Purchasing a 2nd hand car long distance

Chris Wilson · 10 Dec 2021 at 06:16

DRZ said:
Whitefield isn't particularly rough at all. You could spend £2.5m+ on a house in Whitefield!

Nice and rough: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116343506#/?channel=RES_BUY

If the car is as big a monstrosity as that house he will regret not having examined it in person. I would never buy a car from my a stranger off some photos or video. And a 400 mile round trip would be worth it for even a 2k car to me.

Haggisman · 10 Dec 2021 at 08:01

Would depend a lot on the dealer in question, long established dealer with a large number of good reviews and few bad ones - sure, why not (in fact bought my current Octavia without seeing it from a dealer in the middle of lockdown)

In this case, this dealer only has ~40 reviews (despite apparently operating for 7 years) , and a good number of them aren't great, so no...

Lashout_UK · 10 Dec 2021 at 08:20

Don't waste your time or money.

If you just want a conventional car, find something local instead and actually go and look at it – and spend the £200 you'd have spent transporting a hunk of junk to your door on refreshing the better car you end up buying locally.

Semple · 10 Dec 2021 at 08:59

DRZ said:
Whitefield isn't particularly rough at all. You could spend £2.5m+ on a house in Whitefield!

Nice and rough: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116343506#/?channel=RES_BUY

It's literally a stones throw from Radcliffe/Bury and Prestwich, none of which are particularly nice areas.

Just because there's a few £1+million houses doesn't suddenly make it into a "nice" area. In fact, looking at some of those on Rightmove, they're incredibly cheap at 1/2 million for the size that they are. Stick those in a nice area and they'd probably fetch 2-3 times the price.

As the old saying goes, money doesn't buy class.

mid_gen · 10 Dec 2021 at 09:13

That looks knackered inside for 85k. My old E90 was in better nick than that at 150k....

Definitely wouldn't be buying that unseen, if the bits you can see are in that state, it's probably in a right state under the hood.

dl8860 · 10 Dec 2021 at 10:48

Currently looking for a car in same price/age/mileage range and alarmed at people saying how knackered it looks... I thought it looks in good nick for the age and mileage. Literally can't spot a thing wrong with the interior apart from the leather looking a little worn in places.

craaaaaig · 10 Dec 2021 at 11:15

DRZ said:
Whitefield isn't particularly rough at all. You could spend £2.5m+ on a house in Whitefield!

Nice and rough: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116343506#/?channel=RES_BUY

Right opposite a block of old council flats, bizarre

dlockers · 10 Dec 2021 at 11:41

craaaaaig said:
Right opposite a block of old council flats, bizarre

That is one of the more bizarre street views I've ever seen. There is a total derelict mansion next door too!

lordrobs · 10 Dec 2021 at 13:06

A rule of thumb I use is that pictures hide a multitude of sins. Therefore if a car looks rough in pictures then in person it is going to look FAR worse. Second rule of thumb is a car is battered cosmetically the owner probably didn't give it too much care during their ownership.

First picture puts me off straight away. Checkout that drivers door! That is some dent!

DRZ · 10 Dec 2021 at 14:57

Semple said:
It's literally a stones throw from Radcliffe/Bury and Prestwich, none of which are particularly nice areas.

Just because there's a few £1+million houses doesn't suddenly make it into a "nice" area. In fact, looking at some of those on Rightmove, they're incredibly cheap at 1/2 million for the size that they are. Stick those in a nice area and they'd probably fetch 2-3 times the price.

As the old saying goes, money doesn't buy class.

Chelsea is about the same distance from Brixton as Whitefield is from Bury. If you'd ever lived in or around Manchester you'd know that you can almost turn a corner from what is a pretty decent, affluent area and end up in a not very nice part. That's just the way it is

As for the car, regardless of where it is you'd be mad to buy it unseen at that cost.

kPATm · 10 Dec 2021 at 15:47

dl8860 said:
Currently looking for a car in same price/age/mileage range and alarmed at people saying how knackered it looks... I thought it looks in good nick for the age and mileage. Literally can't spot a thing wrong with the interior apart from the leather looking a little worn in places.

TBH thats my thoughts as well BUT I did post on here asking for opinions and they have been taken onboard. So Im heading down tomorrow to pick it up............Nah only kidding. I will give this one a miss

Semple · 10 Dec 2021 at 16:33

dLockers said:
That is one of the more bizarre street views I've ever seen. There is a total derelict mansion next door too!

That actually is the property in question. You can see the similarities with the abandoned building to the new building (arches etc). Despite the fact that it's quite close to the road, they've managed to do a nice wide-angled shot to make it look far back.

DRZ said:
Chelsea is about the same distance from Brixton as Whitefield is from Bury. If you'd ever lived in or around Manchester you'd know that you can almost turn a corner from what is a pretty decent, affluent area and end up in a not very nice part. That's just the way it is

I do live in Manchester, and i appear to have hit a nerve, so i can only apologise.

kindai · 11 Dec 2021 at 01:37

dl8860 said:
Currently looking for a car in same price/age/mileage range and alarmed at people saying how knackered it looks... I thought it looks in good nick for the age and mileage. Literally can't spot a thing wrong with the interior apart from the leather looking a little worn in places.

Litchos lent me a courtesy car thats done 300k on the clock and looks in about the same condition as this

kPATm said:
Nah only kidding. I will give this one a miss

Good call.

jpaul · 11 Dec 2021 at 07:50

if he's where he says - there's not much close

volvo s40 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112080333165
mazda 6 https://www.motors.co.uk/car-61533068/

neither showing internals or owner list, but quite a few at adds don't; no one seem s to say if they provide warranty via a credible 3rd party insurer

Housey · 11 Dec 2021 at 09:50

Relentless81 said:
Never buy a used car without seeing it in person.

That’s a bit sweeping.

kindai · 11 Dec 2021 at 10:23

Relentless81 said:
Never buy a used car without seeing it in person.

Err so about that...

kPATm · 11 Dec 2021 at 14:44

jpaul said:
if he's where he says - there's not much close

volvo s40 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112080333165
mazda 6 https://www.motors.co.uk/car-61533068/

neither showing internals or owner list, but quite a few at adds don't; no one seem s to say if they provide warranty via a credible 3rd party insurer

Already seen the Mazda 6. Had my eye on it for a few weeks. Went to see it a about 3 weeks ago and it was in for Bumper Repairs apparently so didnt get to see it in person. Ran an MOT check and Total Car Check. The latest MOT failed on the management light being on other than that the MOT history looks pretty good to me. Like I said its been on the site for weeks and they haven't bothered putting any more pics up? Not sure about the Volvo s40 never actually looked into them. Are they a good buy?

kindai · 11 Dec 2021 at 14:58

kPATm said:
Volvo s40 never actually looked into them. Are they a good buy?

very comfy

cheap to run, cheap to fix, dont break often.

jpaul · 11 Dec 2021 at 15:29

annual road tax on that s40 is the full £275 ... I'd probably want to check whether it's e85 petrol and meets emissions to get cheaply into cities.
(I've wondered what they'll do in cambridge over next couple of years)

kPATm · 11 Dec 2021 at 15:49

The MOT history on that particular s40 isnt to good

Purchasing a 2nd hand car long distance

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