Buying a car

strtdv

celentium said:

Is it a refundable deposit? 

I hope not, the seller deserves to keep it for having to deal with this nonsense. I wouldn't deliberate this much over a £25k used car, never mind a £2.5k one. If he was paid by the hour for all the deliberating he's done over this, he'd be able to buy a brand new car.

And yes, the clutch thing is very likely to be a coincidence. 

I'm likely to have bought my next car by the time this thread runs its course, and I've already bought the last car during the thread.

Electro_Ham

Emp_Fab said:

An interesting discovery....   I'm buying a 2.2L Diesel Honda Civic that I have a concern about the clutch with....

https://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?title=Slipping_clutch

This manufacturing defect affects only 2.2L Diesel Honda Civics.

OK, I didn't detect any slipping (but neither was I looking out for that) - but it's a bit of a coincidence don't you think ?

I've had an idea - the car has only ever been serviced by the local Honda Main dealer.  It's therefore a reasonable bet that if the clutch has been replaced then they would have done it - and will have a record of having done so.  I'll give them a bell / pop in there on Monday and see if they have any info.

Isn't there data protection that means you might not get this info unless you can prove to be the owner? 

Emp_Fab

celentium said:

Is it a refundable deposit? 

I have no idea.  I was up against the clock on Friday.  A premature death - or worse - awaited me if I hadn't at least put some money down on a car by the time I got home.  Fuck me...  Why is it that every bloody car I look at has (possibly) something wrong with it?

Veloster - resprayed.  Merc - Ashtray.  1st Civic - Farmyard & badly neglected.  2nd Civic - possible clutch problem.  Are there really so few cars out there with only minor faults?

strtdv

Emp_Fab said: 
 Why is it that every bloody car I look at has (possibly) something wrong with it?

Because you're buying a used car and they all have something "possibly" wrong with them. I'm beginning to agree that you'd be better off with a new car with a 3+ year warranty.

You're now contradicting yourself (again) as you state that you're handy as a mechanic and keen to do maintenance and work on the car yourself, but you seem entirely unable to bring yourself to buy a car that might need any work done.

For £2.5k accept that anything is a gamble and it could give years of trouble free service or it could break next week. In fact I'd argue that if £2.5k is what you want to spend then your real budget is either £2k with a £500 repair fund, or £1250 and you can buy another if/when an uneconomical repair comes along

octatonic

Emp_Fab said:

celentium said:

Is it a refundable deposit? 

I have no idea.  I was up against the clock on Friday.  A premature death - or worse - awaited me if I hadn't at least put some money down on a car by the time I got home.  Fuck me...  Why is it that every bloody car I look at has (possibly) something wrong with it?

Veloster - resprayed.  Merc - Ashtray.  1st Civic - Farmyard & badly neglected.  2nd Civic - possible clutch problem.  Are there really so few cars out there with only minor faults?

In your price range there is no free lunch.

Electro_Ham

And you are only looking within 15 mile radius. 

RaymondLin

TimmyO said:

RaymondLin said:

TimmyO said:

RaymondLin said:

TTony said:

Emp_Fab said:

 I'm not sure even I would have marked me down for this degree of what can only be described as psychological disorder.

Some of us know you better than you know yourself
 

Ahem...cough...whistles

Don't think you're escaping this thread unscathed :-) 

Haha, you mean he bought the first car (serious) recommendation on page 1 in this entire thread and that was by me? 

if you can't see why you're a close 2nd on the "red flag for being bonkers" list in this thread then there's nothing I can say that will be constructive 

If only being constructive would actually yield in the result of a car lol

strtdv

If you want absolute reliability on your budget I'd suggest your best bet is a Massey Ferguson 135. Easy to work on too. 

celentium

Buying at the bottom of the market is easy. Go to a local dealer with a good reputation, ask to see all cars within the price range and choose the most suitable.

It might be a Renault, it could be a Ford or Toyota. It doesn't really matter, you're just looking for a well maintained vehicle in the best condition.

People do it every day of the week. I suggest taking a more grounded friend or family member to help. 

DiscoStu

My first car was a Rover 220SD. I bought it from a mate for £1200, I think it had 77k miles on it and I had to fix a few things during the few years I had it. Fuel tank, exhaust, clutch, MOT failures etc. It cost me money but that's what happens when you buy a high mileage used car!
I sold if for £500 and the next owners took it all round Europe with zero issues!
That's just how cars are. If you want the perfect car then dig deeper and buy newer. But as it's just a stop-gap car then buy the Civic, fix what needs fixed, run it then sell it on.
It isn't difficult.

