Buy used car or keep old one?
Discussion
Hi, posted a similar thread a few weeks ago sorry but I'm still pretty confused about what to do 
So I'm trying to decide whether to buy a used car or keep my old one. Car I've got at the moment is a peugeot 206, 51 reg, done about 86000 miles. Took it in for its mot and it failed on about twelve different things. These were (sorry for long list):
- offside stop lamp & nearside front position lamp not working
- Nearside & offside front anti roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint
- Nearside front suspension arm ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt
- Offside front suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint
- Nearside front constant velocity joint gaiter damaged to the extent that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- Offside brake pipe excessively corroded front to rear
- Brake load sensing valve seized
- Central exhaust system not adequately supported
- Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content/lambda reading after 2nd fast idle excessive/outside specified limits
Plus advisories:
- Nearside & offside front shock absorber has a light misting of oil
- Front brake disc worn pitted or scored but not seriously weakened
- Nearside front tyre worn close to the legal limit
I'm pretty clueless about cars so not sure how bad all these things are for a car of its age. Apparently these are all minor things but added together the guy said it would cost about £480 to fix. He advised me to think about getting a new car as my current car would only be worth about £200.
Originally I decided to get a new car as I was thinking of getting a peugeout 107 which would be cheap to insure/tax and would probably save me money. However I took one for a test drive and didn't like it that much, was smaller than I'm used to and had a higher driving position. Started thinking about different cars and decided I'd quite like a mini as apparently they're fun to drive, low driving position and sat in one and liked the feel of it. However I've got a budget of around £2000 (max £3000) and am now wondering whether it would be worth buying a new car as I don't know whether I could get a mini for a much better condition than my old car at that price?
Basically I'm wondering given all the items it failed on whether it would be worth keeping? I still enjoy driving it (and am slightly attached to it!) and although it's had quite a few problems in the past a lot of them are sorted now (eg. new clutch). Whenever I'd get rid of it now I'd only be scrapping it so not sure whether to just carry on with it. Do you think it would be worth repairing it or should I get a new car instead given all the items it failed on?
Thanks
So I'm trying to decide whether to buy a used car or keep my old one. Car I've got at the moment is a peugeot 206, 51 reg, done about 86000 miles. Took it in for its mot and it failed on about twelve different things. These were (sorry for long list):
- offside stop lamp & nearside front position lamp not working
- Nearside & offside front anti roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint
- Nearside front suspension arm ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt
- Offside front suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint
- Nearside front constant velocity joint gaiter damaged to the extent that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
- Offside brake pipe excessively corroded front to rear
- Brake load sensing valve seized
- Central exhaust system not adequately supported
- Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content/lambda reading after 2nd fast idle excessive/outside specified limits
Plus advisories:
- Nearside & offside front shock absorber has a light misting of oil
- Front brake disc worn pitted or scored but not seriously weakened
- Nearside front tyre worn close to the legal limit
I'm pretty clueless about cars so not sure how bad all these things are for a car of its age. Apparently these are all minor things but added together the guy said it would cost about £480 to fix. He advised me to think about getting a new car as my current car would only be worth about £200.
Originally I decided to get a new car as I was thinking of getting a peugeout 107 which would be cheap to insure/tax and would probably save me money. However I took one for a test drive and didn't like it that much, was smaller than I'm used to and had a higher driving position. Started thinking about different cars and decided I'd quite like a mini as apparently they're fun to drive, low driving position and sat in one and liked the feel of it. However I've got a budget of around £2000 (max £3000) and am now wondering whether it would be worth buying a new car as I don't know whether I could get a mini for a much better condition than my old car at that price?
Basically I'm wondering given all the items it failed on whether it would be worth keeping? I still enjoy driving it (and am slightly attached to it!) and although it's had quite a few problems in the past a lot of them are sorted now (eg. new clutch). Whenever I'd get rid of it now I'd only be scrapping it so not sure whether to just carry on with it. Do you think it would be worth repairing it or should I get a new car instead given all the items it failed on?
Thanks
The price to fix seems reasonable. Have you checked this £200 valuation?
For £500 I imagine you could get something that's got an MOT for almost a year.
You alluded to it slightly but give the nature of your post I'd suggest not going down the PCP/lease route, sounds like you don't really have vast amounts of disposable income (that you would like to spend on a car at least).
For £500 I imagine you could get something that's got an MOT for almost a year.
You alluded to it slightly but give the nature of your post I'd suggest not going down the PCP/lease route, sounds like you don't really have vast amounts of disposable income (that you would like to spend on a car at least).
As you say, none of those faults are expensive to fix, but it does add up. The price you've been quoted isn't excessive - if you like the car. If you scrap it and buy another relatively cheap car, you could have even worse problems.
Old Minis are a bit fragile, not cheap to fix either. Having owned a 12 year old Cooper S for 6 months, I wouldn't buy another one.
Old Minis are a bit fragile, not cheap to fix either. Having owned a 12 year old Cooper S for 6 months, I wouldn't buy another one.
My S.I.L has a similar age 206 which had a similar list of issues - although this was not at MOT time.
The car was a good solid runner, the body was good and it was and generally OK inside. So I advised she spent the money on a car she knows and likes rather than go through the hassle of buying another.
At the <1k price point you take a risk with any car having issues - be it private sale or dealer. Unless you are planning on upping your budget stick with that one.
The car was a good solid runner, the body was good and it was and generally OK inside. So I advised she spent the money on a car she knows and likes rather than go through the hassle of buying another.
At the <1k price point you take a risk with any car having issues - be it private sale or dealer. Unless you are planning on upping your budget stick with that one.
Thanks for all the replies - sounds like it might be better to repair it although its been stood a little while now so hopefully there's nothing else wrong with it!
seriousrikk said:
At the <1k price point you take a risk with any car having issues - be it private sale or dealer. Unless you are planning on upping your budget stick with that one.
My budget would be between 2k and 3k if that makes any difference?Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff