State of Irish second hand cars

bazz26

I've been occasionally browsing the car forecourts over the last month or two at second hand motors. Not particularly set on any make in specific but if something catches my eye I'll take a closer look.

Anyway I could not help but notice, having looked around a few forecourts, the general poor visual condition of used cars. I'm talking about 1 or 2 year old motors here. Generally most Irish motorists don't seem to look after their cars these days or has it always been this way.

I was looking at 06/05 cars with lots of scrapes, dents and dirty interiors, I could only image that they have been looked after under the bonet just as carefully. :rolleyes:

I was a bit shocked at first to be honest, my own car is now 4 years old with 130k miles, I wash & polish it myself regularly (weather permitting) and clean the inside out too every couple of weeks as anyone with a 4 year old child will understand. I also have it serviced on time every time and anything that needs replacing is replaced. Basically the general condition of my existing car is alot better than cars which have a fraction of the mileage and age of my car.

I have always treated my cars like this but it really makes me reluctant to part with my current car I have as you just cannot be sure what your buying used these days. Is this a result of the Celtic Tiger where people have plenty of money so cars are changed more regularly so they have less value to their owners or am I being too fussy when buying second hand?

VRT issues and "Keeping up with the Jones" aside, I really cannot blame some people for buying new cars, at least you know there is no hidden history.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant.

bo-bo

totally agree with you on that one mate, i sold an imported honda prelude a few months ago in absolutely pristine condition and have regretted it ever since - irish cars just seem so rough. you have to question the standard of our roads though.

i was in england at the weekend and every car on the motorway was nice and clean, but then again, so was the motorway

scaldybelt

I know exactly where you're coming from bazz. I have a need for an auto estate currently, and was looking for something large, safe, and around 2000-2001 reg as a second car.
I trawled the car websites in this country and although a few met my spec, the condition in the pics left a lot to be desired. Viewed one vehicle a few days later and was shocked by the state of it - parts missing from the exterior, a few dints and at a minimum it would have needed four new tyres within weeks. Then I found one online that looked mint. When I chased it, I found out it was brought in from the UK recently - which made it more tempting straightaway.

I then decided to look at the UK (where I was living until recently) to see if I could come across something similar and import.
Within 5 minutes I had come across a choice of cars that had a massive spec by comparison to here and have settled on one which I am collecting within the week. It is a 2000 reg, 1 owner car from new, serviced at the same dealer as bought from, leather, wood dash, full service history (1yr warranty incl. from main dealer), 6 yrs old and looks mint (valeted especially I reckon) from the 4 large photos. I can buy it for less than half the price of the equivalent here (~€16k here), and with VRT estimated at €2k, I'm looking forward to having saved myself €5k by the time the irish plates go onto it - and a great spec and full service history to boot.

I don't have the time/patience to spend a few weekends wandering around irish forecourts looking at cars with tinted windows or worn steering wheels that have had hard lives on our road network. Instead I've chosen an evening online hunting out a few cars within a short drive from a UK airport which I can fly to for €5+taxes one way, and get back to Ireland in time to catch the 9 o'clock news.

bazz26

Granted our roads are another factor to take into consideration, hell I drive on most of them too but I think alot of people simply don't look after their cars. Roads don't put alot of dents or scratches on the body work or mud in the interior.

Saying all that there is probably a double edge to this thread.

Another thing that comes to mind is that alot of people seem to be afraid to even look at cars with 100,000 plus miles on them. The amount of dealers who run for cover as soon as you mention the mileage is staggering.

One sales guy was looking at my car and commented on how good the condition of it was for a 4 year old car, he then asked me the mileage as I handed him the keys for a closer look. He nearly turned pale as a sheet and started telling me sad stories about how much work would need to be done to it and how hard it would be to shift it. Wasn't interested in me showing the FSH, etc after that. I suppose he had a point from a sales perspective.

Looking now at the option of selling it cheap to my old man, he only does about 5k miles a year, it's comfortable, big enough for him and will last him another good few years. Just trying to convince my sister now to buy his Honda Civic. If that plan works out I'm off to the UK to pick up a decent well looked after car.

I suppose this whole subject cuts both ways depending on your perspective.

RobAMerc

This has been done before but generally Irish people dont care about, understand or have any ability to drive when it comes to cars.

In this respect we are very different to most of our European neighbours.

r3nu4l

Ah lads, the old "Everything about motoring in England is so much better" cliché

How I wish it was true I used to think the same but now I live and drive here every single day...

