What do you think of this offer?

megakid · 16 Nov 2006 at 14:25

Hey,

This might be one for Fox - I've just been offered my mates dad's 52 plate Mondeo, Ghia X 2.0 TDCi 130 for £2100 (non negotiable).

Only a few details at the moment, light metalic blue in colour, climate control etc (no cruise control) - Its done 130k miles but its a company car, majority of motorway miles with no expense spared. Serviced to the book at a main dealer.

So how does that sound? I've had a bit of a look on autotrader but didnt draw many conclusions - I currently drive a 1.4 corsa (1995) which I am extremely bored of and the more I think diesels the more it makes sense (in terms of performance/economy ratio)

Cheers!

[TW]Fox · 16 Nov 2006 at 14:32

This has to be the cheapest TDCi ever. Buy it, run it into the ground, be happy with a car for less than most people pay a year in depreciation.

Bargain, but beware of potential bills for injectors on commonrail diesel engines.

merlin · 16 Nov 2006 at 14:35

[TW]Fox said:
run it into the ground,

Hasn't that already been done?

[TW]Fox · 16 Nov 2006 at 14:35

merlin said:
Hasn't that already been done?

It's on 130k not 330k

wez130 · 16 Nov 2006 at 18:23

that's a bargain, snap it up, current price for similar is around £5-7k in ghia X trim.

Dogbreath · 16 Nov 2006 at 18:29

Absolute bargain (as long as it's not being sold due to problems), I'll have it if you don't want it

dynabol · 16 Nov 2006 at 18:52

Snap his hand off mate

mattpc · 16 Nov 2006 at 19:06

merlin said:
Hasn't that already been done?

Are you trying to reel in us high miler lovers Merlin?

silversurfer · 16 Nov 2006 at 19:49

dynabol said:
Snap his hand off mate

Resist the urge I say, check it out. Probably you should take it but doesnt do any harm to check everything first. 130k isnt much for a diesel

OllyM · 16 Nov 2006 at 19:50

If it's a Ghia X, it should have cruise control? :confused:

Morba · 16 Nov 2006 at 20:08

a price that low makes you wonder why it is that cheap. excellent deal for sure, but have a good look at it first :]

merlin · 16 Nov 2006 at 20:51

mattpc said:
Are you trying to reel in us high miler lovers Merlin?

No, just teasing Fox because I had a few minute spare.

megakid · 16 Nov 2006 at 21:19

Hmm so the consensus is good, I'll contact him tomorrow to go and view it and report back!

Thanks!

Pajeh · 16 Nov 2006 at 22:08

Don't buy it but give me his number

mattpc · 16 Nov 2006 at 23:02

merlin said:
No, just teasing Fox because I had a few minute spare.

fair enough mate! ROFL

MuvverRussia · 16 Nov 2006 at 23:30

Seems a bit too cheap to be realistic to me. It's easily worth at least double that, even with that mileage (probably closer to 3-3.5x as much). You have to ask why he's selling it so cheap - would he really turn down £3k to do a favour to his son's friend? Also, why doesn't it have cruise? Mk 3 Ghia X's have it as standard.

Jez · 16 Nov 2006 at 23:40

Re the price, maybe he just doesnt care? Ive been given a fair few cars for free which are worth reasonable sums of money purely because people cant be arsed.

£2100 does seem like a strange amount to ask for though.

megakid · 17 Nov 2006 at 05:45

The way I understand it is, the company is asking him for £2100 to keep. He don't want to keep the car but probably doesnt want the hassle of buying it and reselling, therefore offered it to his son, who then offered it to me.

He's giving me a call this weekend so I will ask him the reason of sale and all other standard questions!

Im not sure about the cruise thing? Where can I get the standard spec sheet for a Mk3 Ghia X 52 plate? I only asked my mate on the day he offered it to me and he answered off the top of his head so it might not be the case.

Oakesy2001uk · 17 Nov 2006 at 08:32

megakid said:
The way I understand it is, the company is asking him for £2100 to keep. He don't want to keep the car but probably doesnt want the hassle of buying it and reselling, therefore offered it to his son, who then offered it to me.

He's giving me a call this weekend so I will ask him the reason of sale and all other standard questions!

Im not sure about the cruise thing? Where can I get the standard spec sheet for a Mk3 Ghia X 52 plate? I only asked my mate on the day he offered it to me and he answered off the top of his head so it might not be the case.

They do have cruise, the ghia-x is fully loaded with all the toys as far as I know. Buy it, if you dont I will!

megakid · 20 Nov 2006 at 22:43

Just found out a bit more about the car direct from my mate's dad. Its actually only got 115k not 130k.

It failed last year's MOT due to emissions but concequently passed after some tweaks. Its MOT this year is due in the next couple of weeks so atleast i'll have a full year's ticket on it when/if I purchase it in December.

About a year ago it had a few problems with the engine that has since been cured - it had a problem starting which was solved by replacing the gearing mechanism that engages the starter motor (forget what its name is) and to do that they had to remove the gearbox - at which time they also replaced the clutch. Before that they thought it was an injector for one of the cylinders which was also replaced.
At 95k it had 4 new tyres so they'll probably need replacing soon??

It has got cruise control but he's never used it hence doesnt know if it works fully - I'll obviously check this on the test drive. The other options he added was Bi-Xenon headlights and a sunroof.

Still all sounds reasonable to me - i'll report back after the test drive. I'm slightly concerned about the injectors coming back to haunt me - how much are these to replace should they go wrong?

Does this deal still seem as rosey? What other problems might I encounter? He said it smokes on take-off which I presume is normal for this sort of engine? Is there anything I need to know specifically about diesel engines with regards to maintance etc?