Emp_Fab

Yeah - you're right.  I'll see what his mechanic says on Thursday (probably 'nothing wrong with it') and I'll take it for another test drive and pay attention to whether the clutch is slipping.  If it isn't - I'll take it home.  I can adjust the bite point myself.

octatonic

Anyone else need a cigarette?

TTony

Emp_Fab said:

An interesting discovery....   I'm buying a 2.2L Diesel Honda Civic that I have a concern about the clutch with....

https://www.civinfo.com/wiki/index.php?title=Slipping_clutch

This manufacturing defect affects only 2.2L Diesel Honda Civics.

Did you read the article in the link you posted, or did you just seize on the excuse/opportunity to walk away from another potential purchase?

"The fault affects all 2.2 diesel cars to date (Jan 09), including the Civic, CRV, FRV and Accord. Diesel cars with the fault are showing the symptoms of a failed clutch typically between 10,000 and 30,000 miles."

The car you're looking at has done somewhat more than 10,000 to 30,000 miles.  The clutch may well be on the way out (or not - who knows), but IF it is, that'll be because it's nearing the end of its expected life of 80k-120k.  That may also be why the car is priced low.  If you spotted the low price, you can be absolutely certain that the trader also knows that it's low - they'll know the market price a whole lot better than you.

If the clutch goes, put your  spanners where your mouth has been and fix it, or pay the money and get it fixed.  Either way, you've got a car that appeared to tick every other one of your ridiculously long list of tick boxes.

Does that sound like patience wearing thin?

Sainthood due for Mrs Fab.

Emp_Fab

Hahahaha.  She'll be pleased with that 

Anyway - What 'ridiculously long list of tick boxes' ??

Since abandoning the Veloster, I've only wanted 'Wheels:4, Rust:not much, Smell:Not like a baboon's arse'.

Alvin

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907109928769?radius=50&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&advertising-location=at_cars&model=MONDEO&make=FORD&price-from=1000&sort=sponsored&postcode=sa11de&price-to=3500&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907109921848?radius=50&make=VAUXHALL&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-from=500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=3000&postcode=sa11de&sort=sponsored&model=VECTRA&page=1

 Mondeo within spitting distance - 104.000 miles  £1300 .

 

 Vectra  ,Weston Super Mare -52,000 miles 2 owners £1800.

    Both well under your budget and  well regarded for reliability (as any car can be and buying new is no guarantee you can't have problems ).  

   If i wanted  a reliable motor on the cheap and looks being unimportant i would go for that vectra , a low mileage workhorse that could have a good few years left in it ,  might not look special or be an exact limited colour but i would be phoning the dealer asking the questions .   If something doesn't work , like air con  - so what , use it to get a few quid off the asking .  How often would it really be used - just open the windows.

   Perhaps these are the type of motors you should be looking for , larger  unloved cars but great value at the price level .

  

Bridgehouse

ewal

I suspect the air con will need a repair,n just a top up. My Ceed has an air con leak which would be pricey to repair, so I just open the windows... Well three of the windows - one of them needs fixed... That's older cars for you...

LordOxygen

Recently had a new condenser on a mk6 fiesta ST. Bought the car October last year knowing the aircon didn't work, but didn't know why (its aircon who cares really?) Couldn't be arsed (didn't trust) the trader to fix properly so got £150 knocked off the price drove it for 8 months finally had it repaired earlier in May ready for the summer. 

ewal

It's a pipe that's gone on mine. An expensive pipe...

Emp_Fab

Drive....  Without Aircon?  My God....  Who are you people?  I'm sharing a forum with barbarians!!

In other news, I'm now getting anxious about the timing chain.  I can't be sure if this is justified paranoia or not as I don't know what a 2.2 Civic engine is supposed to sound like, but this one sounds a bit "Fffzzzzshy" when you rev it.  Like the sound a bicycle chain makes when you back-pedal fast.

I suppose that, at the end of the day, it's a cheap car that's been looked after as well as anyone could wish for (FMDSH, Premium tyres) and I'm lucky to have found it (courtesy of @jaytmon ) and that being realistic for a moment, if the timing chain snaps and destroys the engine or the clutch goes and costs me half the car's value to fix it, then really, it's all Jaytmon's fault.