Car Viewing

PiKe · 5 Apr 2018 at 18:03

Just going for ditch-finders signifies a penny pincher to me.

DereksDontRun · 5 Apr 2018 at 18:50

~5k miles a year, stick to petrol. Not ideal for diesel at all and could just lead to premature problems with the particulate filter.

with the way people are moving away from diesels, you possibly get more for your money compared to petrol, but equally the resell value will arguably be less...

is there a Fabia 1.4 tsi for a similar price?

MichaelAwkward · 5 Apr 2018 at 19:18

Nasher said:
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.

Ain't that the truth. And with cars getting ever more complex, it's going to be even harder for most people to spot issues during a test drive.

jpaul · 5 Apr 2018 at 21:42

can you easily check if has been remapped, or will the garage guarantee stock ?

Myshra · 5 Apr 2018 at 22:00

I drove one of these for 6 years / 120k. 2009/2010 is the changeover year of the facelift, post-facelists have better interiors (old and facelift) and better engines I think (CEGA will be the engine code if it's the newer/better of the 2 engines iirc) and more importantly - softer suspension. It also comes with USB / aux as standard, most FR's I've seen had bluetooth (as it gave the extra screen in the dial panel). Check it's had a waterpump and belt done, it should have had shocks by now and check rotor condition, even if it's done motorway only like I did it should have had them. Check all door locks work - a common fault is that the door locks all start to fail at 6years on Leon Mk2s and it's an expensive repair each time. Check for rust on the bonnet - near the catch, on the underside as it's a common problem with age. I had the turbo go at 100k, it's a variable-geo turbo and mine got stuck - it's an expensive fix

It was cheap to insure and I enjoyed driving it a lot.

snapdragon69 · 6 Apr 2018 at 10:23

I always check the surnames of the current and previous owner these days - there are some I just avoid - synominous with criminality, clocking, lies etc...

Semple · 6 Apr 2018 at 11:10

@SkidMarkKing

Don't think anyone's mentioned yet, but if you are looking at a VAG diesel, check if it has an EA189 engine - i think the age you're looking at means it will.

If it has, make sure it hasn't had the emissions fix, otherwise you'll be in for a world of bother no matter how appealing it looks on the forecourt.

DarkHorizon472 · 6 Apr 2018 at 11:24

chrislusty said:
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!

We all get there eventually as we work out we are not F1 drivers and save money

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 6 Apr 2018 at 12:15

DarkHorizon472 said:
We all get there eventually as we work out we are not F1 drivers and save money

No, having the best magazine rated tyres will allow you to function like said F1 driver, so you can speed, drive too close, maybe even have worn shocks/brakes and still out brake every ditch finder tyre wielding driver on the road, no matter if they are driving at a safer speed, with better stopping distance allowance and maybe with better shocks and brakes that you

DarkHorizon472 · 6 Apr 2018 at 20:19

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
No, having the best magazine rated tyres will allow you to function like said F1 driver, so you can speed, drive too close, maybe even have worn shocks/brakes and still out brake every ditch finder tyre wielding driver on the road, no matter if they are driving at a safer speed, with better stopping distance allowance and maybe with better shocks and brakes that you