I have been on a lot of forecourts in recent months looking at second hand motors, they are all washed and clean looking but a closer look reveals lots of badly painted-over scratch marks, small dents, tar marks on the paintwork near the road...etc, everything I saw when buying in Ireland. Some beautifully maintained cars but just as many poorly treated cars as well.

Also, some parts of the M11 past Stanstead (J8) and towards Cambridge are in poor condition, the N4 in Dublin is in much better nick!

I agree that in general people don't look after their cars very well these days but it's not exclusively Irish.

EDIT: RobAMerc, what a sweeping generalisation, look at how the French park (bumper bashing)!! Look at the use of indicators in England for lane changes, practically non-existent, look at driving in Rome :eek:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You're looking in the wrong dealships I think! There are plenty of very good motors traded-in in perfect condition. Most don't last long enough to go on display.

peasant

Roads don't put alot of dents or scratches on the body work

I would disagree on that one.

My car is full of scratches and dents that were caused by nothing else but flying stones from our rough road surfaces.
In which other country do you get "chippings" the size of ping-pong balls?

scaldybelt

The car I'm looking at in the UK has 95k on the clock, but I know that even as things go wrong with it in the coming years, it will be a long time before I will have amassed the bills to equal the price of the same car here sitting on the forecourt today. I drove a 1995 Honda Legend (3.2 V6) a few years ago in the UK with 115k on the clock when I bought it. The only trouble I had with it up to 135k was replacing some brake pads/discs - oh yes, and parting with all that fuel money to keep that jap-muscle car on the road. What an awesome motor she was! :cool:

Recently saw a car at a local garage, and the dealer offered a saloon version of the same model (same age, slightly larger engine, mileage ~120k) for a third of the price as the estate but WITHOUT a warranty........"take it as it is".......And this car was the same brand as his main dealership!
Imagine the state of that car? We reckoned we'd be lucky to get it home and made a comment to the like - to which he replied - 'Oh, there's nothing wrong with it...."

PAH!

If you're after a second hand larger car, head across the pond. You won't be let down if you research it well.
And even if you are let down - sure you'd only be taking it to the same local dealer as you would anyhow in Ireland - but you'd have so many more extras to enjoy as you wait for the AA man!

r3nu4l

peasant wrote:

In which other country do you get "chippings" the size of ping-pong balls?

How about an exact stretch of road for you in another country?

A14 between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge...everyday I get at least one stone-chip hitting my windscreen or the side of the car during the 25 mile journey to work :mad:

bazz26

Kailyn Grumpy Glass wrote:

You're looking in the wrong dealships I think! There are plenty of very good motors traded-in in perfect condition. Most don't last long enough to go on display.

Not always the case though, I have been keeping taps on used cars for a good few months now waiting for the right one to pop up, I have been to alot of forecourts, the cars you are talking about are rare and maybe snapped up by someone who may know the previous owner or dealer personally.

RobAMerc

r3nu4l wrote:

EDIT: RobAMerc, what a sweeping generalisation, look at how the French park (bumper bashing)!! Look at the use of indicators in England for lane changes, practically non-existent, look at driving in Rome :eek:

Generally the French dont damage each others cars when touch park (many leave the handbrake off for this exact reason) and the driving in Rome while it might look crazy is done with far more skill given the tight roads and cobblestones than anywhere I have ever seen by anyone here in Ireland.

I am generalizing because

RobAMerc wrote:

generally Irish people dont care about, understand or have any ability to drive when it comes to cars.

CrowdedHouse

peasant wrote:

I would disagree on that one.

My car is full of scratches and dents that were caused by nothing else but flying stones from our rough road surfaces.
In which other country do you get "chippings" the size of ping-pong balls?

True,not to mention the annual 'surface dressing' ffs like a machine gun on the car.
I find lately that I'm not bothering as much with washing,it's a nice car -an 06 Golf GTI-but because of the state of the roads,especially from the construction fraternity after a 20km drive it looks like I been using it off road(maybe thats why people are buying jeeps:) )It's very disheartening after spending hours of time and money having it look right only to have it undone in a couple of Km.

Guy:Incognito

bazz26 wrote:

He nearly turned pale as a sheet and started telling me sad stories about how much work would need to be done to it and how hard it would be to shift it.

I would have thought hooking it up to a computer and deleting that troublesome 1 from the begining wouldnt be too taxing on the poor bloke.

maidhc

A lot of people don't care, but a lot of people do.

