Can't make my mind up about this car.
Discussion
Piersman2 said:
FFS, you sound like the world's worst punter, it's £350 , it's 11 years old, and you're hassling the guy about all this 'stuff'.
If I was him, my inner voices would be screaming "do not sell to this man for here comes 6 months of pain".
I will ad a +1 to that ,OP what do you really expect for the money a FMDSH plus a years warranty !If I was him, my inner voices would be screaming "do not sell to this man for here comes 6 months of pain".
MrV said:
Piersman2 said:
FFS, you sound like the world's worst punter, it's £350 , it's 11 years old, and you're hassling the guy about all this 'stuff'.
If I was him, my inner voices would be screaming "do not sell to this man for here comes 6 months of pain".
I will ad a +1 to that ,OP what do you really expect for the money a FMDSH plus a years warranty !If I was him, my inner voices would be screaming "do not sell to this man for here comes 6 months of pain".
s3fella said:
FFS it is £350 ! !
If I were selling it and saw this trhead doubting my honesty / knowledge, I'd tell you to f
k off and send it to the auction, make £250 more and not have any hassle in the future from you.
HTH
Yep I hope he reads this and tells you to take a hike, then maybe you can buy it from the auction for whatever it makes, eg £700. Even at £700 its not worth worrying about but at £350 you have got to be kidding with this post.If I were selling it and saw this trhead doubting my honesty / knowledge, I'd tell you to f
k off and send it to the auction, make £250 more and not have any hassle in the future from you.HTH
Why bother getting the cambelt done? It will cost more than the purchase price of the car.
Buy it, sold as seen, and if something goes horribly wrong 6 months down the line then the most you have lost is £350. Treat it as a disposable car.
As for the car being a 'death trap', just make sure you give it a good test drive - lean heavily on the brakes to make sure it stops in a straight line. Check the tyres have no cuts or bulges.
Buy it, sold as seen, and if something goes horribly wrong 6 months down the line then the most you have lost is £350. Treat it as a disposable car.
As for the car being a 'death trap', just make sure you give it a good test drive - lean heavily on the brakes to make sure it stops in a straight line. Check the tyres have no cuts or bulges.
tyranical said:
So you'd buy a car for £350 for your girlfriend to drive round in without knowing its history would you? .... yadda yadda yadda...
Oh look, another person who asks a question and then gets all snotty when he doesn't like the answers that he gets. 
Doing an HPI to check if it is Cat C/D is one thing, and quite sensible, but asking about cambelts and mileage checks on a £350 car is taking the piss. It is what it is. Either buy it or don't.
Edited by Strangely Brown on Sunday 22 August 10:26
tyranical said:
So you'd buy a car for £350 for your girlfriend to drive round in without knowing its history would you? For all you know it could of been stolen, been a CAT C write off, actually done 200,000 not 50,000 miles, etc? Would you want your girlfriend in something that could be a potential deathtrap/money pit? (even more so than an old saxo already is!)
Its sold as seen theres not going to be any comeback on the guy he's not a dealer or anything so its not like we can return it if its a stter, i'm only asking for opinions based on what I know, I haven't hassled the guy with anything apart from asking if its had the cambelt done, a perfectly reasonable ask I think as its an additional cost and something that we would want to get done ASAP if it hadn't been done.
Like I said I know its cheap and I also said that the money we are saving on the car we can use to sort out any problems that it may have anyway.
I'm not going to hassle the guy with anything im asking on here either I just wanted some other opinions/advice to think about and then if i'm not happy we can walk away no problem as he doesn't care if we have it anyway as he'll get rid of it on Tuesday whether we have it or not.
I'm sorry i'm not a Pistonheads high roller who is so rich they can wipe their arse with £20 notes and cruise round in Audi S-Lines or remapped 535D's, £350 is actually alot of money to us so of course we are going to be cautious, if you haven't actually got anything useful advice or comments then kindly do one.
Thanks.
NB Dealer comeback is not really worth anything if it's a real 'deathtrap' is it? Unless you need help with the funeral bills.Its sold as seen theres not going to be any comeback on the guy he's not a dealer or anything so its not like we can return it if its a s
tter, i'm only asking for opinions based on what I know, I haven't hassled the guy with anything apart from asking if its had the cambelt done, a perfectly reasonable ask I think as its an additional cost and something that we would want to get done ASAP if it hadn't been done.Like I said I know its cheap and I also said that the money we are saving on the car we can use to sort out any problems that it may have anyway.
I'm not going to hassle the guy with anything im asking on here either I just wanted some other opinions/advice to think about and then if i'm not happy we can walk away no problem as he doesn't care if we have it anyway as he'll get rid of it on Tuesday whether we have it or not.
I'm sorry i'm not a Pistonheads high roller who is so rich they can wipe their arse with £20 notes and cruise round in Audi S-Lines or remapped 535D's, £350 is actually alot of money to us so of course we are going to be cautious, if you haven't actually got anything useful advice or comments then kindly do one.
