Buying used in 2023

DHR · 24 Oct 2023 at 01:41

I should be excited, but the experience so far of buying a used car in 2023 is an absolute nightmare.

I've had our cars for 16+ years, sadly one of them has to go due to body work but they've both been flawless in that time.

Prices are through the roof because of the ol' pandemic which is one thing, but that's just timing.

The thing I'm REALLY struggling with is having whittled us down to a 1.5 TSI engine after an age, only to find that people have had a nightmare with them kangarooing so a 2018 low mileage car, at a good price, having had 3 owners just seems beyond suspect.

They would be the 3 VAG group variations of car my wife's after too and due to mileage we do diesels are out.

Have the prospect of dropping 15k over god knows how many years on a total lemon, not fun!

Then there's the "software" updates, I long for the old days of four wheels, a good engine, the luxury of Aircon and cruise control and little else

I'm hearing tech causing so many problems, from bad engine performance, through to cars braking on motorways due to faulty radar etc. Not only is it daunting it's terrifying.

Rroff · 24 Oct 2023 at 03:32

There have been some models such as some recent VW Golf variants with forward collision system glitches but in my experience most cars it works fine, what can be a bit more problematic is lane assist - I've had that try to kill me twice and always disable it - annoyingly there is an increasing number of cars where you have to turn these systems off every time you start the engine which is just ******* stupid.

There are still models with a more old school approach to tech like the Fiat Panda.

b0rn2sk8 · 24 Oct 2023 at 08:05

The reason you have to turn it off every drive is crash testing scores. If you can turn the system off permanently, it’s not there as far as the safety scores are concerned.

If you have up to 15k to spend and it’s a second car, have you considered electric?

This is not me banging an ideological drum (I seem to mention them a lot in used car threads recently), most people don’t realise how the prices of these have come down drastically in the last year.

There are some proper used car bargains out there at the moment. Cheap to run, 7/8 year warranty on the battery and motor and most cars are very well equipped.

[TW]Fox · 24 Oct 2023 at 09:21

b0rn2sk8 said:
The reason you have to turn it off every drive is crash testing scores. If you can turn the system off permanently, it’s not there as far as the safety scores are concerned

Are you sure?

I can switch it off on mine and it remembers the setting for lane assist.

Yaayuh! · 24 Oct 2023 at 09:25

Rroff said:
There have been some models such as some recent VW Golf variants with forward collision system glitches but in my experience most cars it works fine, what can be a bit more problematic is lane assist - I've had that try to kill me twice and always disable it - annoyingly there is an increasing number of cars where you have to turn these systems off every time you start the engine which is just ******* stupid.

I absolutely detest our Seat Leon's Lane Assist, so damn annoying, especially on country lanes and you're right, can't permanently disable it. I wonder if it can be coded out?

Rroff · 24 Oct 2023 at 12:13

[TW]Fox said:
Are you sure?

I can switch it off on mine and it remembers the setting for lane assist.

Most pre-2019 or so cars most of these settings are persistent, but there are more and more cars now things like lane assist re-enables every time you start the engine, which personally I consider dangerous. Some you can permanently choose between warning and assist but not all.

People claim NCAP, etc. but I don't know the truth of it.

[TW]Fox · 24 Oct 2023 at 12:29

Rroff said:
Most pre-2019 or so cars most of these settings are persistent

Which car built before 2019 has active lane keeping assist which you cannot switch off?

Kill_Phil · 24 Oct 2023 at 12:35

[TW]Fox said:
Which car built before 2019 has active lane keeping assist which you cannot switch off?

Think he's saying only pre 2019 cars allows you to perm turn it off.

It is damn annoying on my 22 VW

DHR · 24 Oct 2023 at 12:40

...starting to think this is why I keep cursing people for driving near the middle of some roads coming the other way.

Electric I'd considered, but in all honesty, we don't do milage that warrants one, all I really wanted was relatively quick engine, cruise control and that's pretty much it.

jaybee · 24 Oct 2023 at 12:54

b0rn2sk8 said:
The reason you have to turn it off every drive is crash testing scores. If you can turn the system off permanently, it’s not there as far as the safety scores are concerned.

If you have up to 15k to spend and it’s a second car, have you considered electric?

This is not me banging an ideological drum (I seem to mention them a lot in used car threads recently), most people don’t realise how the prices of these have come down drastically in the last year.