It depends on the car you are looking for too. If you are buying, say, a Golf GTI, the standard will be more better than a 1.4 base Golf.

I really don't think Ireland is a huge amount worse than other places. In Washington DC when I was there last, EVERY rear bumper was destroyed with scratches from yanks unable to parallel park.

UK cars seem to suffer more from rust too, due to the local authorities there using salt rather than the grit more common here. The rough stone chippings are a necessary evil on most country roads, artic lorries would tear up a tarmacadam surface on bends in no length of time.

We have far too many water soluble roads in this country though. Potholes are vicious at the moment with the rain.

JohnCleary

It's not just cars.

Went to view a boat today (And brought a deposit). The STATE of it, total neglect. Filthy, torn canopies etc. I was actually sick thinking about how someone could neglect a boat like that

bazz26

Stekelly wrote:

I would have thought hooking it up to a computer and deleting that troublesome 1 from the begining wouldnt be too taxing on the poor bloke.

Obviously he isn't as creative as some others out there.

Altreab

bazz26 wrote:

Obviously he isn't as creative as some others out there.

oh he was .....he went white for the seller ...knocked down price ..... deleted the 1 ...... turned on "charm" for next victim ..oopps client

Wishbone Ash

In fairness lads, many car owners have absolutely no interest in them and merely see them as a form of transport. I always keep my cars in tip top condition but I wouldn't expect those who are uninterested to spend any of their valuable time on cleaning and polishing.

A work colleague spends half the day cleaning and polishing his golf clubs while his car has muck up to the windows. He simply has no interest in the car but wouldn't be seen dead without a spotless set of clubs.

Anyone who thinks that cars are maintained better in other countries obviously only notices the good ones. I see balls of shíte in every country I go to. Rome for example, despite the supposed vainity of it's citizens, is full of crap cars.

(Better spec abroad is a VRT thing and nothing to do with interest or the lack of it.)

DonJose

JohnCleary wrote:

It's not just cars.

It's not just cars. It's not just boats. It's pretty much everything. Went looking at a few houses when I moved back last year. The state of some of the houses on the market was unbelievable, scummy filthy. The real estate agent even apologized telling me had he know then state the houses were in he wouldn't have let me view it.

Thats life here in good oul ROI. Yeah we're still better than the rest LOL

maidhc

DonJose wrote:

Thats life here in good oul ROI. Yeah we're still better than the rest LOL

!!!

There is a huge difference between a dirty/rough car and a dirty/rough house. Once a the house is structurally sound and the title is good, whether the kitchen has been polished is completely irrelevant!

Give me a cheap tatty house anyday.

You really hate this country, don't you!

worded

I went to two garages here.

First garage, one car had moss growing out of it (02 golf) the rest looked mostly shabby

The second .. there was a young lad (bosses son probably) eating a bag of crisps in on one car.
Nearly all needed a good waxing, out in the "sun" too long
One car was manky in side, needed to be hovered.

You would think the garages would pay someone minimum wage to clean them up.

Im thinking no thanks.

Someone said to me theres no time to look after the car anymore.

I used to take the number plates off the car I had when polishing it!

ambro25

Del Griffith wrote:

EDIT: RobAMerc, (i) what a sweeping generalisation, (ii)look at how the French park (bumper bashing)!! Look at the use of indicators in England for lane changes, practically non-existent, look at driving in Rome :eek:

Criticizing a poster for (i) sweeping generalisations and (ii) making three just as large in the same sentence. Congrats, takes some skillz that! :rolleyes:

peasant

ambro25 wrote:

Criticizing a poster for (i) sweeping generalisations and (ii) making three just as large in the same sentence. Congrats, takes some skillz that! :rolleyes:

.... so does criticising people half a year after their post !

r3nu4l

ambro25 wrote:

Criticizing a poster for (i) sweeping generalisations and (ii) making three just as large in the same sentence. Congrats, takes some skillz that! :rolleyes:

What's that whooshing sound? Oh, it's my sarcasm going right over your head...six months later! :rolleyes:



Oh and skills is spelt with an 's' at the end not a 'z'.
/Grumbles about literacy rates and young folk!


EDIT: I've just spotted another irony, way back then I posted about stone chippings from the A11/A14 hitting my windscreen every day...since then I've had two large chips in my windscreen. This thread recurrence is also very timely as I may very soon be looking to buy two used cars and I'll be trading in another. I'll have another look on the forecourts over the coming weeks to see how bad the cars look here in England, see if anything has changed in the last 6 months.

unkel

And on that note...

Locked!