Help with a decision

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 09:43
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

I am after a spacious, economical and reliable car . I will be traveling on average of 120miles a week . I have narrowed my choice to a Nissan Tino . I have found a car that I am interested in and was wondering if you someone could give me an opinion . I am told that I would need to buy a new battery and another worry is that the MOT is due very soon .

Here is the info ; 3 owners, Next MOT due 04/05/2017, mileage 55500, £590

No advisories on the last mot .

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 10:19
Help with a decision - RobJP

Tell the buyer that you will pay for the car to go for an MOT test - depending on the result of the test, you will either buy the car or not.

It's worth the £45 just so that you have an idea as to what it might need doing.

If they refuse, then you have to ask yourself why : and the answer must be that they know it's going to fail. In which case walk away.

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 10:28
Help with a decision - SLO76
With an Mot looming you have to ask yourself why the seller doesn't want to put it through and achieve a much higher sale price. It's very likely they know it'll cost a substantial amount to get through.

Is it a dealer btw? If it is then you know the car is a write off. He'll have checked it and knows that it will be uneconomical to get through another ticket.

If it's a private punter there's a chance they might just not want to spend any money on it but even if it does look ok it's worthless with effectively no Mot. Bid no more than £300 if you want to take a punt but remember that scrap has next to no value right now and most scrap dealers will give you nothing for it.
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Wed 22 Mar 2017 10:46
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

Thanks for your advice !

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 11:53
Help with a decision - Andrew-T
Is it a dealer btw? If it is then you know the car is a write off. He'll have checked it and knows that it will be uneconomical to get through another ticket.

I didn't think any 'reputable' dealer would price anything at £590 ? Even the cars you see for sale outside a house are usually up for over a grand.

The car isn't a Cat.D is it?

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 13:52
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

He had it priced at £700 but agree to reduced at £590 because it needs a new battery .

I have no idea whether its CatD I have decided against buying it anyway .

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 14:23
Help with a decision - SLO76
"I didn't think any 'reputable' dealer would price anything at £590 ? Even the cars you see for sale outside a house are usually up for over a grand."

Beg to differ. I frequently sell sub £1k cars which are perfectly serviceable. If I take a part ex in that's unsafe or has a major fault I can't cheaply rectify I'll punt it to auction or the scrap yard.

Currently I've a VW Polo with 4mths Mot, a recent exhaust and two new tyres I took in against a Pug 207 I'm selling for £300 that looks awful but is actually a very serviceable wee vehicle. Amazed no ones snapped it up yet, would be a shame to see it binned.
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Wed 22 Mar 2017 17:17
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

The Clutch on my Corolla has gone and so I really need a car ASAP even if its just for a couple of months until I can find something decent. Shame about your car ! If I didnt need something bigger I may have been interested !

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 17:29
Help with a decision - SLO76
Not sure I'd be up for delivering from sunny Prestwick. Am tempted to just run it as an old smoker to keep the miles off the other two. Got a load of junk in the garage and garden that needs lifting to the dump too.
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Wed 22 Mar 2017 17:30
Help with a decision - SLO76
How much Mot is left on your Corolla? Not worth just fixing it? At this price range you're best sticking with what you know until you can afford to spend upwards of £2k.
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Wed 22 Mar 2017 18:22
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

The MOT is till October 2017, but the quote I am getting for the clutch repair is £380.

Doesn't seem worth it !

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 18:47
Help with a decision - Engineer Andy

The MOT is till October 2017, but the quote I am getting for the clutch repair is £380.

Doesn't seem worth it !

Actually that's quite a bargain - my 11yo Mazda3 had its clutch changed at the local main dealership for nigh on £600 last summer. If your car is well cared for and has little in the way of rust in structurally important areas (you get a good idea at the annual service/MOT if there was any from a reputable garage), then having a clutch change would give it a good few years of extra life, especially as buying a replacement car:

  1. You often cannot guarantee it'll work for long if its an old runner, as you don't really know how well it wsa looked after (unless the owner has a stack of genuine invoices for its upkeep) - you can check to see how it has fared in MOT tests by inputting the reg and car info on the DVLA website;
  2. Even one (newer one) in at least reasonable condition will cost a great deal more than the price of the clutch change.

My advice is to have the clutch changed and see how you get on, as long as there's no other major issues, including serious rust as mentioned above.

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 19:17
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

Its a tatty car but has been reliable ! I wanted to buy a car now but if I fix it, I will wait until the summer to replace it . I will give it some thought .

Thanks for your input !

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 23:10
Help with a decision - Andrew-T

Its a tatty car but has been reliable ! I wanted to buy a car now but if I fix it, I will wait until the summer to replace it . I will give it some thought .

There has been a recent discussion (try page 2) on this very topic of whether to spend a few hundred on fixing a reliable car of little intrinsic value. Almost unanimous decision was that it is a cheaper option than switching to another of slightly more value but unknown reliability.

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 11:07
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

Thanks for your input Andrew T!

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 19:37
Help with a decision - SLO76
If it's otherwise ok I'd fix it. You're likely to land a heap of costly trouble at this money to be honest unless you know what you're doing. Shop around to see if you can get the job done for less then approach your local garage to see if they'll match it. Then get saving... You'll need more than a few hundred quid to buy anything worthwhile. I'd say set your target at £2k and keep the old Toyota running til you get there or close to. It rarely makes sense to get shot of one old runner to buy another you don't know.

Edited by SLO76 on 22/03/2017 at 19:39

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Wed 22 Mar 2017 21:04
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

Thanks SLO76 , yes it does make sense to save more towards a decent car . Now its for me to get a reasonable quote !

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 11:13
Help with a decision - Residesinsurrey

Just want to say how very grateful l am for all the advice I have received from this thread . The car I have doesnt look great but has had recent work done on it and because of that I decided to pay for a new clutch (£328) .

I plan on purchasing a Toyota verso in July/August 2017 with a budget of £3000 max .

Now the pressure has gone to get another car , feeling loads better .

Many thanks yet again

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Thu 23 Mar 2017 11:14
Help with a decision - SLO76
Happy to help, hope all works out.
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