Buying this car... Advice please

[TFU] Thegoon84

[TFU] Thegoon84

[TFU] Thegoon84

Soldato
Joined
17 Jun 2009
Posts
7,089
Location
Swansea
Buying a Car

Further to a previous post of mine, I’ve decided not to pay ££££ for a car atm as I’m having an extension built.

End of the year when I know what money I have spare I will look to spend some good cash on a car…

So my question is I’ve seen a car I’m going to look at 2nite, I can get it for £900. The description is below.

Could you guys give me any advice on what I should look for and is this worth it? The guy who is selling it is an old guy who’s diabetic and is starting to lose his sight so has to give up his driving licence.

Ford Mondeo 2.0 Zetec 4dr Saloon
2002 (52 reg), Saloon
Private seller, distance: 7 miles
• 86,000 miles
• Manual
• 2.0L
• Diesel
• Owned from new
• 0
4 Door Saloon, Diesel, 45 mpg. Manual, Electrically adjustable drivers seat, Alloy wheels, Side airbags, Height adjustable drivers seat, Front fog lights, Electric door mirrors. …
 
Problem is you can get too deep into this type of car, set of tyres / turbo / clutch / dmf all quite expensive jobs but once you have done one you won't want to get rid of it then you end up just piling money into it.
 
On othe other hand , check it over I would say. Make sure it is not smoking , white smoke, or any smoke. Drive it and make your call , for £900..it is not a bad buy. If it is not a good example walk away, bring someone with you....by that I don't mean your kid but someone who knows something about cars.
A PC costs more than that.
A few yrs later if it costs too much to fix, junk it..it has served it's purpose.
 
It's a punt, see if the car is cold when you get there, see if it uses oil, see if the clutch is in good condition, state of the tyres, any rattles from the gearbox.

It could go on for another 40k no problems, I'd buy based on condition and general feel / gut feeling.
 
Ok thanks guys!

If i see any oil in the header tank or anything i dont like or think "hmmm".... Walking right away.

It is an old man's car, so hopefully he's not hiding anything thats wrong with it.
 
As above just check what you can and see what kind of feeling you get from it. Remember lots of people don't really know anything about cars, so even if they don't mean to they could be moving on a ticking time bomb (or of course completely deliberately)

It's a £900 car - if it is in very good condition, its' owner has looked after it the last gew years and your gut feel is that it'll keep working for a year or two then buy it, regardless of what fuel it uses.

The clutch check above is particularly important as it's relatively expensive to sort.
 
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Can almost guarantee it'll be a shed - by all means go and look at it but they're popular enough that he could ask more money for it. There will be a reason.

Ask yourself this, why would you try to sell a car with only 2 months MOT?

Why do you keep looking at leggy tatty old diesels? Do you have something against leggy tatty old petrols??
 
rodenal said:
Can almost guarantee it'll be a shed - by all means go and look at it but they're popular enough that he could ask more money for it. There will be a reason.

Ask yourself this, why would you try to sell a car with only 2 months MOT?

Why do you keep looking at leggy tatty old diesels? Do you have something against leggy tatty old petrols??
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Haha, I'm open to suggestion. I dont want to be traveling far to pick it up.

Fancy making me a suggestion:

Sa66LD £1000 limit.
 
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As above, anything old and common rail diesel tends to be a bit of a liability at the lower end of the price range.

Take my current project, a cheap Rover 75 Tourer CDTi. I did a leak off test on the injectors before buying, as they're...... £190 EACH! Similar price to the Mondeo. I bought to repair the clutch and sell on, if it had knackered injectors it'd be a scrap job.

Buying a cheap diesel is a total minefield with common rail cars dropping below a grand.

Oh, and a lot of diesel Mondeos have fuggered DMFs. That's a lovely bill of around £500 for parts alone.
 
If you really need a cheap diesel, look at a Pug 306 turbo diesel.

Otherwise get a 2.0 Mondeo Petrol.
 
mattyprice4004 said:
As above, anything old and common rail diesel tends to be a bit of a liability at the lower end of the price range.

Take my current project, a cheap Rover 75 Tourer CDTi. I did a leak off test on the injectors before buying, as they're...... £190 EACH! Similar price to the Mondeo. I bought to repair the clutch and sell on, if it had knackered injectors it'd be a scrap job.

Buying a cheap diesel is a total minefield with common rail cars dropping below a grand.

Oh, and a lot of diesel Mondeos have fuggered DMFs. That's a lovely bill of around £500 for parts alone.
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Listen to this man, I bought a Mondeo last year - lasted 6 months after having multiple repairs with 'refurbed' injectors etc and still had issues. The previous owner had in the previous year had the DMF/Clutch/Slave cylinder done and some minor repairs to the brakes and that was over a grand.

Turbo goes, that'll be £800+ in parts and labour, a full set of injectors will be £1000+ in parts and labour. I got rid and bought a 1.6 Petrol Focus instead :) If you want a Mondeo, get a petrol - far less trouble.
 
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