Purchased a lemon , any comeback?

[Janesy B]

And again, it seems to be very expensive for what it is!

People seem to think that low miles even on a 14 year old car means something.

 

[Screeeech]

I've had quite a few cheap cars (£2000 - £5000) in the last few years, as I've been in and out of the UK so much and didn't want something expensive gathering rust for 1/3rd of the year, so I've got experience of looking at and buying cheap bangers.

I think emotional purchases like this are a mistake, (I made the same mistake before and it cost me a lot of money) it's really simple;

It's very unlikely you're going to get a decent mini for £2500, they're expensive cars - for that price there's a high chance you'll be buying something that's going to really suck. What's worse, with a car like that - it's going to cost a lot more to fix with the cost of parts and stuff, with it being 14-15 years old - there's a high chance that more and more things will break.

As per @Gaygle 's post, if you use the MOT history checker; https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ many of those cars at that price range (I checked a few) have lots of advisories, problems with corrosion and other issues, for £2500 - is going to be a waste of money, unless you're very lucky.

I'd also say, I've lost count of the amount of cars I've looked at, that say "full service history" in the advert, yet when I turn up - it's partial, not there at all - or something is amiss, I only ever found one car with a full service history that was legit, when in that price range.

For £2500, money would be far better spent on something Japanese like a Toyota Corolla - you'll get something that still has life left in it, won't leave you stranded or be a nightmare - and will still have a little value left in it for resale in 12-24 months time. I know it's not cool or what she wants - but a mini for £2500... the novelty will quickly wear off trust me.

 

[sanaxe1]

I'll have a look at some other cars and see if i can persuade her.

 

[Screeeech]

A couple of my suggestions as a first car would something alone the lines of these;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807138419138?sort=year-desc&model=MAZDA2&price-from=2000&radius=1500&postcode=ng157jf&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=2500&advertising-location=at_cars&make=MAZDA&page=2

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807198593600?sort=year-desc&model=JAZZ&price-from=2000&radius=1500&postcode=ng157jf&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=2500&make=HONDA&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201806027096658?postcode=ng157jf&advertising-location=at_cars&price-from=2000&sort=year-desc&radius=1500&price-to=2500&make=MITSUBISHI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201808279891000?onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&sort=year-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&price-to=2500&make=TOYOTA&price-from=2500&postcode=ng157jf&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201808310019866?postcode=ng157jf&sort=year-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-from=2500&price-to=2500&make=FORD&radius=1500&page=1

Ok - they're not the coolest lol, but as a first car on a limited budget, I think you'd find the £2500 goes a lot further,

(Also, you'll note, that the coat of the tax on all of these is less than half that of the Mini, with a Toyota Aygo - the tax is only £20 lol)

 

[sanaxe1]

I really liked the look of the first Mazda you put and then i saw the company selling it and had deja vu lol

 

[Howard]

Agreed on looking for something other than a Mini. As said, the novelty factor will soon wear off once it starts throwing up annoying age-related problems, particularly since they're not the most reliable cars to start with.

I recently sold my girlfriend's Toyota Auris for £2100. The buyer got a good condition car with full Toyota service history, and plenty of life left in it yet. Buy the right cheap car and it needn't be a complete nightmare.

 

[Akagi]

I asked if there were any problems with it and they said no. So i agreed to purchase the car

Amazing.

Are you me?

 

[Screeeech]

I really liked the look of the first Mazda you put and then i saw the company selling it and had deja vu lol

Yeah, you mentioned they had a warehouse full of cars - I mean they're probably just a dealer who buys stacks of cars from auction and doesn't check any of them, it might have come from webuyanycar.com as they sell directly to auction and buy literally anything. (I've taken several bangers to webuyanycar.com ) to get rid. The fact they did try to sort it - then gave you your money back does say a lot, even though I doubt you'll go back.

The thing about Mazdas, Toyotas, Ford fiestas, etc - is that there are stacks of them, everybody knows how to fix them, the parts are mostly very cheap and easy to get hold of, so if you do have a problem - it's going to be less hassle, especially with things like getting it through an MOT. You'll also find - that Japanese cars especially, tend to suffer from corrosion far less than say something like a Vauxhaull corsa.

