asked.
 
Reminds me of when I was buying my MG a few years ago. I went to see one that was described in good condition and the photo looked fine but it was anything but when I went to see it!

Good deal - had one of those as a courtesy car when my Astra was being repaired. Definitely liked it
 
i remember looking around ford dealerships at Ka's as my missus at the time wanted one. must have looked at 20 of them... some were less than 3 years old and complete rotboxes. how can boots and sills start going on a 3 year old car nowadays??

she bought a mk3 corsa instead for the same price.
 
ajgoodfellow said:
Reminds me of when I was buying my MG a few years ago. I went to see one that was described in good condition and the photo looked fine but it was anything but when I went to see it!

Good deal - had one of those as a courtesy car when my Astra was being repaired. Definitely liked it
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It is highly annoying isn't it - I drove from Dundee to Carlisle to see an Audi a couple of years back, "good condition" the dealer said - the interior carpet had rotted, door panels falling off and as we arrived the shifty looking mechanic was outside gluing the Audi badges onto the back of the car! Spent 30 seconds looking at the car, told him to stuff it and that I was pretty ****** off having driven that far - ended up having a nice day out though!
 
Seems like an utter bargain to me the 1.25's are normally very nippy for what they are anyway.

What Car values it:

Ford Fiesta Hatchback (02-) 1.25 Finesse 3dr 2005 (05)16,000 miles

Dealer £5,115
Private £4,480
Cost new £8,595

So yea well done.
 
Tom|Nbk said:
Seems like an utter bargain to me the 1.25's are normally very nippy for what they are anyway.

What Car values it:

Ford Fiesta Hatchback (02-) 1.25 Finesse 3dr 2005 (05)16,000 miles

Dealer £5,115
Private £4,480
Cost new £8,595

So yea well done.
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Not sure about it being nippy but I had just driven to the dealers in a 3litre car :p. Anything over 4.5k revs is pointless and would just use more fuel and zero extra power :D

I comfortably got to and cruised at 70 MPH which is ideal when she goes to London on the motorway at just over 3k revs.

It does not have any toys other than a CD player. Compared to the Zetec 1.4 I had it does not have front fog lights, air con (which I added) or lecky windows. But is going to be a nice cheap safe ecomical run about for her.

We did have a look at what car and parkers when in Asda, and noticed that it was under what they were priced at.
 
Gf's folks have a 1.4 and it's a nice enough car to be in although I haven't driven it. Was under the impression the 1.25 struggles a bit but you've kinda already alluded to that :p
 
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