Just how hard is it to buy a used car these days
Discussion
Currently we're looking to buy a family car for the other half. Criteria is nice and simple:
1.) leather
2.) estate / huge boot (to put dogs in)
3.) sub 12k price
4.) comfort = must be able to go to from shops and down to south of France
sounds simple enough. After doing all the tick box ideas the short list is:
1.) Accord tourer
2.) BMW 5 series
3.) Volvo V70
Simple it seems but frustratingly hard to find one that isnt intergalactic miles. Sure 12k might sound a tight budget but when 8 year old cars with 100k miles are on for top £ its bloody frustrating. Buyer optimism or sellers piss taking? I'm not fussed about petrol or diesel, prefer spending a few k less for petrol as it would take the ownership span of the car to make the savings with diesel.
So far hitting a brick wall trying to locate cars too. Pistonheads classifieds is great but it doesnt have a catagory search to filter out estates from the saloons (ok thats only for the 5 and accord) further whats happend to autotrader? Do people simply not sell cars privately any more either?
And back to the cars. Diesels. I'm not aversed to them but I am fearful of problems at higher miles such as turbos, fuel pump/system, dmf (where fitted). For example there is a spec of an Accord Tourer 3 miles from here, £8k but sits on 94,000 miles and I've read a few problems with Honda Diesel turbos. Sure it probably will be fine but at 94,000 miles for how long?
1.) leather
2.) estate / huge boot (to put dogs in)
3.) sub 12k price
4.) comfort = must be able to go to from shops and down to south of France
sounds simple enough. After doing all the tick box ideas the short list is:
1.) Accord tourer
2.) BMW 5 series
3.) Volvo V70
Simple it seems but frustratingly hard to find one that isnt intergalactic miles. Sure 12k might sound a tight budget but when 8 year old cars with 100k miles are on for top £ its bloody frustrating. Buyer optimism or sellers piss taking? I'm not fussed about petrol or diesel, prefer spending a few k less for petrol as it would take the ownership span of the car to make the savings with diesel.
So far hitting a brick wall trying to locate cars too. Pistonheads classifieds is great but it doesnt have a catagory search to filter out estates from the saloons (ok thats only for the 5 and accord) further whats happend to autotrader? Do people simply not sell cars privately any more either?
And back to the cars. Diesels. I'm not aversed to them but I am fearful of problems at higher miles such as turbos, fuel pump/system, dmf (where fitted). For example there is a spec of an Accord Tourer 3 miles from here, £8k but sits on 94,000 miles and I've read a few problems with Honda Diesel turbos. Sure it probably will be fine but at 94,000 miles for how long?
Gizmo! said:
looks good, forgot located 60 miles max from swindonI just find it seriously annoying that none of the sellers reply to my texts, emails or voicecalls!!
If you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
If you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
Just to add, I got 31mpg over 2800 miles going from Norwich to St. Tropez and back again sat at 150kmph.
Left the house in Le Garde Freinet, which is a couple of Km from Port Grimaud and St. Tropez, at 10am and was back just before the start of Match of the Day, 1003 miles in 12 hours, and still felt fresh.
Left the house in Le Garde Freinet, which is a couple of Km from Port Grimaud and St. Tropez, at 10am and was back just before the start of Match of the Day, 1003 miles in 12 hours, and still felt fresh.
Edited by gizlaroc on Saturday 24th April 18:33
gizlaroc said:
I just find it seriously annoying that none of the sellers reply to my texts, emails or voicecalls!!
If you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
yeah yours is nice and all that but my heart is currently racing must engage head before heart hands over any form of cash, this is not the car but I see one for saleIf you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
a 530i touring. I always said the best car I ever stupidly sold was my old e28 520i which I paid 500 for (minter too) and sold for 500. Be still my beating heart, the 530i is a lovely lookint motor!
Problem with the 2.0T is it is as slow as s
te in the A6, and the economy is worse than the V6.
A remap helps the power a little, but doesn't cure its drink problem.
The engine is a peach, but not in the big heavy A6.
I thing the E34 looks far sexier, still a superb car, but constantly need something replacing on them just like the E30s do.
I had a 325i E30 touring as a third car but had to give it up as it was costing me more than my E46 M3 and the 335i sport touring put together.
However I will say that it taught me more about driving than all the other cars I have owned put together, so in that respect it was worth every penny.
I would try and bag a 545i touring or a nice E500 estate if the Audis don't appeal. I will admit the Audis are pretty dull, however, in a big auto estate I think it does it better than the other two. Had an E270cdi a 530i sport touring and then the 535d sport touring and the Audi 3.2 V6 Quattro has bowled me over. I only bought it as it was the right price, with the intention of selling it on straight away, but loved it so much that I still have it 16 months later and with another 30k miles on the clock.
te in the A6, and the economy is worse than the V6. A remap helps the power a little, but doesn't cure its drink problem.
The engine is a peach, but not in the big heavy A6.
I thing the E34 looks far sexier, still a superb car, but constantly need something replacing on them just like the E30s do.
I had a 325i E30 touring as a third car but had to give it up as it was costing me more than my E46 M3 and the 335i sport touring put together.
However I will say that it taught me more about driving than all the other cars I have owned put together, so in that respect it was worth every penny.
I would try and bag a 545i touring or a nice E500 estate if the Audis don't appeal. I will admit the Audis are pretty dull, however, in a big auto estate I think it does it better than the other two. Had an E270cdi a 530i sport touring and then the 535d sport touring and the Audi 3.2 V6 Quattro has bowled me over. I only bought it as it was the right price, with the intention of selling it on straight away, but loved it so much that I still have it 16 months later and with another 30k miles on the clock.
oh i like the audi just not sure for 2 dogs the boot was cavernous enough + pram. Also that beemer is screaming at me as a modern day classic. Sure with the v8 I have on the drive economy will be shocking for this household but am prepared to give it a go!
