Buying a used car

[CrammyJay]

Came across an advert for an 11 plate Insignia with 65k advertised at a stupidly low price due to cracked windscreen, ad says. Went to see car, windscreen cracked, everything else looked good. Bodywork and interior all good, drove OK, sounded OK, done as much checking as my limited knowledge would allow. He didn't mention in ad there was only 1 key and no security pass, but has since got the pass from dealer. When doing numbers check, realised its had an engine swap at some point with no paperwork, he says he didn't know as he never checked engine when he bought it. So only thing I have to fork out for is new windscreen and spare key. Yet car is available for £1300, less than half price of others similar. Is it worth going for it or any other checks I can do?

[t400ble]

If its too cheap............

[funkyrobot]

Seller didn't mention this, didn't mention that, didn't know about this, didn't know about that.

Do us all a favour and don't buy it. We don't need another thread about buying something too good to be true that turns out to be a lemon.

[ZX10R NIN]

What engine?

[CrammyJay]

ZX10R NIN said:

What engine?

1.8vvt

[Sheepshanks]

Was it a trader or a private seller? If private, why wouldn't he get the windscreen changed on insurance?

[anonymous-user]

a 1.3k i would buy on gut. ive bought a car from a scrap dealer, covered in cobwebs, ran for a year perfectly before selling.

at this end of this market, it is a punt.

Edited by Thesprucegoose on Thursday 29th November 22:24

[ZX10R NIN]

If everything is okay then buy it do your HPI & M.O.T checks, did you make sure the car got properly warm so you heard the fan kick in?

If the answer is yes to the above then buy it.

[lisajohny543]

Tell me about engine

[MathewPurewal]

It depends on the spec of the car; is it entry level or something like SRI?
If its entry-level (or thereabouts), the price sounds about right. SRI's or VX-Lines will be more expensive due to the kit.

Also, has it had any previous damage? (i.e. Category S or N). If it has, this will reduce the value of the car, making the price seem more realistic.

Hope this helps.

[CrammyJay]

MathewPurewal said:

It depends on the spec of the car; is it entry level or something like SRI?
If its entry-level (or thereabouts), the price sounds about right. SRI's or VX-Lines will be more expensive due to the kit.

Also, has it had any previous damage? (i.e. Category S or N). If it has, this will reduce the value of the car, making the price seem more realistic.

Hope this helps.

It's the Sri model. And I've done a full hpi, came back as no claims on it