Car Viewing

[SkidMarkKing]

Hi guys,

im going to view a 2009 plate seat leon FR on Saturday. 85k miles on the clock with full service history. Judging by the photos the car is in brilliant condition inside and out.

Is there anything I should look out for? (2L Diesel Engine, 170BHP).

The garage im going to does have good reputation and I was actually put of a similar Leon last week due to the poor reviews of the garage.

Thanks in advance

 

[PiKe]

Tyre brands give you a lot of information about how cared for a car is.

 

[xs2man]

Tyre brands give you a lot of information about how cared for a car is.

Although you will never know if the garage swapped out almost done PS4's for a set of Acceleras.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

I will check the full service history as that means a lot surely as well. I’ve had Services in the past and if they spot something wrong they note it down.

 

[rhysduck]

As already said, tyres and service history.
If it is in brilliant condition inside and out then it's probably been looked after.
I'd check under the bonnet for the engine bay condition too for a quick glance (spilled oil etc), generally if the exterior is in great condition the previous owner/s has looked after the outside with some pride (regular washes, polishing, waxing etc).

If you're a half decent judge of character you'll be able to gauge what kind of guy (or girl) the previous owner was when you meet them...

If it don't feel right, walk away

Edit: check brake pad / discs too!

 

[VaderDSL]

Is it worth seeing if they have invoices for the servicing as well?

 

[dacads]

Check the MOT history online..

You'd be surprised the amount of cars that get advisories for tyres and the like, shows lack of care and awareness.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

No mention of number of owners?

FSH can mean a lot of things to different people, as long as its been regularly serviced then its no drama.

Receipts for tyres rather than physically whats on there today would tell you more, but its not just tyres, brakes and exhaust for example are just as telling if they look like the cheapest possible versions.

At 85k miles though there will be risk attached, even with a perfectly serviced and no expense spared car. Obviously the risk goes up on an abused one.

I used to know a car valeter, freind of a friend. What he would do to a car was quite amazing in a few hours. He was permanently employed by a 2nd hand car dealer (quite a big one). How a car looks and can be made to look means I wouldn't place a lot of stock by how it looks sitting on the forecourt!
The only real way to be sure is to commission something like an RAC vehicle inspection (or get a decent mechanic to do one if you know one). Not cheap but potentially worth it.

I nearly bought a car once (my first car in fact) an MG Metro, as it happened my grandad was lending me the money, and he was a long term RAC member and at the time got a massive discount on the inspection service.
He said he would pay to have it checked. This was from a main rover dealer. The report was shocking. Turns out the car had been in a fairly significant crash, someone at the garage had repaired it, of course focussing on cosmetic rather than mechanical.
It looked lovely, and had good service history etc, it had been well cared for, but then it had been smashed and the owner didn't want to drive it, hence the repair outside insurance and the selling on. It was technically road legal, but you wouldn't have wanted to drive it really, as technically road legal and safe aren't exactly the same thing

 

[SkidMarkKing]

Check the MOT history online..

You'd be surprised the amount of cars that get advisories for tyres and the like, shows lack of care and awareness.

Yes, I found a good app the other week for that. Only had one advisory for low tread tyres and that was 4-5 years ago.

I have noticed the AA will come out and check it over for £200-£250. One of my concerns is that its a diesel and I do have a works van so I won't be using it a huge deal. Mainly just weekends/holidays. There is a town near me that you go on a dual carriageway/motorway to get to that takes 30/40 minutes (1 hour round trip) so I could take it up there for a blast every now and then. I read DPF problems are ££££. Only other option is maybe go for a 2L petrol which is more in fuel and more in tax but less risk of the dreaded DPF faults? I did initially look at the VW golf MK5 GTI.

 

[dacads]

Well no point buying a diesel if you won't be doing above average miles.

Every car can have issues but the Golf GTI is certainly a more exciting prospect!

 

[SkidMarkKing]

Well no point buying a diesel if you won't be doing above average miles.

Every car can have issues but the Golf GTI is certainly a more exciting prospect!

I was looking at the age for my money. GTI 2006 ish where as leon for same money would be 2009/2010

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

How many miles will you do in it?
If you have to take it out for a blast every so often to negate driving it in the wrong conditions your kind of defeating the point of saving fuel by buying a diesel!

With the hatred of diesel now you may get a particularly good deal on one, you can certainly push for it. Also as much as DPF is a big issue when used in the wrong conditions, you can get issues with CATs as well on petrols when they get towards higher mileage, they don't go on forever.
https://bookmygarage.com/blog/catalytic-converters-long-last-cost-much/

They did the leon with the same 1.8T (petrol TFSi) engine that eg the TT had in it. Probably some golf as well Not sure never looked for a 1.8T golf). Or the same 2.0 TFSi as the golf.
As its the same VW group you have almost identicle engines across the group (bar some minor tweaks of tune etc, and some minor gaps in some models)

So you could get a 1.8/2.0 TFsi leon Fr if you like the leon and the value for money compared to a golf.
I actually considered the leon FR myself whilst looking 6 months or so ago for a new car, they are not half bad really for the money.
In the end I went TT, it just ticked more boxes as an overall package for me, but the FR help up well to the competition.

You just have to remember the target market for each part of the VW group. With them sharing lots of components as well as the chassis on lots of models you aren't going to get cars that drive significantly differently as long as you stick to comparable models.

 

[Nasher]

Although you will never know if the garage swapped out almost done PS4's for a set of Acceleras.

Dealers will almost always stick ditch finders on cars though, just so they can advertise it as having "new tyres". Even though they are probably worse than bald PS4s.

Online MOT history is a good one. But don't worry about minor stuff.

Problem is with used cars you can have one which looks pristine, but is hiding loads of issues. Then one which has slightly tatty paint/bodywork but has been looked after mechanically. One is quite cheap to fix, the other isn't.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

How many miles will you do in it?
If you have to take it out for a blast every so often to negate driving it in the wrong conditions your kind of defeating the point of saving fuel by buying a diesel!

I used to do just under 10k but now I have a works van so I would probably do half that. I am currently looking at the TSI/TSI FR leons as well and the mk5 GTI golfs. I did originally look at the MK5 Golf GTI but got fed up of looking for a decent one so I considered other brands. To be fair im not looking purposely for a diesel its just one came up around 1 hour drive away which looked to be decent so I thought ide go test drive it and they will take my old 51 plate leon off me

Main cars im looking at are the leon, golf and audi A3 but the A3 seems to cost a lot more for a nice spec.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

I would deffo not consider a diesel on that mileage unless it was practically all long distance

Diesels also take longer to warm up, so whilst they are always better on MPG its marginally reduced whilst warming up.

Well the VW group is setup that the Audis are the "premium" end so they will demand some cash premium, whether or not thats worth it depends on your personal preference.
Skoda is aimed at the budget/value end
Seat at the young sporty end
VW at the medium of everything, and
Audi at the premium

Thats very loose as clearly you can get models that seem to cross those markers, but thats their marketing angle.

Then you have to consider the snob value, whilst audi and vw are perfectly acceptable to most people there are plenty still that immediately go oh no to Skoda and seat.
My mother in law for example still thinks Rover (ffs they are what 10 years old minimum now?) is a premium brand and wouldn't go near Skoda as they are "terrible"

 

[SkidMarkKing]

I would deffo not consider a diesel on that mileage unless it was practically all long distance

Diesels also take longer to warm up, so whilst they are always better on MPG its marginally reduced whilst warming up.

Well the VW group is setup that the Audis are the "premium" end so they will demand some cash premium, whether or not thats worth it depends on your personal preference.
Skoda is aimed at the budget/value end
Seat at the young sporty end
VW at the medium of everything, and
Audi at the premium

Thats very loose as clearly you can get models that seem to cross those markers, but thats their marketing angle.

Then you have to consider the snob value, whilst audi and vw are perfectly acceptable to most people there are plenty still that immediately go oh no to Skoda and seat.
My mother in law for example still thinks Rover (ffs they are what 10 years old minimum now?) is a premium brand and wouldn't go near Skoda as they are "terrible"

Yeah tough one. The search goes on I guess. Feel like its going on for a while this car hunt, lol. I need it 5 door really due to having a little one, less than 100,000 miles. £5000 with p/x of my leon. Don't really want to be travelling over 50 miles as ile have to make a journey to test drive it then another journey back to pick it up.

 

[Nasher]

The only real difference between an Audi and a Skoda is a few interior details. So issues that effect one model are very likely to effect the equivalent under the other badge.

 

[SkidMarkKing]

The only real difference between an Audi and a Skoda is a few interior details. So issues that effect one model are very likely to effect the equivalent under the other badge.

To be honest I can't see me going Audi, not for this (my second) car.

Ile keep looking for the Mk5 GTI or 2l tsi leon then I think.

 

[PegasusOne]

I'd look up that model's known faults on the internet if you haven't already.

If you get the right info you can knock off certain years of production and look for the changing design of certain components that have been redesigned my the manufacuer later on in a models life to rectify certain faults.
I was looking at a certain make of car and discounted the 2008 to 2013 years due to chocolate gearbox syndrome and up to 2014.5 due to a redesigned gearbox fitted after that time.

On a personal note I will avoid buying a car that is at the beginning or even half way through its production life for that reason.

Other things to look for:
Emulsified oil (just take the oil filler cap off and look, it's obvious)
Exhaust smell in header tank on startup (I think this might be petrol only) (Don't take the expansion tank cap off unless the engine is stone cold or you know what you're doing.)
Make sure the car is cold when you arrive.
Uneven treadwear
Any whine in any gear
Gearshift moving or pushing back slightly when bringing the clutch up. This might be a case of watching it in all gears from stationary.
Look in between the panel gaps with a torch for rust or overspray/respray are the gaps equal on both sides?
Look underneath at the undercoat with a torch for any rust, especially along the chassis rails and in the wheel arches.

Abviously any clunks or knocking, but sometimes things that sound bad are litterally £10 to fix. Anti-roll bar links comes to mind on this one.

 

[chrislusty]

Tyre brands give you a lot of information about how cared for a car is.

Not always true my father in law had their 12 year Mazda 3 serviced at Mazda every year, even the new bulbs were from Mazda, but when it came to tyres it was the cheapest the tyre garage had. Drove me up the wall!