In the case of someone who knew what they were doing, I imagine going further afield is worth it.
For someone like me, who couldn't tell his car's arse from his car's elbow, it's a different story.
Cars be * expensive vs 10 years ago
- Thread starter FoxEye
- Start date
For someone like me, who couldn't tell his car's arse from his car's elbow, it's a different story.
I tend to be suspicious of low mileage older cars. Lots of opportunity to be clocked.
In my experience of looking at many cars last year, main dealers approved used were not of good quality.
It's a minefield, then. Is there any way to guarantee you won't get a lemon?
I bought one with a bit of manufacturer warranty left. Maybe look at Hyundai with their 7 year warranty?
Update on my car fun:
Made a 500 mile round trip to buy something, higher end of my budget. Indy dealer. Drove it home and on the way found numerous faults, some serious (mechanical + engine).
Dealer has agreed to a refund without complaint, which I'm thankful for. Another 500 mile round trip to return (hope it stays together on the trip!)
Wondering now if it's worth spending a bit more (literally doubling budget), staying local, and buying from an affiliated dealer?
e: more info, car I'm returning had <50k miles, 09 model. What you would classify (probably) as low-mileage. Didn't mean anything in the end.
Depends what's wrong with it, low mileage doesn't necessarily translate as good , the lack of use can mean they take longer to get serviced (some people service by mileage rather than yearly) it could mean it does lots of short trips which increases wear and clogs things up like dpf's etc .
Doubling budget doesn't always translate into a good buy either though, but I agree with you in staying local, it's such a fath and a waste of time traveling up and down the country to buy cars and then find out ultimately it's a turd.
I've recently bought a Kia ceed from a main dealer, they've had the car 5 weeks now and still no idea when I'm getting it back, they seem to ignore me when I ask for a refund.
Soni concur with the other chap, main dealer used cars can also be a pile of turd
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Well, I'm hoping there will be more decent cars/less chance of lemons, on a budget of 7k vs 4k. "Literally doubled" - yeah I was never very good at maths 
Or I could go the other way I guess, buy a £500 car and accept I will either destroy it or it will destroy me, in a fireball
Or I could go the other way I guess, buy a £500 car and accept I will either destroy it or it will destroy me, in a fireball
Hyundai have 5 year, Kia have 7
Well, I'm hoping there will be more decent cars/less chance of lemons, on a budget of 7k vs 4k. "Literally doubled" - yeah I was never very good at maths
Or I could go the other way I guess, buy a £500 car and accept I will either destroy it or it will destroy me, in a fireball
From what I can make out from looking myself recently anything less than 15k is generally tat, private sales are likely better.
15k plus and there is significantly more decent cars.
Problem is every man and his dog seems to think that everything is worth 10k these days and they always state their ads as *rare* I've also seen plenty of dealers do this aswell... The whole used car market boils my blood. I wish I could afford new tbh.
Or the wife would let me get a mid nineties jap metal, simple enough to wb able to fix and diagnose problems myself, modern enough to give creature comforts as standard... But recent arguments/discussions I seem to have lost each time, even with some really well thought out man maths she still wouldn't relent.
Not quite what I wanted to hear, perhaps the complete opposite
Would you say that holds true for so-called super-minis? Or are we talking family-sized cars, here. I thinking £7 k was a decent budget for a small car.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
What car was it?Update on my car fun:
Made a 500 mile round trip to buy something, higher end of my budget. Indy dealer. Drove it home and on the way found numerous faults, some serious (mechanical + engine).
Dealer has agreed to a refund without complaint, which I'm thankful for. Another 500 mile round trip to return (hope it stays together on the trip!)
Wondering now if it's worth spending a bit more (literally doubling budget), staying local, and buying from an affiliated dealer?
e: more info, car I'm returning had <50k miles, 09 model. What you would classify (probably) as low-mileage. Didn't mean anything in the end.
09 Yaris TR. (Mk 2.5.) 1.33 manual petrol.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
What faults? It is 14 years old.
Engine warning light, knocking noises on cornering (loud at times). Slight steering drift to left. Possible HUD fault (rev counter "stuck" at 1/3 or so). Struggled to maintain motorway speed (seemed to be power loss).
Plenty of cosmetic issues too, but like you say, that's 14 year old car for you. But the engine warning + knocking noises were too much to live with. Just imagined the future bills.
e: Also burning smell at higher revs. I'm not an expert, but I think burning smells tend to be bad?
e2: It should also be said, my expectations weren't high. My last car was 11 years old when bought and had cosmetic damage. But at least the engine and structure was OK (mostly. The brakes did fail, once...)
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Not quite what I wanted to hear, perhaps the complete opposite
Would you say that holds true for so-called super-minis? Or are we talking family-sized cars, here. I thinking £7 k was a decent budget for a small car.
Once upon a time it was.
Skoda's seem to be the better choice for cheap family cars,
I'd be more inclined to take the opposite approach than you have done and are proposing to.
By affiliated dealer are you talking about an approved used program? If so, I'd be willing to travel to get the one I wanted knowing that I could probably get anything significant taken care of at a local dealership through the approved used program. If I was buying a 14 year old car I'd probably only consider doing that from a local dealer with a good reputation (not many of them though).
Well, the alternative to buying a 14-year old car (at today's prices) is parting with 6-months worth of salary for one (if you earn avg UK wages).
Anything more modern than that and I'm seeing prices on AutoTrader in the region of £12-£15 k. Spending £7 k will only get you an older car, now. Even 14 year old cars are hitting £8 k.
Anything more modern than that and I'm seeing prices on AutoTrader in the region of £12-£15 k. Spending £7 k will only get you an older car, now. Even 14 year old cars are hitting £8 k.
I don't understand people who sell cars with engine management lights on. Nobody is gonna buy it. It's an MOT fail now anyway.
I've had so much time wasted buying cars over the years that I'm now particularly blunt with questions before I view. I literally end up annoying the seller. I'd rather that than waste time and money travelling far to view misrepresented dogs though.
I've had so much time wasted buying cars over the years that I'm now particularly blunt with questions before I view. I literally end up annoying the seller. I'd rather that than waste time and money travelling far to view misrepresented dogs though.
Most of which have done (well) over 100,000 miles. The UK average for a petrol car is ~6 or 7k per year. Focuses must be popular for motorway driving, because these are way over 100k for the most part.
OK fair enough if you're buying something cheap and local, but most of those adverts are also >200 miles away (as the crow flies). The car I picked up showed as 228 miles away, but in reality (and I should have checked first) it's more like a 270-290 mile drive depending on route taken. Never, ever again.
I've concluded from my recent experience that it's never worth going all that way to buy a banger. Focus: only 3 are within 200 miles and only 1 within 100 miles (or 5/1 with no mileage filter).
Yaris: 1 available with 125,000 miles (within 200 miles)
Jazz: 2 available with 110k and 125,000 miles (both > 200 miles).
£2,500 is just not achievable for a decent-ish car any more. Or not easily/often, anyhow.
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Worse are the ones trying to hide the engine management light - when I was needing to buy a car in a hurry it was a pain so many cars misrepresented. I'd rather just spend a little over the odds and buy from an established garage/dealer with a reasonable reputation.