Buying a used car in Ireland guide

Squidgy Black

Esel wrote: »

Ennis is?

He's not in Ennis, he's about 30km west of there.

Esel

Squidgy Black wrote: »

He's not in Ennis, he's about 30km west of there.

Just saw Ennis at first level on the ad. Place is remote alright.

bazz26

He is alot closer to the west Clare coast than he is to Ennis.

MladenP

Does anyone know anything about this car dealer - Alan White Cars in Ballymount?

I found an interesting offer, but might be too good to be true - alanwhitecars.ie/vehicles/skoda/superb/dublin/2227974

Any feedback is appreciated!

Kilboor

A quick warning. More my own stupidity than anything (and blinded by love of the car) but I can't recommend Donedeal's Green History Check.

I thought this would be a comprehensive check at the price it cost and when I purchased my car it came up clean on the check provided by Donedeal.

Turns out for some reason they only cover Category A and B write offs and not C and D. Cartell shows my car as a category D write off and I was informed of this by Donedeal themselves now I'm selling my car. **** happens and all that but I think considering the cost of the check these categories should be covered.

Will be using Cartell in future.

MontgomeryClift

I don't know if this was mentioned before in this thread, but maybe if the previous owner(s) left the old NCT discs under the current one, as some owners tend to do, then the mileage at NTC time will be recorded on them. Using this, you can get an idea of the average mileage on the car per year and see if it looks legitimate.

Liamo_mu

Read the buying guide. Lots of useful info I wouldn't thought of.

As im looking at my first car I am understandably nervous. Im looking for the Fiesta 2013 model or above and have a max of 9k to play with. Based on my initial research this is doable but on the dealerships I recoginse they charge much more.

I have found good deals on places like topline motors etc but have no way of knowing if such a dealer is reliable. Safe to say im going to be second guessing myself a lot.

colm_mcm

Liamo_mu wrote: »

Read the buying guide. Lots of useful info I wouldn't thought of.

As im looking at my first car I am understandably nervous. Im looking for the Fiesta 2013 model or above and have a max of 9k to play with. Based on my initial research this is doable but on the dealerships I recoginse they charge much more.

I have found good deals on places like topline motors etc but have no way of knowing if such a dealer is reliable. Safe to say im going to be second guessing myself a lot.

Keep looking...


Dunno if 3 door is an issue, they’ll def knock the €500 off and it’s a ford dealer, and you have €1k left over
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-zetec/21101118

Another
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-2013/21194112

Oh yeah, on those fiestas, the one to avoid is the 1.25 60PS. There is an 82PS version of this engine which is much better, you’ll see both in your search. The 1.0 is better than the 1.2 60PS but I’d have the 1.2 82PS given the choice.

Liamo_mu

colm_mcm wrote: »

Keep looking...


Dunno if 3 door is an issue, they’ll def knock the €500 off and it’s a ford dealer, and you have €1k left over
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-zetec/21101118

Another
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-2013/21194112

Oh yeah, on those fiestas, the one to avoid is the 1.25 60PS. There is an 82PS version of this engine which is much better, you’ll see both in your search. The 1.0 is better than the 1.2 60PS but I’d have the 1.2 82PS given the choice.

Thanks for the info mate.

ForestFire

Liamo_mu wrote: »

Read the buying guide. Lots of useful info I wouldn't thought of.

As im looking at my first car I am understandably nervous. Im looking for the Fiesta 2013 model or above and have a max of 9k to play with. Based on my initial research this is doable but on the dealerships I recoginse they charge much more.

I have found good deals on places like topline motors etc but have no way of knowing if such a dealer is reliable. Safe to say im going to be second guessing myself a lot.

I know you said you budget is 9k, but we have just put deposits down on a new Ford ka+ zetech (Inc drivers pack), for my wife's first car.

It has a better spec than a fiesta (even 2019) and it will have 7 year warranty, 2 years free service and 7 years break down cover(as long as its serviced in ford each year) .

We are planning on keeping it long term and have it on Ford 5 year hp at 3. 9/4.9 %(waiting on confirmation on 3.9%), so monthly repayments are reasonable (about 220euro). Cost of finance is 1.4k, if I remember correctly.

Some other benifits are,

6.5" touch display with Android auto (apple) , so will always have up to at sat nav, Spotify and anything else they add in future.

Speed limiter
Reverse sensors

You 9k is going to go on a car with unknown history and possible no warranty or 1 year?

If you thing you will keep this car for 5 years or more it might be worth looking if this would suit.

Jollyballs

Is there any difference between all the car check sites? Motorcheck, cartell, etc?

I know its small money when its compared to buying a car but don't know which is the best or the difference.

Thanks in advance.

Kilboor

Jollyballs wrote: »

Is there any difference between all the car check sites? Motorcheck, cartell, etc?

