New job with good car allowance - what to do?

L-M

FrankGrimes wrote:

The downside is I'm pretty sure it used to be a smoker's car as it stinks inside - that smell would drive me nuts. Is there any way to guarantee removal of the leftover smoke smell?

I'd also much prefer the full chrome pack for the bumpers, but could defo get over this. He said it'd be about €200 to put chrome side bumpers on, but I wonder would it look crap given that the front and rear bumpers would still be plastic..

Where there is a will there is way. There many ways u can get the smell out and i hope that this doesn't turn u off the car. As far as the chrome goes, u could find the bumper parts in a breakers yards rather than gettin them sprayed. I am sure u could swindle the chrome cheaper than that. How much did he offer u on ur own?

FrankGrimes

Hey Cold_filter - the car allowance is essentially just another part of my salary so I get it paid monthly, and again, I'm free to do with it whatever I please.

That's good to hear Limerick-man - is there anything I should be asking them to do to get rid of the smell as part of the deal (e.g. I dunno, maybe a full shampoo of all upholstery) so the smell is gone before I buy the car?

Not sure I follow you on the bumpers and to be honest doubt I'd know how to go about sourcing it - are you saying it'd be possible to get chrome bumpers from maybe Highlines in a breaker's yard? No harm me giving it a go if so I guess.

The guy I was dealing with was very junior so couldn't really talk much on price. He said they had it 2 weeks, so I'd guess longer so they might be willing to bring it down a bit - I'll shoot for 16k cash if I'm not trading in and see how it goes down.

FrankGrimes

I went down to my mate's uncle in Kingstown Motors there at lunch just to check out the 05 baseline passat. It's 1.6 (he said it's the higher bhp of the two 1.6 versions), silver (which I like cos I find it dirt doesn't show easily), and has 22,000 miles on it.

It has no chrome at all on the window trims or bumpers, though it does have (small) alloys. It's in immaculate condition outside and in and I took it for a good spin on the M50 and it definitely has enough poke for my needs.

It has a single CD player and does have climatronic climate control (which is great as A/C is pretty much my highest priority), electric heated mirrors, and electric front windows, but no extras so it's short on the wow factor but is a solid, clean car in great nick.

With my 99 Astra trade-in it would cost me €13,750, setting his asking price around €16,500. It's seeming like a good deal to me and he'll guarantee it and gladly take it as a trade-in in a year or two if I want.

So it's missing the snazzy looking chrome on the outside and though the basic alloys are fine, it looks quite boring. On the inside it doesn't have the leather, heated seats, 6CD changer, rear electric windows, and the sunroof.

So my choice is based on whether I want to spend an extra grand to get a car that looks better and has the extras but has 50k miles on it (and stinks for the moment), or do I want to go for the solid 05 which shouldn't give any hassle. Mmmm, that's gonna be a tough one, but I think at the moment I'm leaning slightly towards the 05 baseline....

rebel.ranter

The smell should come out. Even if you have to give the car to a proffessional car valet. Therefore I would not make the smell a deal breaker. The lower miles is attractive but if you're saying it's boring now what will yu be saying when you actually own it?
A friend of mine has a '99 Passat 1.9TDI with 206k miles on it and aside from it being messy inside (friend is not a car enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, an A to B man) it seemed fine.

FrankGrimes

I went and took the 1.8T 03 Passat for a test-drive today and liked it so much I ended up buying it.

There's some amount of power in the 1.8 and when the turbo kicks in overtaking will be done very quickly and safely. I was wary of going automatic but guess I'll like it pretty soon, though I wonder if I'll end up using the tiptronic manual overrides much.

He gave me 3k for my 99D Astra (with dents) so I was happy with that and got the final price down to 13,250 plus the Astra - turned out the timing belt hasn't been done so he split the difference on my request to drop it to 13,000 to go towards timing belt, water pump and tensioners, all to be documented.

6 months full parts and labour warranty covers everything from bumper to bumper, electrics included - I pushed hard on details and am very happy with that warranty.

I also pushed hard about the smell and he said his lads would work hard on it, though he might just get a company that does the full valet (ceiling included) for €100 and guarantee a new car smell. Actually, I think I'll call him Monday and ask him to just get that company in and I'll split the cost with him so that its in tip-top shape when I get it.