Thanks.
Edited by tyranical on Sunday 22 August 10:17
Be realistic. If you think it's ok, buy the bloody thing. If you're going to go back to the guy and rsent his very existence for every niggle which appears on an 11 year old car, walk away now as it will not be a pleasant experience for anyone concerned.
OP, if you're that worried about he potential safety, etc.. of what your GF is driving around in, then maybe you should be upping your budget!
To be honest... and to maybe offer you some more constructive advice... the car is yours for £350. There's not many cars available for that kind of money, whether decent or not. Best bet is to go look at the car on Monday, take someone along that knows cars, and have a good look over it. If it drives well without any horrible noises then snap his arm off. With cars at this age/mileage they are all liable to sudden unexpected expense, you can't really mitigate against that by worrying too much about previous cambelts etc...
If you concerned about it, do what you've said, replace it anyways. The bearing would be about £50 part (tops), maybe £150 to fit (tops), more likely less than £100 total to replace.
But please be realistic, for that money you seriously can't expect any comeback, it's a cash sale, a favour.
I've just bought my daughter her first car, an old Micra, cost £500 and seemed cheap at that, so if this one is sound take it, don't worry too much about the what ifs, becuase those what ifs apply to any car of this age/mileage.
ETA - make sure and double check the insurance... having a slightly bigger engine can make a HUGE difference on first cars!
To be honest... and to maybe offer you some more constructive advice... the car is yours for £350. There's not many cars available for that kind of money, whether decent or not. Best bet is to go look at the car on Monday, take someone along that knows cars, and have a good look over it. If it drives well without any horrible noises then snap his arm off. With cars at this age/mileage they are all liable to sudden unexpected expense, you can't really mitigate against that by worrying too much about previous cambelts etc...
If you concerned about it, do what you've said, replace it anyways. The bearing would be about £50 part (tops), maybe £150 to fit (tops), more likely less than £100 total to replace.
But please be realistic, for that money you seriously can't expect any comeback, it's a cash sale, a favour.
I've just bought my daughter her first car, an old Micra, cost £500 and seemed cheap at that, so if this one is sound take it, don't worry too much about the what ifs, becuase those what ifs apply to any car of this age/mileage.
ETA - make sure and double check the insurance... having a slightly bigger engine can make a HUGE difference on first cars!
Edited by Piersman2 on Sunday 22 August 10:36
tyranical said:
So you'd buy a car for £350 for your girlfriend to drive round in without knowing its history would you? For all you know it could of been stolen, been a CAT C write off, actually done 200,000 not 50,000 miles, etc? Would you want your girlfriend in something that could be a potential deathtrap/money pit? (even more so than an old saxo already is!)
Its sold as seen theres not going to be any comeback on the guy he's not a dealer or anything so its not like we can return it if its a stter, i'm only asking for opinions based on what I know, I haven't hassled the guy with anything apart from asking if its had the cambelt done, a perfectly reasonable ask I think as its an additional cost and something that we would want to get done ASAP if it hadn't been done.
Like I said I know its cheap and I also said that the money we are saving on the car we can use to sort out any problems that it may have anyway.
I'm not going to hassle the guy with anything im asking on here either I just wanted some other opinions/advice to think about and then if i'm not happy we can walk away no problem as he doesn't care if we have it anyway as he'll get rid of it on Tuesday whether we have it or not.
I'm sorry i'm not a Pistonheads high roller who is so rich they can wipe their arse with £20 notes and cruise round in Audi S-Lines or remapped 535D's, £350 is actually alot of money to us so of course we are going to be cautious, if you haven't actually got anything useful advice or comments then kindly do one.
Thanks.
I would not buy a £350 car for my girlfriend.Its sold as seen theres not going to be any comeback on the guy he's not a dealer or anything so its not like we can return it if its a s
tter, i'm only asking for opinions based on what I know, I haven't hassled the guy with anything apart from asking if its had the cambelt done, a perfectly reasonable ask I think as its an additional cost and something that we would want to get done ASAP if it hadn't been done.Like I said I know its cheap and I also said that the money we are saving on the car we can use to sort out any problems that it may have anyway.
I'm not going to hassle the guy with anything im asking on here either I just wanted some other opinions/advice to think about and then if i'm not happy we can walk away no problem as he doesn't care if we have it anyway as he'll get rid of it on Tuesday whether we have it or not.
I'm sorry i'm not a Pistonheads high roller who is so rich they can wipe their arse with £20 notes and cruise round in Audi S-Lines or remapped 535D's, £350 is actually alot of money to us so of course we are going to be cautious, if you haven't actually got anything useful advice or comments then kindly do one.
Thanks.
Edited by tyranical on Sunday 22 August 10:17
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