I know its small money when its compared to buying a car but don't know which is the best or the difference.

Thanks in advance.

Cartell is probably the most used, it's what Donedeal use themselves to verify cars weren't in category C or D crashes in the UK.

Don't go near that Donedeal check, I explained why above

tertim

Hello
I am returning to Ireland to retire after many years living abroad, I'm looking to buy a small cottage in the country and shall be staying in hotel accommodation and hiring a car whilst I search for a suitable property (probably 2 to 3 months to complete purchase)

I would want to buy a car as soon as possible to avoid expensive car hire costs, so my question is would I be able to buy a car without a permanent address? possibly use my solicitors address as a temporary measure.

Your comments would be appreciated

tertim

Kilboor

tertim wrote: »

Hello
I am returning to Ireland to retire after many years living abroad, I'm looking to buy a small cottage in the country and shall be staying in hotel accommodation and hiring a car whilst I search for a suitable property (probably 2 to 3 months to complete purchase)

I would want to buy a car as soon as possible to avoid expensive car hire costs, so my question is would I be able to buy a car without a permanent address? possibly use my solicitors address as a temporary measure.

Your comments would be appreciated

tertim

You'll run into a lot of problems. I think your best bet would be to rent a car for the 2 or 3 months and then buy a car once you have a permanent address.

Otherwise ownership log book, insurance, tax etc will all be near impossible to receive without a proper address.

monkeysnapper

I bought a 131 Hyundai i40 estate private last October for €7000 ....

Granted it's a car that was ready to trade in at a garage and probably had nothing much done to it ..... I ended up spending the balls of €1000 on it

Pads all round ....all were shot
Disks front
Full service
Back end tinted ( ok optional)
Tie rod (Nct failed)
Injector issues
NCT

I have to say at time of buying i was a bit naive and a bit stupid, i just saw this car that looked like brand new that was 3 months away from NCT. Drove nice and all online checks came back ok.

I've always bought older cars and ended up spending money at start and always came good in end but nothing this expensive ....my cars mostly cost around 2000 ... last car I bought for 2000 and ended spending 1000 in 1st few months ...I owned this car in end 4 years and sold for 1200 ....few!!!!

After a few days i noticed it was a bit smokey and after a few sleepless nights it turned out to be a very simple washer in wrong place on two of the injectors ....still dont understand this but cars A1 now.

So my car so far has cost me €8000 and I suppose I'm lucky that I bought straight and well under my original budget ....

Hopfully I wont have to put any more money into it.

I just thought this might be helpful to anyone buying a 6 year old vehicle just outside its warranty believing it looks like new , drives like new....what's the risks....

New Home

It's probably been asked before, but if buying from a garage, how much room for manoeuvre is there with the price quoted? And what's the best way to haggle?

EDIT: For instance, could I chance asking for a new set of tyres, instead of a discount?

colm_mcm

New Home wrote: »

It's probably been asked before, but if buying from a garage, how much room for manoeuvre is there with the price quoted? And what's the best way to haggle?

EDIT: For instance, could I chance asking for a new set of tyres, instead of a discount?

It really depends on how the car is priced vs what it’s worth.
It should really have good tyres on it to start with.

New Home

I was in today, I'm still not 100% about the tyres (the front ones, especially), but I'll get my mechanic to look at it. I've put a refundable deposit on it, subject to all the paperwork being in order, and to the mechanic saying it's ok. They gave me a bit of a discount, nothing major but it should be enough to get new tyres, if need be.

Just one question, though: I asked them whether there was any finance outstanding, and they said no. But when they gave me a copy of the Motorcheck report, and although quite straight forward, it did make me wonder about finance (they told me that heading was only "motor trade" related, and that there's nothing "private" outstanding, and that it was like putting the car in a suspense account)l; it says there's a balance outstanding re: hire purchase information: it gives the name of the finance company and their contact details, the type of agreement is "US", the agreement start date is the same date the car was traded in by its previous owner, and then under agreement term it reads "Pending. We're contacting the bank. You will receive an SMS when we have verified the details".

It also says that it's possible that the agreement has been cleared, and to contact Motorcheck.

Before wasting everyone's time, I thought I'd ask here: does all that ^^^ seems plausible/suitable?

Wheety

What's the best way to pay a dealer. Just over €10k.

Bank transfer or load up credit card (amount is over CC limit) and then pay with that?

grogi

Wheety wrote: »

What's the best way to pay a dealer. Just over €10k.

Bank transfer or load up credit card (amount is over CC limit) and then pay with that?

Bank Transfer or Bank Draft.

colm_mcm

Wheety wrote: »

What's the best way to pay a dealer. Just over €10k.

Bank transfer or load up credit card (amount is over CC limit) and then pay with that?

Visa debit chip and pin can be used for up to €25k including abroad.

Bank transfer can take ages.

Wheety

colm_mcm wrote: »

Visa debit chip and pin can be used for up to €25k including abroad.

Bank transfer can take ages.

Thanks. Might check with my bank to see if there's a limit. Are debit card transactions protected the same as credit cards?

New Home

Wheety wrote: »

Thanks. Might check with my bank to see if there's a limit. Are debit card transactions protected the same as credit cards?

It depends what bank you're with/what are the T&Cs of your specific card and what you signed.

I changed my c/c last year and I thought I was going to be covered, only to find out that I should have asked for payment protection when I changed the card (I wasn't told at the time :mad:). I was then told to take out a personal insurance policy for that myself, i.e. I should have contacted an insurance broker on my own and ask for payment protection. It sounded like protection money, if you ask me.

cunnifferous

Anyone got a mechanic recommendation for a pre purchase car inspection in Dublin. PM please, cheers!

Lord Nikon

Hopefully picking up a 2012 Audi A6 2.0l TDI SLine Black Edition(80k miles), however, I'm not 100% sure it actually a Black Edition. It has most of the Black Edition stuff(black grill, bigger alloys, black headliner), but doesn't have the Bose sound system.
Doing a Cartel report this week, but the unpaid check does not show Black Edition, nor does Motorcheck.ie state Black Edition.

Is there a way to find the UK Reg number, from the Irish plate, and would running the VIN number give me a more details description?

Also, is €15000 good for the year and mileage for a 7 year old car?

bazz26

15k is farily strong money for a 7 year old A6. Also 80k is very low for a diesel car of that age especially from the UK where the A6 is a popular motorway mile eater. If your spending that much money on one you would want to be spending a few quid on a proper history report along with ringing the garages that serviced it to correlate the mileage and service history.

bazz26

Just for comparison here are a few 2013 examples that will cost not much more:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908010699954?make=AUDI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&transmission=Manual&aggregatedTrim=Black%20Edition&model=A6%20SALOON&year-from=2013&sort=price-asc&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=bt781ug&year-to=2013&radius=1500&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908191293386?make=AUDI&transmission=Manual&sort=price-asc&model=A6%20SALOON&aggregatedTrim=Black%20Edition&year-to=2013&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&year-from=2013&radius=1500&postcode=bt781ug&page=1

For what it's worth there are no 2012 Black Editions for sale on autotrader which might mean it wasn't sold in that year.

Lord Nikon

I'm pretty sure the one I'm buying hasn't the Bose, but it does have everything else. Has the piano black interior trim, and it has the MMI navigation plus(touch), which is an extensive extra(not sure if standard with black editions).

Cant find any Irish cars(2013) that are specced as well for the money.
Might ring some garages tomorrow.

steven087

Lord Nikon wrote: »

I'm pretty sure the one I'm buying hasn't the Bose, but it does have everything else. Has the piano black interior trim, and it has the MMI navigation plus(touch), which is an extensive extra(not sure if standard with black editions).

Cant find any Irish cars(2013) that are specced as well for the money.
Might ring some garages tomorrow.

How did you get on did you buy it or find out it was a black k edition

Stoolbend

I’m pretty sure it’s covered somewhere here but what’s the best car history site or is there any to avoid.

L-M

Stoolbend wrote: »

I’m pretty sure it’s covered somewhere here but what’s the best car history site or is there any to avoid.

Every car history site has access to different information and different insurances companies. If you really want to be sure, do a motorcheck and a cartel, if you suspect something.

Stoolbend

I don’t really suspect anything. Car is very high miles 2015. So the mileage is legit and service history is all there.

Just basically done one so I wouldn’t be be saying after the fact that I should’ve done one.

Went with the three motorcheck for €45 in the end. Hopefully I won’t need the other 2.

sparkthatbled

Hi, I'm looking at some hybrid cars, is there anything I should look out for with them? Also a good few of them are Japanese imports, does this generally affect insurance premiums? They seem to come with fairly extensive documentation if that makes a difference.

wilson palacios

Hi, I’m looking at buying a used car. Cars are not my thing really. And I don’t want to spend too much on one either.

Any advice on below vehicle and garage.

http://www.carsireland.ie/2425610

It ticks the boxes as in I’ll have plenty of room for 3 kids and a nice big boot. Reasonable mileage too.

Thanks

angrybeaver

wilson palacios wrote: »

Hi, I’m looking at buying a used car. Cars are not my thing really. And I don’t want to spend too much on one either.

Any advice on below vehicle and garage.

http://www.carsireland.ie/2425610

It ticks the boxes as in I’ll have plenty of room for 3 kids and a nice big boot. Reasonable mileage too.

Thanks

Steer clear of the insignia. Reliability issues

See the video below sums them up

They are cheap for year and mileage for a reason.

