Buying a car

Electro_Ham

RaymondLin said:

There are only 16 cars that are

within 10 miles of SA4 3AB
under £2500
private

Easy

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907270524132

But it’s got to be a MX5!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907270524132

I see the Honda in both links. But the silver MX5, 5miles from Emps postcode looks good. Appears to be well looked after and no visible rust in the usual places. 

LordOxygen

Buy a ford, anyone can fix them, loads of choice, good to drive.

RaymondLin

Electro_Ham said:

RaymondLin said:

There are only 16 cars that are

within 10 miles of SA4 3AB
under £2500
private

Easy

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907270524132

But it’s got to be a MX5!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201907270524132

I see the Honda in both links. But the silver MX5, 5miles from Emps postcode looks good. Appears to be well looked after and no visible rust in the usual places. 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201906149009868

Emp_Fab

Sadly, that MX5, whilst it looks lovely, it’s a grand overpriced.  

RaymondLin

But it also come with the factory hard top.

Looks good condition.

Sometimes you just have to pay a little more to get out of the hole that you are in.

Pretty much every other £1500 MX5 out there would have some kind of rust, higher miles, no roof.  This one is full of stamps, even gearbox oil changed = well looked after.

Emp_Fab

And the Honda is half the price it should be with an MOT coming up next month.  Would that make anyone suspicious?

Emp_Fab

RaymondLin said:

But it also come with the factory hard top.

Looks good condition.

Sometimes you just have to pay a little more to get out of the hole that you are in.

Pretty much every other £1500 MX5 out there would have some kind of rust, higher miles, no roof.  This one is full of stamps, even gearbox oil changed = well looked after.

Yeah, I get that but.... an extra grand on £1500 car ?  The hole I’m in has no effect on whether that’s overpriced or not.  There are lots of other cars I can get.  What’s the deal with the roof then ?  The hard top is optional is it?  Do you have to take it off and store it somewhere?  The vinyl top is put on manually ?

steveledzep

Emp_Fab said:

And the Honda is half the price it should be with an MOT coming up next month.  Would that make anyone suspicious?

I've not seen the Honda link.  If you're interested in it, make it a condition of purchase that the vendor puts a fresh mot on it.  Sorry your Veloster didn't work out yesterday, well done you for spotting the problem and walking away.  With you travelling so far, dealer should have been upfront with you.....dirty trick !!!!

RaymondLin

Emp_Fab said:

RaymondLin said:

But it also come with the factory hard top.

Looks good condition.

Sometimes you just have to pay a little more to get out of the hole that you are in.

Pretty much every other £1500 MX5 out there would have some kind of rust, higher miles, no roof.  This one is full of stamps, even gearbox oil changed = well looked after.

Yeah, I get that but.... an extra grand on £1500 car ?  The hole I’m in has no effect on whether that’s overpriced or not.  There are lots of other cars I can get.  What’s the deal with the roof then ?  The hard top is optional is it?  Do you have to take it off and store it somewhere?  The vinyl top is put on manually ?

The hardtop is nice to have when you want a quieter cabin experience, or better warmth in the winter.  It's quite nice to have that.  Yes you need to store it if you are doing convertible but it's not a big deal if you have a shed or garage.

The point is that a £1500 MX5 you might be spending £300 next service for an oil change, it might have rust that no money can get rid (if this one has no rust) and don't have a roof.

So yes, it might be more expensive than that website says, but look at other MX5 on the market for £1500, see what you can get - mileage, service history, condition, spec and location (no more £200 round trip).

Then that is the price you are paying for, not the price on a website.

SteveRobinson

I think it's cheap summer fun for the price of a Gibson R8. What matters at that age is how a car has been looked after and it's only done 50K miles.

If it were 5 miles from me I'd be there with an envelope full of twenties in a flash.

stickyfiddle

I'd buy the shit out of that silver MX5. It's not overpriced with that mileage, when it's just had new tyres and a major service, and when you can see it's in really good shape. It's the very tail end of the NB model (the best used option, even if the purists will tell you the NA is the classic, the NB is far more liveable). And it comes with a hardtop so you can use it in winter in Wales. The wheels look in great shape so it's probably not been driven by a muppet either. Honestly, if the same deal was in Abu Dhabi I'd have already called the guy  

Go and offer 2100, hope to settle under 2300. Winner! 

(hard top is exactly that - a removable "fixed" roof, usually in the same colour as the body. When you're not using that you chuck it in the garage and just use the soft top, which is the easiest thing in the world - up or down in literally 5 seconds. Brilliant engineering)

celentium

Also Charles, he'll be expecting you to knock a free hundred off when haggling.

LordOxygen

Buying an older car that the owner is asking strong money probably means it is in top condition, serviced and cared for, often by an enthusiast. 
MX5s rust - at that price is probably rust free. 

Paying more than average is a good thing to do, imo. 

RaymondLin

Got to point out unless missed, the timing belt has been done as well.  It really is well looked after.

LordOxygen

If I wasn't 6'5 and didn't already have a rag top for fun I'd buy it. 

TTony

Emp.

Seriously now.

Stop relying on the internet.  Internet reviews.  Internet surveys.  Internet price guides.  Even internet forums.

That got you nowhere useful with the Veloster.