What did you need to keep replacing on your e30?
What did you need to keep replacing on your e30?
stigmundfreud said:
gizlaroc said:
I just find it seriously annoying that none of the sellers reply to my texts, emails or voicecalls!!
If you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
yeah yours is nice and all that but my heart is currently racing must engage head before heart hands over any form of cash, this is not the car but I see one for saleIf you're selling a car at least reply to potential buyers you muppet!!
I am selling my A6 avant at the moment and looking for an allroad as I have liked it so much, but I have now tried to enquire about 7 allroads and only 2 people have replied, and both of those hardly fill me with confidence to progress further with the sale.
Hey, talking about nice large family estates that aren't dirty diesels, how about mine??
Far better as a family wagon than the 535d sport touring I had and does 1mpg better than the 535d as well....
Guy's lovely A6 Quattro avant
a 530i touring. I always said the best car I ever stupidly sold was my old e28 520i which I paid 500 for (minter too) and sold for 500. Be still my beating heart, the 530i is a lovely lookint motor!
Its also bloody hard trying to sell a used car nowadays.
I had a A3 quattro TDI for sale on ebay recently and would get frequent calls offering very silly money, well even less than WEBUYANYCAR.COM.
One guy phoned me saying he had been looking for one of these cars for ages but kept missing out on them but the proceeded to ask "what exactly is quattro" and then offered me 1600 less than it was worth
I had a A3 quattro TDI for sale on ebay recently and would get frequent calls offering very silly money, well even less than WEBUYANYCAR.COM.
One guy phoned me saying he had been looking for one of these cars for ages but kept missing out on them but the proceeded to ask "what exactly is quattro" and then offered me 1600 less than it was worth
stigmundfreud said:
I thought the 3.0 was an I6 is it a v8 then? (E34). Nikasil problems?
Nikasil was solved mid 90s, either a warranty engine, or replacement with a contribution from BMW unless you were unlucky.The V8 (M60 engine) was a peach, 218bhp and just ran with routine servicing. Mine had done 180k when I sold it. Total non-service repairs were 1 set disks, 2 sets pads, 1 set suspension bushes, 1 aircon radiator, 1 water pump.
Its still around, now 250k, and still looks OK.
sounds good! so the 3.0 m60 is a v8 then? not bad, not bad! As for nikasil you say sorted mid 90s,I believe the m60 up to 95 was suspect. If the engine is sorted it has a code printed into it, its the only concern I have as the car is so old that these days parts should be cheap such as suspension etc.
stigmundfreud said:
oh i like the audi just not sure for 2 dogs the boot was cavernous enough + pram. Also that beemer is screaming at me as a modern day classic. Sure with the v8 I have on the drive economy will be shocking for this household but am prepared to give it a go!
What did you need to keep replacing on your e30?
All sorts, just constant repairs. What did you need to keep replacing on your e30?
I guess it depends what your used to, but my daily at the time was a nearly new 335i so as soon as I jumped into the E30 I noticed the slightest little knock or rattle.
I changed, all bushes, arms, top mounts, trim pieces, shocks, springs and got the car feeling tight again, and then had a problem with a slight wobble at tick over and a slight pause when accelerating. I replaced thottle bodies, air flow meter, plugs, leads, o2 sensor, temp sensor, and did all the ecu tests and in the end it was the ecu itself, everything else was fine, but didn't really have anything else to try.
So took me 5 months and around 30 hours to sort it, which was fine as it was a 3rd car and I have a garage at my father in laws, but if it was my daily it would have seriously fecked me off.
It was a nice car though..
Really did enjoy it.
stigmundfreud said:
oh i like the audi just not sure for 2 dogs the boot was cavernous enough + pram.
Forgot to say, most cars just aren't big enough for 2 dogs and a pram. The only car that I have owned that would take the dogs, we have weimararners, along with a big buggy without it being tight of space was our old W210 E Class estate, and I would own another one of those again for sure, loved it.
The boot is massive!!
Eeven with the big off road buggy tucked in the side it still had loads of room.
And it has a proper squared off rear so the load space is really useable.
You can pick up E55 AMG estates now for good prices.
Edited by gizlaroc on Saturday 24th April 22:39
Edited by gizlaroc on Saturday 24th April 22:44
stigmundfreud said:
sounds good! so the 3.0 m60 is a v8 then? not bad, not bad! As for nikasil you say sorted mid 90s,I believe the m60 up to 95 was suspect. If the engine is sorted it has a code printed into it, its the only concern I have as the car is so old that these days parts should be cheap such as suspension etc.
Early ones were straight 6, later ones V8 (similar to the 540)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M60#M60B30
Get a good one (or a 540, bit thirstier) and it will be good, provided it gets care and attention.
good reply thanks! Daily driver is a vxr8 and this is for teh other half which will only be used when she takes the dogs for walks or when we take dogs/child out for days etc. Dont mind minor niggles its major niggles I dont want. The e28 was fantastic, loved driving it every single time but it had the issue with the dash where the battery would die so you ended up getting a replacement dash
Nocks minor rattles on a 15 year old motor I can forgive. Water pump failing I cannot so if I get the car will get that done. I am going to make a guess the m60 is timing gear rather than belt
Nocks minor rattles on a 15 year old motor I can forgive. Water pump failing I cannot so if I get the car will get that done. I am going to make a guess the m60 is timing gear rather than belt
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff