March 2006
Hi there, I am thinking of buying a vw polo 1.4SE W reg (2000) 75 BHP. The car has covered 23000 miles and seems in good condition..there a two slight scrapes on the rear bumper but thats about it. It has full service history, with the last two services from local garages. In the last service the tooth belt, which I assume is the cam belt, was changed. The car has had 2 female owners. Please can anyone advise on particular areas/issues that need to be considered. many thanks in advance. Read more
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Dear Mods,
Please could you move my thread to somewhere where Pugugly might see it. I have gone and done the wrong thread thing again. {Done - DD}
I need L plates.
PS adverse possession thingie... I just bought a copy of his deeds from the land registry and find that he is supposed to have planted two cypress hedges across two gaps and they should be always kept at 4 feet.
:)
Hey guys..
As most of you know, I've decided to buy a 5 Series as my next car. Well, almost.
I keep thinking that a 3 Series would be almost as good in some ways, and better in others. I initially discounted them becuase I didn't think I'd be able to get one for my budget - £10k absolute tops (would be happier with 7-9k) - as I'd want a facelift sport.
However, it would appear that Glass's trade value for 2001-2003 325i and 330i Sports is between £7k and £10k if I go for something with between 80 and 130k on the clock. Especially as I want a manual, whereas most people want an auto, and although I'd prefer Leather, I don't mind the Alcantara thats standard.
Is this wide of the mark? Can I really expect to get a decent example of a 330i or a 325i in Sport trim for this sort of money? How do these values compare to those of 530i/525i Sports?
I'm using Glass's Guide's 'Average' condition trade-in values to give me an idea of auction value - as these seem to tally with the amounts cars in HJ's auction reports are actually selling for. I'd probably either go up myself, or perhaps get Joe Dowd to source me one.
Anyone own one? What do you think? How does it compare to the 5 Series? What sort of fuel economy do you get?
Evo Magazine suggests that the 330i is quite a rocketship, doing 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. I'm suprised I can even get an insurance quote, but hey, I won't knock it. Read more
But will you be able to afford to fuel it, the
rate the Chinese are expanding there won't be any oil left...
I was reading an article earlier in the week, if the
Chinese economy keeps expanding at its current rate, they will need
to build two new nuclear power stations every year for the
next 15 years.
I think every month will be nearer the mark.
i had a new windscreen 6 months ago and have done my best to look after it. Recently with the gritters about i got a lovely scratch in the drivers view. Its not deep atall just quite long. Just wondered what products are available that wont make matters worse? Ive tried glass cutting paste but its not touch it.
Also a mate has bought a van and wants to remove the existing lettering. What is best to get this off
Thanks Read more
Jeweller rouge worked a treat on the scuffs on my windscreen.
I got a kit on eBay woth the attachment and pads for a drill, which you'll need.
The rule of thumb (Nail?) is to run a fingernail over the scratch. If you can feel it as a major depression JR won't work, and vice versa. Best of luck.
Hi,
Does anyone know if my Go 300 wil work in Ireland.
Thanks. Read more
TomTom 700 for 349 in Tesco. SWMBO's was 432 and the cheapest by miles then. (just befor Xmas)
Read this in the local rag:
tinyurl.com/eaz9y
The article says the Focus is an A-reg.....strange I thought....then I saw the picture in the paper and it is a East Anglia registered car hence AU53! Doh!
Anyway, interesting story and I do wonder what happens in these cases where a part fails-what does Ford have to do? Anything? Take the car back and strip it down? If it is a recall issue they would have to act soon.
Ultimately it could have been a one-off however. Read more
Toad of Toad Hall?
I'm sure he's here somewhere...
Hi all. The wife's likely to enrol on a part time (4days pw/13 hours total) college course shortly and we're wondering if becoming a part time student and using her car to drive to/from college is relevant to her insurance and, if so, is it likely to be grounds for her insurers to increase her premiums. She has a full comp. policy with limited mileage but as the journeys invovled will be short that won't be exceeded. At the moment although she's only had her full licence for about a year she's been insured for 3 years with the same company who give her a discretionary discount equivalent to full NCD. We obviously don't want to lose this but don't want to take chances either so thought we'd ask here before giving them a call.
Read more
We were told by the broker that going to college/school was classified as commuting - so looks as though you are ok.
BBC2 Wednesday evening - looks like AMS is setting up a second-hand car sales challenge this week for the teams - could be interesting. Read more
People, it's television, it's entertainment, it's not real. Those of you who run your own businesses ask yourselves, would you actually let complete strangers have direct contact with your customers with so little training? Just out of interest have a look at the number of product placements in next weeks episode.
Mate at work is buying a golf - 1998 to 2000 depending on what his budget will get - max 4K.
Unfortunately due to insurance he is limited to the 1.4S or E spec, although he should get a newer car for his money being entry level.
I have checked the CBCB and picked up some pointers for when I go and have a look at some with him but is there anything else I should look for? Will definately check the timing belt and tensioners have been done but what is VW recommended intervals?
He will be commuting max 400 miles a week so it needs to be reliable but unfortunately I am in the unknown with this particular model.
Thanks in advance Read more
bbroomlea: Mate is now getting a 51 plate Focus 1.4 instead.
As a 1.4, he should find the Focus less asthmatic than a Golf. One friend swapped a 95 MY Passat for a 1.4 Focus (see - no axes to grind!) and is happy with it. Its not a ball of fire, of course.
Incidentally, he was perfectly happy with the Passat over 10 years too - just unwilling to pay the premium for a new Golf over the Focus or Mazda he could get within his budget.
Here's hoping your mate's experience of the Focus is closer to all those German drivers who put it top of the TUV survey rather than the inhabitants of the Focus Forum!
- Gromit
Hi
I am a car salesman who works for a large group who specialise in the prestige market.
I am just curious to know if people still buy from the internet?
Having worked in the industry a few years now, it seems dealers are able to offer better deals now than they ever have done and its driving business back....maybe its more flexibility from the manufacturers to dealers? or maybe they are steering away from the internet?
Do you use the internet to negotiate the price?
Would you buy from a dealer if they could match say, the What Car Target Price or drivethedeal.com?
To give you an example, I sell all prestige cars new and used from bmw's to porsches throughout the country, and after being quoted drivethedeal.com prices on several cars - im still in most cases able to match, if not better the deal...and i know that hasnt always been the case!
What are your views guys? Does the internet still have the edge that it used to? Read more
Several years ago my father ordered a new car from a dealeship after phoning around all the Peugeot dealerships in the London area to play one off against the other on the price of the car.
He eventually got the local dealer to beat the cheapest price around, on the condition that he went for a gold/brown colour instead of the silver that would have been his first choice. He took the deal.
The internet didn't even exist in the form it does now, but I felt that was a good lesson.
So, when I bought a new vehicle I scourered the internet and local dealerships and went to look at the van at my local dealer, fully expecting to simply test drive it there then buy it elsewhere.
The salesman discussed prices, offering standard discounts. That's when I started to put some cards on the table.
To my mind I had the best of both worlds. I got the internet price with the local service. I would have been prepared to pay a few hundred more through the garage if I had to, but I didn't have to.
The dealer will make money on the after sales care. Most dealers would not sell at a loss, I assume, unless there are business reasons for doing so.
I don't think most dealers are incapable of competing with internet brokers etc, so whether they will try or not may speak volumes about their attitude to the customer as a whole.
H
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Stating the obvious - check out HJ/s comments. Beware - german cars are not what they were. I believe some polos have had gearbox problems. I have seen three such cases in my local garage recently.