Put a deposit down, if it passes MOT fine it's mine

iaind · 12 Sep 2010 at 11:01

I think everyone else has covered most of the usual lolwtf points, but there is one big thing you're missing.

You've immediately spotted several big, obvious issues, but what about the little niggles that you haven't discovered yet? If that car was worth 4 times as much with a few hundred quid spent on it, the dealer would have done it. He wanted rid of it quick for a reason, there's probably a whole heap of problems with it and the big ones are only the tip of the iceberg.

Look at my accord, similar value and age - I spent ages going over it and it was a MUCH tidier and better looked after car than that. It took a few days for the niggles to come to the surface and I was lucky that they were simple and cheap. I cringe to think what that car is hiding

Also.....dude, it's lilac and beige and has a dong towbar. I'm not one for buying cars based on looks, my rover brown accord is testament to that. But you said a number of times that it's a good looking car.....wtf

mjt · 12 Sep 2010 at 11:56

Not sure what the towbar hate is about. The car's in the Netherlands.
EVERYONE and their dog has a ****ing caravan and therefore needs a towbar.

Mine came with a Volvo towbar, but at least it's removable.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:11

iaind said:
Look at my accord, similar value and age - I spent ages going over it and it was a MUCH tidier and better looked after car than that. It took a few days for the niggles to come to the surface and I was lucky that they were simple and cheap. I cringe to think what that car is hiding

Very little to really go wrong with these cars, and most things are cheap to repair. I see little risk with this car personally, maybe thats because I actually know them.

This thread is full of amazing assumptions.

Its got to be a complete dog

The MOT must be the same as the UK

Prices must be the same as the UK

Towbar means it has to be a complete shed

Extra dials mean its owned by an idiot

It looks awful

Its cheap therefore must hold a ticking time-bomb

etc etc etc

Instead of thinking, hey, hes in the Netherlands where the market is very different and peoples needs differ from ours. Looks depend on whos looking, he might want a towbar, dials might be the result of a mis-guided owner who may have actually looked after the car. Clutches and the work he mentioned is cheap to do, but no, it must cost thousands to repair.

Hes bought an older Galant for a grand. Its generally a reliable car with a good engine. Very easy to work on and parts are cheap. It is a leap from the old s40, which is what he wanted.

If I wanted a car in this price range, I would aim for a Galant personally. I helped one mate buy a 98 2.0 with high miles for £800 and another got a 2003 v6 for £2500, both have been great.

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:21

Axeboy said:
It is a leap from the old s40, which is what he wanted.

Both cars were produced over near enough the same timescale. They're both old.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:22

Its a step up, thats the point.

Having experience of both models, it is a step up. Remember the s40 is carisma based and the galant was a model level up.

Lets not forget he has said he is happier with it, he is the one who has had both yet here we believe at the keyboard we know better.

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:25

It isn't a step up though, really.

It's not even as big a step up as upgrading from a VW Polo to a Golf in real world terms.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:27

Captain_Slick said:
It isn't a step up though, really.

How not?

They were both cheap cars yes, but is a 1998 Audi A8 a step up from a 1998 Audi A6?

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:29

Axeboy said:
How not?

They were both cheap cars yes, but is a 1998 Audi A8 a step up from a 1998 Audi A6?

Yes. Both of those cars are in a totally different league to the Galant and S40, provided you're talking about looked after examples.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:30

Ok, 1998 A6 a step up from a 1998 A4?

Getting there...

Joshy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:31

I'm going to pick on a few small points

snowdog said:
Rather spend 1k on a car and 1k on patching it up than 4k for the same end result.

Like you have been told time and again, you will be VERY lucky for this sort of logic to pan out, especially in the long run. You've ALREADY budgeted 1k+ for stuff that you already know that is borked on a relatively old, obviously abused used car - Are you honestly telling us that you don't think that there are going to be further issues than the ones you noticed on a quick test drive?

And, If all it honestly needs is 1k's worth of work to make it worth the 3k/4k that others in "comparable" condition, ask yourself why the seller hasn't done the work himself? It's all well and good claiming that he's "lazy", but if it is such simple stuff, can be done for such little money, why would he not bother? Some people are lazy, but lazy to the point of losing 2,000 euro for the sake of driving it between his house, bodyshop and then to a garage to get the clutch sorted? I doubt it.

If it was for nail for ages at 4k, it was quite obviously a nail. The fact that he has slashed the asking price does not make the car any less of a nail.

snowdog said:
<Fox bashing>

What the hell? It's not like Fox is the only person who is telling you that you should not have bought this car?

I'm sure many of the people who have posted in this thread against this buy have owned some less than pristine cars in there time, why don't you go and moan at them for having too high standards? Maybe me? A person who hasn't actually yet owned a car that wasn't in production before I was born, and currently owns a tatty random Toyota that 97% of people do not know existed and a 205 with no interior and the wrong engine fitted.

I have/had some real sheds in my life and honestly, I wouldn't touch that Galant with a barge pole quite simply because there is no need to. It's not like it is a super rare car and you actually seem to more or less have enough money to buy a half decent one.

snowdog said:
This is faster...

Why on earth do you keep on going on and on about "speed" and traffic light GPs when you've just bought a car that cracks 0-60 in a WHOLE 8 seconds? :confused:

Fr0dders · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:33

i do so love a good snowdog thread.

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:33

Axeboy said:
Ok, 1998 A6 a step up from a 1998 A4?

Getting there...

Absolutely.

We're not getting there though. Audi are not really comparable to Volvo and Mitsubishi.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:35

next one:

A 1998 Galant a step up from a 1998 Carisma?

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:35

Axeboy said:
next one:

A 1998 Galant a step up from a 1998 Carisma?

Nope. Not at all. It may technically be one, but I'm betting they both drive like washing mashines on wheels, except ones got a slightly nicer interior.

Joshy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:36

Axeboy said:
Lets not forget he has said he is happier with it, he is the one who has had both yet here we believe at the keyboard we know better.

The guy in the CarCraft thread was happy with his Cilo.

Were we supposed to sit back, grin and type "Well, as long as you're happy with it mate!

"?

This is a discussion forum and we tend to discuss stuff, particularly when people get a very questionable "deal" on a car

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:38

Its a discussion forum where people jump to conclusions and assume they know it all.

For example, everyone seems to know the used car market in the NL's better than he does. Thats why im getting wound up and I have nothing to do with it. We seem to be able to comment on a "deal" without evidence.

Also, any car he buys he needs to budget for repairs. He can fix the clutch and run this, with little risk of much else going on.

I mean, why dont we get some examples for his £3500ish original budget including risk of repairs etc that comes with any car at that funding level.

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:39

Nobody is claiming to know the used car market in NL better than he does. We're just telling him that the 'upgrade' is pointless.

Axeboy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:41

I understand Captain, but while maybe not the biggest leap, it is a bit of an upgrade. Its buttons money and im sure he had funds from his s40... this is a better car. I really dont see why its so bad.

Captain_Slick · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:45

Axeboy said:
I really dont see why its so bad.

He's buying a car for €1000 that needs €1000-1500 to fix. If the car was worth it, the garage would have fixed it before putting it on sale. I'd wager that it'll still be worth €1000 even after he's fixed it... because it's a 1997 Galant that's needed €1000-1500 worth of work doing to it.

Where as if he spends his full budget on a car worth his full budget... he'll have a car that's worth his full budget (and of course he does have to keep in mind that stuff may go wrong but you have to with all cars).

He's saving money to spend money and getting a worse car in the process.

Joshy · 12 Sep 2010 at 12:47

Axeboy said:
For example, everyone seems to know the used car market in the NL's better than he does. Thats why im getting wound up and I have nothing to do with it. We seem to be able to comment on a "deal" without evidence.

We're not really. All we are saying that he could have bought a better car than a rusty lilac with tan interior Galant with a bonked clutch with his 3500 budget. You do not need an in-depth knowledge of the NL car market to know that.

Axeboy said:
Also, any car he buys he needs to budget for repairs. He can fix the clutch and run this, with little risk of much else going on.

Little risk? He's bought an obviously abused example of a car that was up for sale for a fourth of the market going rate! I think there is much risk of something else going wrong. Snowdog is acting like the issues that he's spotted from a short test drive and going to be the all issues that this car has. This is VERY rarely the case on a 10+ year old used car.

How many people here can say that they've bought a used car and not found ANY additional faults that they did not pick up on the test drive?