Hi,
I'm looking for a decent little 'family car'....for as much under £5k as possible. Have been 'drawn' to scenics etc...but wife thinks they are too big, and I hear far too many reliability issues...so we have finally decided (ie I have been told) that a Nissan Note will be what we are likely to go for. Being in our 30's will be a novelty as all ote drivers seem...older.
These appear to be reliable as they are Nissan...or am I ill informed? They are slightly 'higher' as we both have poor backs so like the ever-so-slight step 'into' rather than step 'down into' (we have test driven a couple and like them). And child seats fit well and easy to adjust etc. The 1.6 manual seems pleasing enough to drive (SE not SVE).
So, we are pretty happy with the car choice (but always happy to hear sob stories...as well as heart warming ones).
Making all this 'do-able' is the stumbling across the website 'Carsite'...where you can buy ex-fleet cars. All one owner, all with FSH. For £75 you reserve the car and get your RAC and HPI checks, you can view it and drive it....if you aren't happy, you get the £75 back. I will also 'check' the car as well as I can - I'm no mechanic, but I'll look for dents/smoke, check the clutch etc myself. Prices around £4500-5000.... unless I hear something dire soon (only the odd posting on the web)....I will pay my £75. The fact I'll have to wait til February...and I'll have to take a day off work to collect it....is worth the fact that from a dealer round Oxfordshire way, I won't get an 07 plated 1.6 SE for less than 6K.
What do people think? There is always a risk when buying any car....off the street or from a dealer.... these people seem to have the most attractive deal.
Many thanks for any advice.
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Hired a 1.6 SVE manual a while ago and found it really good to drive and be in, it just felt right so I can see the attraction.
If you can pick up a 2007 1.6 SE manual with average miles ie no more than 20k for under £5k then that looks like £1k less than anyone else can do. If it is ex fleet it is likely to be high mileage (over 60k, out of warranty?) which would explain the low price so you should be just a tad suspicious as to "exactly" what you're getting for your money. Certainly verify the mileage, make sure it wasn't a hire car (not an issue for some but would be for me) has to have full main dealer service history, not an import - check and confirm to UK spec, no repaired accident damage, how many alloys kerbed, tread depth of tyres, no dents, no interior damage. If all the answers to these came back positive I'd pay the £75 in a heartbeat.
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Thanks for your speedy reply NeilS.
Please humble my potentially misguided ramblings: I have been led to believe - but this is based more on instinct than researched 'fact' that, broadly speaking, with modern cars...the 'mileage' isn't so important. Engines aren't 1970's units that need running in etc and where mileage could be everything....
My reason why I say this is that the car I have my eye on is 3 years old (Registered Jan 07) and had 3 x 12k mile services (every September) and now on 40k. This does seem 'high' - but I thought average would be 36k ish....so isn't that bad....and as far as I am aware (and will check etc) that it is indeed Nissan Full Service History. In fact, it is unlikely that by Sept 2010....we wouldn't have done 48k... So back on track?
I really appreciate your feedback. My feeling is, if upon viewing, the car looks well worn inside and suggests 'town mileage' rather than sitting on a motorway... I don't feel too concerned by the mileage.
There are others too - many with less mileage...but my reasons for this one are that these cars, whilst all have at least 6 months MOT....do not come 'just serviced', and as such, others are due a service (10k or so from last one), where-as this is about 6k from it's last....
Any further comment would be grand...but many thanks so far.
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Funnily enough I was looking at a new one yesterday while waiting to collect my Qashqai which was having a minor "while you wait fix". I rather liked it and if that was the size of car to meet my needs I'd certainly consider one, but it's not so I wouldn't if you see.....
Anyway, for what it's worth, I wouldn't think of 40k miles as being a problem if the car is otherwise in shape. Out of curiousity, what sort of annual mileage would you anticipate doing?
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Thanks Humph, this is all reassuring stuff.
I'd reckon we do 7-8K.
One thing I need to clarify is this malarkey about cam belts...and when it needs changing - or if it has been...
Thanks Again.
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probably ex mobility with lots of little marks
these can be had for cheap money if you knew someone in the trade and they knew where to look
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Have you checked out the Toyota Corolla Verso? Might be a bit too big on second thought though...?
Edited by Jcoventry on 30/12/2009 at 22:03
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Hi, We bought an 06 Note 1600 last summer with 22k on the clock.
Look for an ex Motability one......plenty 3 yrs old about in main dealers.
No cam belt on the 1.6...it's a chain.
But, they have been known to break without warning at about 40K so make sure the oil is changed regularly to the right spec.
It's very nice to drive, although mine's a proper auto.
I'm having trouble with the boot lock at the moment...silly system, becoming more commonplace, push switch to operate solenoid to open. I think shutting the door makes the catch operate the ' catching solenoid ' which it won't do for me.
Easy to take the solly off and it's going on the bench for a test tomorrow.
Door secured with a ratchet strap between catch and centre headrest at the mo.
Very comfortable and well thought out lockers and storage. False floor in boot and back seat rolls fwd for more boot space. Spare wheel in car.
Ted
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I thought the Note seemed good when we were looking but eventually we went a bit smaller with a Citroen C3.
However you need to think hard about the Carsite deals and make sure you compare like for like.
Currently there is a C3 on there that is close to ours but a month newer, 4,000mls less and the next model up.... however in general terms a comparable car.
It is £23 more than ours was at a Citroen main dealer, then they want the £75 admin fee, add to that Carsite are an agent not the seller so you have to add a 12mth warranty at £250, then our dealer gave us mats and tax worth £65, also the Carsite C3 is due/overdue a £200 service which the Citroen dealer did on ours in the price, finally our front wheeltrims were scuffed and Citroen put new ones on woth £30.
So to get that Carsite C3 comparable to ours would cost £643 more than we paid a local main dealer, the purchased warranty would fall far short of the main dealer one and wouldn't include recovery as ours does, we'd have to wait 5wks for the Carsite one to be ready. Add to that, as mentioned above, many of the Carsite cars have scuffs and dings (ours is literally as new) and I'm hard pressed to see what advantage they give you??
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Thanks all - for your help, advice and comments.
I will do a tally to include things like Tax, warranty, service (if due) etc and see how that compares to a dealer.
I guess, the £4.5k is the top of our budget....so getting a car for that is attractive. All these 'extras' - which whilst I appreciate may be better long term attributes....pushes this all over budget.
We probably can't really afford to do this 'properly'...which is why Carsite proves attractive...however perhaps we should only do things properly or not-at-all....
More mulling over to be had perhaps...
Thanks Again.
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Also consider the Renault Modus. I know it's a Renault but we've had one from new for the past 5 years and never had anything major go wrong. The Note shares the same platform as the Modus so they are quite similar. Modus can be had very cheaply these days. Our 54 plate on 42k miles is probably only worth £3,500 or less now.
Great car and I can recommend it.
Edited by csgmart on 31/12/2009 at 10:41
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