Buying a new old car

[Halifaxmum]

My little Betsy (R reg micra) is finally on her last legs, so I'm looking for a new (to me) used cheap but reliable replacement.

A local car warehouse has a white Fiesta, W reg, 83k on the clock, 5 doors, 1.3 for £1000. Of course I'll test drive it first, but it looks a lovely little car, would you go for it?

TIA x

[TTG]

Check service history.

[Toureman]

With a car that old service history is more or less irrelevant.

Ansteyg is giving good advice, it is a bit expensive but not if it has 3/6 months warranty.

[S_C]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

have a look on here for approx average cost of cars . you may even find one you like.

when buying a used car always try to make sure you do not spend your entire budget on the purchase , as enevitably your bound to find something will need sorting.
good luck with your search

[Hymie]

I would check the MOT expiry date, if less than 9 months – consider offering the asking price with the proviso that it comes with a new MOT (it will then be one less thing to worry about for a year).

[TWR]

For a Grand Hali do not expect much, you can get a good bye or Bad, what does your own car need? would it not be an Idea to get your Micra that has been reliable sorted?

[rov1100]

I bought a 3 year old car with 6000 miles on the clock, 1 owner, regularly serviced. It turned out to be a dud. What I found out later was used by an invalid, not really his fault, but the damage to the clutch transmission and gearbox was immense which failed soon after buying.

Moral: don't always go by the statistics such as low mileage, regularly serviced, one owner, etc. And I paid top whack!

[Halifaxmum]

Thank you all for your advice

Betsy is knackered - her sunroof won't shut and leaks, her locks are knackered, the driver's window won't wind, she gets a puddle of water in the passenger side well, she's a great old girl, but is sadly past her expiry date! lol

Seriously, she's not worth repairing, so I'm thinking that £1k will buy me 1-2 years on the Fiesta - if I pay the £1k, they will put a year's MOT on...

[EDDIE51]

The most I have ever paid for a car is £400 . I find you can buy a car with an MOT for £100 to £200 and it will do you for a year or more. When it has given up the ghost you can get back most of what you paid for it as scrap.
My best buy was a Granada Scorpio 2.3 litre for £25. I found a £15 wine shop voucher in it that was still valid and the first time I filled it up with petrol I realised that there must have been around £30 worth in the tank when I bought it. After 6 months the electrics died so I got a scrap yard to come and tow it away , they gave me £75 for the scrap value.

[MantaRay]

If Betsy is good mechanically and not falling apart with rust I'd tend to want to keep her. After all, a £1000 car will probably still need some jobs doing on it which may or may not be covered by warranty.

[welshlibranr]

No halifaxmum, don't buy it!......it's too old for a Ford!........you'll just buy a load of problems!.........

[TWR]

Hali, what you have listed is nothing to worry about, the door locks, try WD40, the window, not a big job, the Sun roof, that MAY be a seal problem but nothing to worry about, for the faults you have listed you can get them done for under a couple of Hundred, you then have a car you know, a car that is reliable, & you have not wasted your money on someone else is trouble, that Fiesta is worth about 5 hundred, don't waste your money.

[SpikeyBush]

Eddie51 is not alone. While I may have a fairly new car at the moment it has been nothing but bother. A lot of repairs were done under warranty and a lot of my money spent on it since. Years ago I bought a Vauxhall Viva for £250, the next day I sold the alloy wheels off it for £200. I had that car for over two years, drove all over Europe in it and when the gearbox finally blew the scrapyard gave me £25 for it.

I won't be buying new-ish cars again. At least with an old banger if something expensive breaks on it you can just throw it away and get another.

Back to the original question, a bag of sand is a bit much for a Fiesta of that year IMO, even with a fresh ticket on it. The trouble & strife got one like that with a years test on it for £400