Test driving older cars?

rG-tom · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:09

Hey guys,

In light of a possible job coming up, I may need to be getting a car that can stand up to high mileages in reasonable comfort soon, and the two on my shortlist atm are mark 2 mondeos and peugeot 406s....now I want to have a look at the differences in person between the specs and engines etc, and take each for a drive to see how they feel etc, much like i would when buying a new(er) car, but obviously there aren't really any dealer facilities....

....do you think that a car supermarket would be a good idea for this kind of thing? Obviously with no intention to pay their inflated prices over private sellers in this price range, but just to get a feel for cars?

Cheers

Tom.

-Mike- · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:17

Sorry this isn't brilliantly useful but if you really are going to be doing high mileages and are going diesel, the mondeo TD is a rubbish engine compared to the pug lump. I vote the 406

Edit : Assuming you are looking at mondeos of the age where the 1.8TD was fitted and not the tdci.

rG-tom · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:20

-Mike- said:
Sorry this isn't brilliantly useful but if you really are going to be doing high mileages and are going diesel, the mondeo TD is a rubbish engine compared to the pug lump. I vote the 406

Edit : Assuming you are looking at mondeos of the age where the 1.8TD was fitted and not the tdci.

cheers mate i knew this

I think it'd be a false economy to get a diesel at this price range, as the decent diesel engines ie the hdi cost far more to buy in the first place, and the non TDCI/HDI engines are pretty poor compared to the petrol equivs

Oh yea i forgot to mention the actual buying budget is probably going to be as close to a grand as possible :x not exactly sure yet.

[TW]Fox · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:21

Find the mintest, nicest example of each you can on Autotrader at a dealer. Ignore price.

Go drive.

wez130 · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:22

the mondeo TDCi engine is an excellent one, and the 130bhp engine has fabulous torque (248lb/ft i think) and should last you a long while, at current prices, you can get the zetec to ghia spec 02-52 plate for between 4k and 6k, i'm currently waiting for a ghia X to come up.

-Mike- · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:22

For a grand though, you could pickup a decent 406 TD if you were willing to go TD. Was it SB that picked one up for a few hundred pounds a while back which looked pretty good?

-Mike- · 16 Mar 2006 at 23:24

wez130 said:
the mondeo TDCi engine is an excellent one, and the 130bhp engine has fabulous torque (248lb/ft i think) and should last you a long while, at current prices, you can get the zetec to ghia spec 02-52 plate for between 4k and 6k, i'm currently waiting for a ghia X to come up.

His budget is 6x less than your highest figure

rG-tom · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:38

also, would I possibly have a problem test driving cars due to my age? For example, I know some company car policies require 21+ or some such, would any age limit apply for test driving, or would a dealer not be iditiotic enough to rule out a certain age of customer

Tom.

SaBBz · 17 Mar 2006 at 08:32

Phone them and ask? It may vary.

Jonny69 · 17 Mar 2006 at 08:37

Just take it round the block. What's the chance of crashing or getting pulled up? You're at your most cautious in a new vehicle so not going to do anything silly are you?

rG-tom · 17 Mar 2006 at 08:45

Jonny69 said:
Just take it round the block. What's the chance of crashing or getting pulled up? You're at your most cautious in a new vehicle so not going to do anything silly are you?

i highly doubt a dealer would let me take a car out round the block if i wasn't covered by their insurance though :/ For private sellers maybe, but even still I dont particularily like the risk.

Tom.

TomO · 17 Mar 2006 at 08:59

give them a call and ask for a test drive and let them know your age. otherwise you will end up driving there for no reason. some dealers can be really funny about giving test drives, especially if you are young.

i remember wimbeldon carriage company when i wanted to test drive a fiat coupe 20vt. their question was am i going to buy it? you can only test drive if you are going to buy that one. :confused:

how would i know if i wanted to buy the car having never driven one? i explained that too him and he told me he wouldnt do it unless i was going to buy it??!?! thanks, that really helps with my decision. 200sx it was

Malachy · 17 Mar 2006 at 09:41

might get lucky and get a xantia hdi for this price

Beepcake · 17 Mar 2006 at 09:59

TomO said:
give them a call and ask for a test drive and let them know your age. otherwise you will end up driving there for no reason. some dealers can be really funny about giving test drives, especially if you are young.

i remember wimbeldon carriage company when i wanted to test drive a fiat coupe 20vt. their question was am i going to buy it? you can only test drive if you are going to buy that one.

how would i know if i wanted to buy the car having never driven one? i explained that too him and he told me he wouldnt do it unless i was going to buy it??!?! thanks, that really helps with my decision. 200sx it was

Off topic, but I've had that with Mercedes. The missus was looking at a C class (she currently has a 3series) and the lady at the dealer was very pushy about whether we were going to buy it, and trying to say she couldn't drive it if we weren't. Eventually she drove it and the sales lady then tried the old 'oh, there's mr smith from birmingham coming to buy it this afternoon.. so you will have to be quick.' .. I just laughed and walked away at that point.

[TW]Fox · 17 Mar 2006 at 11:29

Jonny69 said:
Just take it round the block. What's the chance of crashing or getting pulled up? You're at your most cautious in a new vehicle so not going to do anything silly are you?

But he wants to see how they feel and decided which he prefers. How is he going to manage that by just taking it around the block?

Confused · 17 Mar 2006 at 11:31

Most used car dealers who want some business would allow you to test drive, and would have adequate insurance to cover anyone driving.

I test drove a few used cars at 18 (Galant 2.5 V6, Astra 1.8, Mitsubishi Carisma 1.8 etc), and didn't have a problem with any of them.

Any used car dealers who won't let you test drive won't be getting your business, simple enough!

Firestar_3x · 17 Mar 2006 at 11:51

[TW]Fox said:
Find the mintest, nicest example of each you can on Autotrader at a dealer. Ignore price.

Go drive.

Thats good advice, you really need a benchmark to compare the older cars with otherwise how will you know if your driving a lemon or not, exactly what i did took an 04 plate car out see how it was then took several i wanted to buy out eliminated the ones i didn't like and picked what i think is the best one.

TomO · 17 Mar 2006 at 12:13

ConfusedTA said:
Most used car dealers who want some business would allow you to test drive, and would have adequate insurance to cover anyone driving.

I test drove a few used cars at 18 (Galant 2.5 V6, Astra 1.8, Mitsubishi Carisma 1.8 etc), and didn't have a problem with any of them.

Any used car dealers who won't let you test drive won't be getting your business, simple enough!

i would still def call ahead to avoid disappointment. they might have it on another lot, behind 4 other cars etc. etc. if you phone up and sort it then you WILL get a test drive rather than fobbed off.

TomO · 17 Mar 2006 at 12:15

Beepcake said:
Off topic, but I've had that with Mercedes. The missus was looking at a C class (she currently has a 3series) and the lady at the dealer was very pushy about whether we were going to buy it, and trying to say she couldn't drive it if we weren't. Eventually she drove it and the sales lady then tried the old 'oh, there's mr smith from birmingham coming to buy it this afternoon.. so you will have to be quick.' .. I just laughed and walked away at that point.

i think they assume that most people do the test drive as a formality rather than actually seeing how it drives. i know my parents can be like that. its as if they think they might spot some special fault even though they havent got the first idea about cars :rolleyes:

Test driving older cars?

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