If you need a diesel (doing the type of driving and mileage that would warrant a diesel) I’d look for 2.0 Common Rail Diesel engines found in Volkswagen group cars. Passat 2011 or newer.

https://youtu.be/1C6seMB30rw

wilson palacios

angrybeaver wrote: »

Steer clear of the insignia. Reliability issues

See the video below sums them up

They are cheap for year and mileage for a reason.

If you need a diesel (doing the type of driving and mileage that would warrant a diesel) I’d look for 2.0 Common Rail Diesel engines found in Volkswagen group cars. Passat 2011 or newer.

https://youtu.be/1C6seMB30rw

Ok sound, thanks a mill!

gaz wac

Hey

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this car: https://m.carzone.ie/used-cars/Hyundai/Tucson-1.7Crdi-EXECUTIVE-AUTO/201908281587866

Going to view later, but new to all this? Any help appreciated
Cheers

colm_mcm

Auto box is a huge plus as the weak point on those Tucson’s is the manual transmission.
It’s a bit heavy on the miles, but the fact that it’s on Hankook tyres suggests it’s been maintained at the main dealers. Warranty on it is unlimited mileage for 6 years so over a 18 months left in that. Spec is decent too.

It seems a bit pricey though?

Word of caution, it was transferred into a dealer in July so it’s been sitting around a while. It may have been damaged and repaired, or else it was/is just overpriced and Tucsons are ten a penny.

gaz wac

Thanks for replying colm. Yea we need an auto for my wife. Alot of miles but he said it was one owner and a company car for a sales rep. Couldnt make the trip tonight to see it. Price is a bit high but finding it hard to find anything at that price range in that style..and automatic! Anything else i should ask / look out for? Cheers

colm_mcm

Nicer looking, faster, 4wd, slightly higher tax (390) and less mpg

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/kia-sportage-2-0-diesel-automatic-4x4-ex-sunroof/23422669

colm_mcm

This Qashqai has the 1.6 diesel which is actually a bit of a stormer relatively speaking. They’re a bit smaller than the Tucson.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/nissan-qashqai-1-6-dci-auto-sv-plus-edition/23531869

Another
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/nissan-qashqai-1-6-dci-auto-sv-plus-edition/23514236

Fair chance they’re ex rental though.

Tiny mileage petrol Qashqai
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/nissan-qashqai-acenta-1-2-5dr-petrol-auto-climate/22091754

Does she actually need a diesel?

gaz wac

Thanks, we are looking at the links now. No, she doesnt need a diesel but cant seem to find a crossover vehicle ( Tucson/ sportgage etc ) automatic thats not a diesel! Thanks for your time

colm_mcm

Check the last link, don’t be put off by the small engine size, it’s turbocharged so more than enough power.

bazz26

gaz wac wrote: »

Thanks for replying colm. Yea we need an auto for my wife. Alot of miles but he said it was one owner and a company car for a sales rep. Couldnt make the trip tonight to see it. Price is a bit high but finding it hard to find anything at that price range in that style..and automatic! Anything else i should ask / look out for? Cheers

How stringent is the budget? Here is a 2019 Suzuki Vitara petrol auto asking 25k. It's only got 6k on the clock and has most of the manufacturer's warranty remaining. I know there is 6k difference but it seems better value in the long term over a Tucson that is 3 year older and over 100k miles more on the clock.



https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2400646&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D85%26o%5B%5D%3D714%26f%3D1%26t%3D2%26yn%3D2012%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

gaz wac

Thanks but i showed my wife and she didnt like it at all! Since colm said the 1.2 qashqai was ok, we found this one below. We had one before but it was a diesel and 2LT and drank the stuff!!!!
https://m.carzone.ie/used-cars/Nissan/Qashqai-1.2-SV--AUTO-...WITH-ONLY-75-000-KLMS.....SCRAPPAG/201910223564492

Thanks again for any input

wassie

If its a crossover/small SUV auto you're after, have you considered a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. There's a few 16 models kicking around for under 25K. Motor tax at 200.

kvnt

Hi All

Looking for advice on buying this st line kuga. Its priced at 24500 and for a straight cash sale what would be a reasonable discount ?

Is there any website I can use to find the retail price of a car.

I have found one more similar model and its.priced around the same.

I have seen 2018 kugas titanium 1.5 with more mileage but selling for 2000 less (mileage is about 30000 km more

Any input or advice welcome

https://m.carsireland.ie/detail-images.php?ad_id=2359232

colm_mcm

Ad seems to be gone. The 1.5 is a dead duck, go for the 2.0.

kvnt

colm_mcm wrote: »

Ad seems to be gone. The 1.5 is a dead duck, go for the 2.0.

90% of the kugas on the irish market seems to be 1.5. The 2.0 are a bit harder to find

colm_mcm

Worth looking though. I’d sooner have a Tucson or something if the only choice of Kuga is the 1.5