Am glad I've gone for the more 'fun' car than the 05 baseline cos it's a pleasure to drive. Thanks for all the help (particularly Limerick-man) and I'll let you know how I get on.

L-M

As i said, i lost my internet for the last few days, only got time to report back now, and as i was readin throught the missed bits of the forum i got very worried when u said u liked the 05 baseline. Glady i read on to find out that u bought the 1.8T. Glad i could find something for u that u would like. Best of luck with the car. It'll be a beauty. But do keep posted with pics of the car and the like...
Regards

FrankGrimes

Just an update - I collected the car yesterday and am very happy with the job they did to get rid of the smell.

They added the timing belt, water pump to the log book and typexed "55,000" on the engine, which he said is acknowledged as denoting a timing belt change at that mileage. A mechanic friend will be throwing his eye over it anyway to confirm.

Am delighted with the purchase cos it's a smashing looking sky blue colour and is a joy to drive - thanks again for the advice.

I'm posting in a separate thread about a problem I have with the oil change indicator coming on, but hopefully that's just a blip that gets sorted in no time!

L-M

Great fun... Do post pics!

rebel.ranter

Glad you looked beyond the smell & picked up what looks like a nice car with a few good extras that will keep that bit more interested & comfortable.
Best of luck with it now.
Oh don't forget your warranty when thinking about that oil change light/warning issue. They probably never reset the Service Interval when they did the service.
Just one tiny bit of advice, make sure you dip the oil once a week for the first few weeks, just to determine if it uses oil. I do that with any car I buy.

FrankGrimes

Thanks lads - will dig out the camera and take a few pics so! My poor old trusty Astra might get jealous if it hears about it though!

Will defo be following that advice on the oil level - given the fright I got when I came across horror stories caused by oil sludge when trying to find info on why the light was coming on, I'll be doing everything I can to look after it properly and avoid anything like that happening.

L-M

Any look on those pictures??? haha

FrankGrimes

I was just renewing the tax on my Passat the other day and I realised I have it a year now and then I realised I never got back on this thread to post photos as I said I would and Limerick-man had been in touch in the meantime asking for them.....and I owe that at least for picking out what has been a lovely car to drive. So, better late than never I guess - here's some pics.

All has gone generally quite well with the car since an initial breather valve problem was sorted, though I've had a few problems with it the past few months.

The low oil pressure warning light came on and it looked like the oil pump might have gone but my mate who is a mechanic looked at it and guessed that it was a blocked oil switch - he changed that and the oil filter and that one went away for a lot less cash than an oil pump would've cost.

Then I put it through the NCT but it failed due to CV joint problems that was causing a knocking sound. My mate priced VW parts and spurious parts and there was a good bit in the difference, so I went with the spurious parts as it sounded like they would do the job perfectly, so he and a colleague did the job as a nixer. There was a bit of a problem with the ABS kicking in at the end of braking, which he said was due to the spurious parts meaning the ABS sensor is slightly out of perfect alignment. He changed the alignment and it was much better, only happening very occassional and seems more of an annoyance than an issue, though I've been laid up due to surgery since shortly after he changed it so can't be sure how it's working. I'd appreciate any comments as to whether this should be addressed right now or if I can leave it go.

There also seems to be a minor radiator leak probably caused when the timing belt was changed - I'm going to get radiator leak prevention fluid and run it through it to see if that solves the problem...just hope the 10 months of trouble-free driving aren't going to followed by a load of issues coming up one after another.

The car itself has been a joy to drive and the tiptronic gearbox is just fantastic, I don't think I'll ever want to drive anything else again. I drive it in automatic mode in heavy traffic but drive it in the manual mode where I flick the stick up and down to select gears on open road as I get the best of both worlds in that I have full control of gears without the hassle of gearing down when stopping or having to use a clutch. That has actually helped a lower left back problem I have and so have the heated seats. I actually find it drives a little too agressively for my liking when in normal automatic mode as the turbo seems to kick in which isn't good in residential areas.

A joy of a car to drive overall, thanks again for all the advice and suggestions. I reckon I'll go for a VW or Audi when I change it in a year or 2. It does eat the petrol so I'd consider going for something like an A3 if I could get that with all the same comforts (tiptronic, climate control, leather heated seats being the main ones) and would consider importing from the UK as a mate got a great deal on an 07 A4 import.