There are some proper used car bargains out there at the moment. Cheap to run, 7/8 year warranty on the battery and motor and most cars are very well equipped.

Got some examples? I've no idea the state of EV market other than it just seems so out of reach when I hear of the new prices of some of these machines.

On lane assist, I drove a hire car on holiday that had lane assist. Was strange at times!

SDK^ · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:01

Kill_Phil said:
Think he's saying only pre 2019 cars allows you to perm turn it off.

It is damn annoying on my 22 VW

Yep - this, on newer cars you have to turn it off every time, due to it being a safety system.

It'll be the same with the speed warning sound from next year

[TW]Fox · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:15

SDK^ said:
Yep - this, on newer cars you have to turn it off every time, due to it being a safety system.

Do you have to on your BMW?

There was a time - late 2020 - when this was the case but since an update in 2021 I've not driven another BMW since where it didn't remember the setting when you disabled it (the active steering part of it).

It'll be the same with the speed warning sound from next year

This will be annoying when you consider how inaccurate the speed limit display system is. Mine is often wrong, sometimes goes for a mile or more on a dual carriageway section before it realises it's now a 70mph speed limit not a 60mph one. Or I leave a carpark with a 5 or 10 mph limit that its read from the sign, turn onto a 30mph road and it doesn't update for a while...

jaybee · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:21

New cars will sound an alarm at 70mph!? lol
For real?

Kenai · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:32

jaybee said:
New cars will sound an alarm at 70mph!? lol
For real?

Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) set to become mandatory across Europe | European Road Safety Charter

With the General Vehicle Safety Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, the Commission has taken unprecedented action to help the transport sector and public authorities prepare for the mobility of tomorrow. The objective is to protect Europeans against traffic accidents, poor air quality and climate change...

road-safety-charter.ec.europa.eu

Maundie · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:45

[TW]Fox said:
Do you have to on your BMW?

There was a time - late 2020 - when this was the case but since an update in 2021 I've not driven another BMW since where it didn't remember the setting when you disabled it (the active steering part of it).

20 plate M135 here and as you say when we 1st got it there wasn't an option to permanently turn this off (I did comment on a thread that it tried to run me head onto another vehicle on a B road as I'd not indicated to pull back in after overtaking a tractor) but as you said after an update a little after getting the car it's been off since

Got a new X1 coming in Nov so hoping it can be turned off on that without having to do it every journey

jaybee · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:52

Maundie said:
20 plate M135 here and as you say when we 1st got it there wasn't an option to permanently turn this off (I did comment on a thread that it tried to run me head onto another vehicle on a B road as I'd not indicated to pull back in after overtaking a tractor) but as you said after an update a little after getting the car it's been off since

Got a new X1 coming in Nov so hoping it can be turned off on that without having to do it every journey

That fills me with fear that. Did the lane assist think that the centre line of the road was the left side of your lane and try to keep you in it!? What did you do? Did you have to just force it hard to the point it gives up trying to assist?

Relentless81 · 24 Oct 2023 at 13:54

Have a look at Dacia, they score low in ncap because they don't have a lot of the safety systems

[TW]Fox · 24 Oct 2023 at 14:00

Relentless81 said:
Have a look at Dacia, they score low in ncap because they don't have a lot of the safety systems

The discussion isn't about whether having safety systems increases the score - it is a fact that it does.

It's about whether being able to switch active steering intervention off on lane assist changes the score.

Nasher · 24 Oct 2023 at 14:02

Rroff said:
There have been some models such as some recent VW Golf variants with forward collision system glitches but in my experience most cars it works fine, what can be a bit more problematic is lane assist - I've had that try to kill me twice and always disable it - annoyingly there is an increasing number of cars where you have to turn these systems off every time you start the engine which is just ******* stupid.

There are still models with a more old school approach to tech like the Fiat Panda.

I've had a Toyota go mental and apply the brakes when going between parked cars and oncoming traffic. It feels like they are more dangerous at times. I think you can permanently disable them via ECU changes.

The low ncap actors because a car doesn't have this crap is a bit missleading.

Relentless81 · 24 Oct 2023 at 14:12

[TW]Fox said:
The discussion isn't about whether having safety systems increases the score - it is a fact that it does.

It's about whether being able to switch active steering intervention off on lane assist changes the score.

Must resist replying but cannot, I thought it was worth mentioning, so mention it I did.