Amazingly our 140,000 mile 1993 Passat Estate went through the MoT again without any problems, so now it's got a new ticket it'll never be worth more (unless I fill the fuel tank). Time to stick it in the paper and get something a bit fresher.
I've read the car-by-car breakdown and read the site here over the years and it seems I can get a 97-2000 Mondeo estate for our budget of £2500. Requirements are: must be reliable; must have aircon; SWMBO would prefer a red one.....
Looking in autotrader etc it seems this is the kind of car that delaers take as a part exchange on a new model, stick down the auctions, a used dealer picks it up and gives it a valet while gently massaging the price upwards by a grand. Is it worth visiting an auction to get a car like this, or should I be shadowing the local Ford garage to see if they'll sell me a car "as seen"? I'm keeping an eye on the local newspaper of course but how much are you allowed to look at a car when it's auctioned? Can you start it and see if it's got all the gears for example? I've got reasonable mechanical knowledge but no experience of a Mondeo other than I drove a few shortly after they came out. Do the suspension bushes still wear out and can I check this without taking the car for a road test (auction) and will I look out of place with a trolley jack next to me.
All thoughts invited.
Gareth
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So you've got a car that might be worth £450 traded in, that has done you well for many years and has 12 months MOT. To buy it private sale might be 1100, from a garage almost as much as 1500 - with a few fewer miles anyway.
And you fancy a change, to £2,500 worth of car.
This sounds like a very expensive car change to me; lots of extra money for little increase in the residual value of your car.
Just my pennyworth.
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I aggree with mapmaker, keep the Passat, service it (if required) and drive it for a further 50k then sell it if need be....
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You don't want to replace the clutch on a Mondeo.....keep the Passat and run it into the ground...
madf
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I'm in a similar position to you, but with a '96 Mondeo Ghia Estate - ironically with A/C and in Red. I bought it when I left my then employer in 1997 (I'd driven it from new), and it doesn't accumulate many miles. Every time I thought about changing it, it seemed to be worth so little compared with the life left in it that I just kept it going. Its passed every MOT first time except for the odd bulb, and just keeps going strong.
I'm in a similar position to you, in that its value is low, and I'd have to put in quite a bit of money to get anything appreciably better.
If you do decide to change, there are some cracking Mondeos out there - demand is lower than supply so the values are well down. But mine isn't for sale. Sorry!
I'd recommend joining www.fordmondeo.org - there's some good technical advice there, solutions to common alarm and other problems, etc.
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The plan was to sell off the Passat privately for maybe £800 because I don't think there's a dealer in the land who would take it for part ex (and they'd just up the screen price of the new car anyway)
The reason to get rid of the Passat is that it's £500 to fix the aircon, the heater control is a bit fragile (well known 90s VW fault) and could be another £100 and after 140,000 miles, unlike a diamond, I don't think a VW is forever.
I could spend £600 to fix the Passat and have a car with who knows how many miles left in it, or spend £1700 and have something that should be 4 years before I'm in this position again, i.e. 4 years of reliable motoring like the Passat has given.
That's the plan, anyway! Or have I missed something really obvious?
Gareth
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Tricky one. Not saying you're wrong, but better the devil you know than the devil you don't? The one unknown in this equation is:
Will a 'new' car give you more trouble free motoring than your 'old' car after you've spent £600 on it?
How much do you need a/c? How poor are you? How rich are you?Will you need finance for your new car (please say 'no')?
I suppose the crucial thing in this equation, financially, is to buy your new one at bottom price, and sell the old one at top price. If you do this the wrong way round (buy top; sell bottom), you could be a couple of thousand short! Bear in mind that your new car will still require lots of money spending on it.
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Thanks for the replies, the checklist is a good idea and looking at a few cars privately first (in daylight!) would be good too.
I'll answer mapmaker's points:
>> Will a 'new' car give you more trouble free motoring than your 'old' car after you've spent £600 on it?
Goodness knows! I'd hope so because I'd try to get a Mondeo with 90,000 ish miles on it, so around 4 years before I'm back to where I am now.
How much do you need a/c? How poor are you? How rich are you?Will you need finance for your new car (please say 'no')?
Need a/c because we've had it in cars for the last 5 years and it's easy to get used to! With 2 small children and all the windows in an estate car, tempers and the sun can warm things up quite quickly. I'm rich enough to afford something much newer, but instead I've knocked 5 years off my mortgage term so monthly money is going in that direction. It wouldn't need finance.
I suppose the crucial thing in this equation, financially, is to buy your new one at bottom price, and sell the old one at top price. If you do this the wrong way round (buy top; sell bottom), you could be a couple of thousand short! Bear in mind that your new car will still require lots of money spending on it.
I would hope that the Mondeo wouldn't need money on anything other than servicing / consumables. I'm happy that the Passat has had tyres, exhaust and servicing and it's never let us down. I'll keep an eye on a Mondeo's clutch because it's a £500 job, but otherwise I'd say that a car with 90k should be safe for a few years.
Thanks for all the help so far!
Gareth
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Gareth,
I don't think there's a huge amount wrong with your plan except that you know what you'd have to spend on the Passat compared with a hope/expectation of little to spend on a Mondeo.
If it were me, I'd go a look at a few Mondeos in my price bracket to get a feel for the market, then if I was reasonably confident I could get a good one for the budget, sell the Passat - that way if the Passat doesn't sell easily I'm not stuck with two cars.
Tim
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At BCA Preston they start the car then leave it idling for 10 minutes before the auction driver comes back to drive the car into the queue for the hall. 10 minutes is enough time to check the glovebox for servicing/bodyshop receipts etc, try the aircon. My tip is to make a checklist of all you want to check, stops you getting seduced by good bodywork, and remember auction light is quite flattering so look carefully for mismatched paint indicating panel repairs
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Ask yourself why someone would trade-in their reliable '97 Mondeo with servicable A/c and accept dealer trade-in money for it......
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oh that's an easy question.
people like cars with later number plates.
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*Agrees with Looking4Car*
People trade in plenty of perfectly good cars, plenty of dogs of course, but there are plenty of good'uns out there all the same.
Blue
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Some people change cars simply becuase they want to. I changed from my Xantia to my Mondeo. Nothing wrong with the Xantia, just fancied a change.
Personally I'd go for the change - I've never regrettted buying my Mondeo, I'm really happy with it.
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I changed my Passat for a Mondeo last year. I much prefer the Mondeo for its handling and performance and really it is cheap to service. I bought mine at auction having checked out local traders cars and although there was a huge choice the prices asked were high. I figured that whatever I bought would be high miles so I budgeted for a cambelt change and full service (£300) which I would have done for peace of mind even had I bought off a trader. I ended up with a 97P 2.0 16v Ghia, 106,000 miles for £1,100. Definite gamble but I had plenty of time to look over the car pre-sale following HJ?s tips on this excellent site. It did take me 3 visits before the right car at the right price came up; most were either too young and expensive or complete dogs or just nothing around so take your time would be my advice.
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Great, thanks for the comments everyone. They will now swim around my brain for a few days before I leap into action. Or something.
Gareth
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Have you seen HJ's latest auction report re Mondeos?
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/index.htm?news_id=1422
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I have now thanks.
Going for a pre 2000 model should save me £500-£1000 with luck. I don't really mind that it's not the newest model, and by the time I come to sell they'll both be 2 or 3 generations old anyway.
Gareth
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