Need advice on this

Spectreon666

Im thinking about buying a car for 300euros. Yeah I know that I may be getting myself into a world of trouble with it especially by looking at the price, but I only need it for a year or so until I can afford something better. Its a 97 ford mondeo, with 236,000km. I was looking at it on a car site and the person selling it said this "working well, engine in perfect condition, few small things to fix before NCT". I dont really know alot about cars and my friends dont know much either so basically i wont know how much this car could potentially cost me to fix. If I was to view this car what should I look for and ask about?

dixiefly

I dont know a major amount about cars either but I would say one thing, buy a car that has passed it's NCT. Even if it is older and smaller etc. you dont know what the NCT could cost and, even if you ignore that requirement, those problems might bite you anyway.

ARGINITE

You will get what you paid for and for 300 you won't be getting much. If it has not passed the NCT its most lightly not going to, but then again you could be lucky.
Its really hard to say what could be wrong with it, but you will most lightly spend more than the car is worth to get anything fixed on it.

Morlar

I would also avoid that if possible - even if you only intend on keeping it for a year.

Spectreon666

Here is the link to the car. http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=274145&r=s.php%3Fm%3D26%26amp%3Bg%3D0. Its Nct was up in Aug 08. It looks fine from the outside. I might view it and see what it is like in more detail.

Spectreon666

Besides asking the person in case they are untruthful about the car, is there anyway I can get a professional to view the car and tell me what needs to be done to fix it up?

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I would stay away, unless you are very lucky, a car that is only worth €300 is going to cause you a lot of problems!

ARGINITE

Besides asking the person in case they are untruthful about the car, is there anyway I can get a professional to view the car and tell me what needs to be done to fix it up?

Cartel.ie or a local mechanic. Cartel will cost about the same as the car tho

furtzy

wouldn't touch it without the NCT. If it only needed a few things to sort it out then surely he would do this to pass and therefore to up the price....no frontal pics...probably no front on it

ART6

I agree with the others here. A 16 year old car with 236k miles on the clock is likely to have no NCT because it hasn't a hope in hell of passing it without extensive repairs that will be worth many times the value of the car. I think I would ask myself why hasn't the present owner NCTd it, since that would make it much easier to sell. Otherwise it sounds to me like the sory of thing that gets offered for parts.

Biro

You might be better off here :
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/SEAT/Cordoba/1.9-D/1186992/
or http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Nissan/Primera/car/1205929/

no1beemerfan

I wouldn't go after a car without an NCT. And a car with that milage and that age would have worn bushes, shocks etc. that would be time consuming and expensive enough to fix if they are worn. Unless your competent with cars and can do a bit of DIY so you can go to breakers yards etc. its not worth your while.

Spectreon666

Yeah I think I am going to give that car a miss and buy from a dealer. Found a car from a dealer down in cork with an NCT up in may 2010 - 97 ford mondeo 1.6l Lx for 750euros, with 160,000km on it, so im gonna give them a ring about it. Do dealers fully service a car before they sell them?

If yer looking for a cheap car the buy and sell is a better bet. There are loads of cheaper cars in that.

If you are selling a car for a few hundred euro the €30 odd quid carzone charges is a serious dent.:)

Dermo123

As someone who bought a 1988 Audi 80 a few months ago for €350, I would not be afraid of any car that runs well for that price.
There is always going to be plenty to fix at this price range and you will have to live with some faults if that is possible. Its the basics you need to check. Is the engine using oil and/or coolant? Any evidence of leaks?
Brakes should pull the car up smoothly.
Suspension and wheel bearing noise should be not be excessive.
Steering should not have any looseness in the feel.
The safety aspects would need to be verified especially if the car has not been NCT'd in a while.
You should try and do as much as you can yourself as you could spend several times the value of the car if you buy one that needs plenty of repairs.

bazz26

Spectreon666 wrote: »

Yeah I think I am going to give that car a miss and buy from a dealer. Found a car from a dealer down in cork with an NCT up in may 2010 - 97 ford mondeo 1.6l Lx for 750euros, with 160,000km on it, so im gonna give them a ring about it. Do dealers fully service a car before they sell them?

When your buying a car in this budget range even from a dealer, you pay your money and take your chances. You will have little or no comeback with it, I'd say that dealer will be selling it "as seen", in other words no warranty.

With any car in this range make sure the car is driving ok, no weird sounds, no overheating, check the suspension, steering and brakes are ok.

Dzien

There are loads of good cheap cars out there at the moment with long NCTs. I recently sold my 97 Mondeo for 900. Only 95K on the clock, in perfect nick and a two year NCT. Older cars are heard to shift these days even if they're in good nick. You've no reason to buy a car with huge mileage and no NCT. Theres plenty of better options even if you only want to spend 500/600 euro.

Go for something like a Mondeo thats a bit sturdier and comes with better specs.