I'd possibly recommend Volkswagen, (polo, UP, Lupo, etc) but again - you end up taking more risks with the costs of parts and they tend to be more expensive - as they do have more street cred than something like a Mazda2,

 

[FlapR]

As other people have said, be careful with Minis as they tend to throw up big bills, even if properly maintained and full service history - like mine .

 

[Gaygle]

A couple of my suggestions as a first car would something alone the lines of these;
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807198593600?sort=year-desc&model=JAZZ&price-from=2000&radius=1500&postcode=ng157jf&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=2500&make=HONDA&page=1

"Darling, you've been working so hard recently and I wanted to buy you a car to show you how much I appreciated it..."

 

[sanaxe1]

So ive convinced her not to go for a Mini. She says her 2nd favourite is a Suzuki Swift. Please tell me these are more reliable/cheaper to fix than a Mini.

Quick look shows something like this? : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

 

[Screeeech]

"Darling, you've been working so hard recently and I wanted to buy you a car to show you how much I appreciated it..."

rofl, I know - OK maybe not a honda jizz!

So ive convinced her not to go for a Mini. She says her 2nd favourite is a Suzuki Swift. Please tell me these are more reliable/cheaper to fix than a Mini.

Quick look shows something like this? : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807238706039?colour=Red&postcode=ng157jf&model=SWIFT&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=price-desc&radius=50&price-to=2500&make=SUZUKI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

I don't know much about Suzukis, however - for £2500 you're going to get something far younger, and I'd be pretty confident in saying that fixing any problems on something like that isn't going to break the bank, so I'd do a little more investigation - but my gut feeling is something like that would be a far safer buy.

I mean that one for only £1995 is a 2011 car, so it's already 2/3rds younger than a more expensive mini, so you're far less likely to run into problems.

 

[Howard]

So ive convinced her not to go for a Mini. She says her 2nd favourite is a Suzuki Swift. Please tell me these are more reliable/cheaper to fix than a Mini.

Quick look shows something like this? : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807238706039?colour=Red&postcode=ng157jf&model=SWIFT&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=price-desc&radius=50&price-to=2500&make=SUZUKI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

That's more like it! You're getting a car that's 7 years newer, better equipped (climate control and keyless entry/start in particular), massively more reliable, and still good fun to drive and not totally bland and uninteresting.

 

[Mark1989]

So ive convinced her not to go for a Mini. She says her 2nd favourite is a Suzuki Swift. Please tell me these are more reliable/cheaper to fix than a Mini.

Quick look shows something like this? : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807238706039?colour=Red&postcode=ng157jf&model=SWIFT&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=price-desc&radius=50&price-to=2500&make=SUZUKI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1

Mrs had a swift she liked it, but the boots are very small, if you have plans for kids etc in future the boot space will make it it difficult as we found once a pram was in nowt else would fit.

Nice car to drive in itself though. You can get decent spec for not allot of money on em too

 

[Hagar]

Twice I have traded or sold a car to a garage recently with FSH from main dealers. I offered my car file with all work carried out, service invoices, invoices for tyres, battery, printouts for MOT tests etc. None were interested to provide for prospective buyers, so they were shredded.

 

[Janesy B]

I'm sad and keep all that stuff in a folder, guess they can't be bothered to look after it.

 

[Howard]

I'm sad and keep all that stuff in a folder, guess they can't be bothered to look after it.

So do I. The buyer of my girlfriend's Auris was happy to see it all, too. I suppose if you trade it in, you could stick a post-it in the service booklet with a note of your email address and "send me your postal address and I'll send you all the service documentation and receipts" or something.

 

[Skillmister]

Bought my Mazda on Facebook and when I turned up the guy pulled out a folder with every single piece of paperwork from original manual/handbook and FSH to receipts for things like oil and wipers Dare I say going a bit too far?!

 

[Hyburnate]

So do I. The buyer of my girlfriend's Auris was happy to see it all, too. I suppose if you trade it in, you could stick a post-it in the service booklet with a note of your email address and "send me your postal address and I'll send you all the service documentation and receipts" or something.

Bought my Mazda on Facebook and when I turned up the guy pulled out a folder with every single piece of paperwork from original manual/handbook and FSH to receipts for things like oil and wipers Dare I say going a bit too far?!

I do exactly that, I keep everything for my vehicles And it all gets pushed into the owners manual booklet for the next buyer

 

[SixTwoSix]

Swifts are a lot of fun, the only one of my wifes cars I ever enjoyed driving. Can throw them around, really light and agile.