Get out there and take a look at some cars.  The MX-5 for sure.  But also, all the other cars that are on garage forecourts that aren't on websites - because they get bought before the dealers have to go through the hassle of putting them online.

Ask around.  Who are the reliable (it's a relative term) car dealers in your area.  Go there.  Talk to them.  See what they've got, and what they've got coming in soon.  Build some sort of rapport with them (it should be easy - they're car dealers!) and if you like the sound of XXX that they're expecting next week, tell them you're interested "as is" - ie before they've spent £100 on a valet (so you get it cheaper) and hiding the things that you really want to be able to see (so you can make a more informed decision).  Sooner or later you'll find something worth having.  

You're looking for simple things.  Service stamps (don't expect all main dealers - just that it's been somewhere every 10k miles or so), panel fit (no obvious damages), matching tyres of a brand that you can pronounce, interior that's not been completely trashed, and preferably an MOT longer than 6mths (although that's not guarantee that it won't blow up as soon as you drive it off the forecourt - there's never a guarantee).  

Instead of looking for any sort of internet reassurance, trust yourself and your gut.  

Looks too good to be true, walk on.  Looks shit, walk on.  Looks OK, drives OK, sounds OK, feels OK, gut says OK, then live dangerously and go for it without wondering whether the internet says it 50p over-priced or whether some guy you'll never meet (and who knows shit about cars btw) says that it was unreliable.  All cars are unreliable just as much as all cars are reliable.

Or take the bus.

digitalscream

That ^^ is wisdom.

The Internet's a biased medium; the majority of people who talk about cars are people bitching and moaning, because that's what people do best. Then there are the enthusiasts who'll tell you their car is the best ever, with trivial maintenance - because they've got a mate with a workshop and don't blink at spending three weeks of evenings and weekends fixing stuff, because it's their hobby.

Both camps are wrong, but they're the only ones you'll hear from.

Once a car's over five years and/or 60k miles old, just about every opinion and statistic is secondary to the condition of the individual car and how sympathetically it's been maintained and driven.

Just drive some cars, and see which ones speak to you. Just because you're not looking to spend more than a couple of grand doesn't mean that you can't very easily find an absolute gem while barely trying. You just need to spend a weekend looking around local forecourts and waiting for a car to speak to you, as @TTony says.

Beats a weekend being pissed off about the Veloster.

HerrMetal

In the meantime just buy the Volvo for £250 (or less). A car is a very useful thing to have when wanting to travel to look for cars. When the MOT is up in December just take it to a local scrappy and get most of your money back. (Assume it test drives OK, tyres are legal and can reach 60mph despite the stated limp mode. )

How much have you spent on train fares since this all started????  A whole lot more than the premium that is being sought for that tidy MX5 I'll bet. 

Wazmeister

TTony said:

Emp.

Seriously now.

Stop relying on the internet.  Internet reviews.  Internet surveys.  Internet price guides.  Even internet forums.

That got you nowhere useful with the Veloster.

Get out there and take a look at some cars.  The MX-5 for sure.  But also, all the other cars that are on garage forecourts that aren't on websites - because they get bought before the dealers have to go through the hassle of putting them online.

Ask around.  Who are the reliable (it's a relative term) car dealers in your area.  Go there.  Talk to them.  See what they've got, and what they've got coming in soon.  Build some sort of rapport with them (it should be easy - they're car dealers!) and if you like the sound of XXX that they're expecting next week, tell them you're interested "as is" - ie before they've spent £100 on a valet (so you get it cheaper) and hiding the things that you really want to be able to see (so you can make a more informed decision).  Sooner or later you'll find something worth having.  

You're looking for simple things.  Service stamps (don't expect all main dealers - just that it's been somewhere every 10k miles or so), panel fit (no obvious damages), matching tyres of a brand that you can pronounce, interior that's not been completely trashed, and preferably an MOT longer than 6mths (although that's not guarantee that it won't blow up as soon as you drive it off the forecourt - there's never a guarantee).  

Instead of looking for any sort of internet reassurance, trust yourself and your gut.  

Looks too good to be true, walk on.  Looks shit, walk on.  Looks OK, drives OK, sounds OK, feels OK, gut says OK, then live dangerously and go for it without wondering whether the internet says it 50p over-priced or whether some guy you'll never meet (and who knows shit about cars btw) says that it was unreliable.  All cars are unreliable just as much as all cars are reliable.

Or take the bus.

Brilliant and wisdom awarded.

Emp, ffs just get out there, grow a pair, and try some cars.

Emp_Fab

I've spent a total of £110 on train fares.  The MX5 premium is ten times that!, so it's the other way around actually. 

I don't want a two-seater sports car - it's utterly useless for carrying gear to gigs in for one thing.  Besides, that particular one has been on Autotrader for at least 3 or 4 weeks now.  If it's so good, why hasn't it sold in that time ?

I know you all love the MX5 but - I need a normal car.  That Volvo is tempting - I've done a bit of digging and the CAT problem is often down to a faulty O2 sensor (about £40).  I would prefer something I don't need to get underneath straight away though, but at £250, I might take a look.

I've just LOLd at an ad that says "(Peugeot 206 CC) Needs new home......  and clutch and gearbox."