Buying a car with a misfire?

[benjames1975]

Hi everyone,

I enquired about a 2015 Peugeot 208 GTI with 15,000 miles and paid a £100 deposit to hold the car to pick up last Saturday. I got a phone call in the morning from the dealership saying that when they moved the car it developed a misfire which his mechanic said was due to a faulty coil pack, and that he had ordered another one for £60 and would get his guy to fix it during the week.

How worried should I be about that? My instinct is to run a mile but if it has been sitting a while in cold damp conditions could a spark plug fail causing the coil to fail also? Is that a usual thing in performance cars? Is it not as big a deal as I am making out? Could it have failed because of some deeper problem?

Any thoughts anyone? Any help is appreciated 😀

Ben

[Pericoloso]

If and when they have claimed to have fixed it ,take it for another decent test drive.

If you're not happy, walk away.

[selym]

Hey, they could have given it to you hoping you missed it, and tried every trick in the book not to take it back. Fair play to the dealer.

[Pothole]

It's not really a "performance car" is it?

At this level engines are engines. It's likely to be what the mechanic said and they're going to fix it. No big deal. Good of them to let you know, imho.

[ZX10R NIN]

It wouldn't put me off as coil packs failing isn't uncommon on modern cars.

[Section 8]

I’ve never had issues with coils and then both of my cars threw a dodgy coil within weeks of each other. Totally random and I suspect this is the same with the car you are looking at.

If it’s a dealer you will have warranty so just go and check the car out when it’s running fine again and make your decision.

[benjames1975]

Pothole said:

It's not really a "performance car" is it?

When your first car was a mini metro and you currently drive a Ford KA 1.2 zetec anything over 68 horsepower seems like a performance motor 😂

[Piersman2]

I bought my son a 2008 308 for £300 becuase it had a rough tunning engine. £20 worth of coil pack sorted that. Been perfect since.

Neighbours son's Vauxhall developed a rough running engine last weekend. I checked it over and told him he needed a new coil pack as cylinder no 2 was not firing. £60 for the 4 coil assembly. Sorted. 5 minute job.

Check it's running smooth before you hand over any more money and carry on, it'll most likley be fine for a good few thousand miles.

[benjames1975]

Ok, thanks for the replies. I will test drive it and think myself lucky it happened before I took possession.

Thanks again, for taking the time to reply