This is my second post, after researching some ideas of potential cars that interest myself and my budget I think ive found a good car/insurance combo.
Car - 2000 VAUXHALL ASTRA 1.6i 16V SXi 3dr Hatchback
68,000 miles
Has 1 year mot + 6months tax. 2 previous owners, good condition inside and out.
0-62 in 10.5
average 38mpg
insurance group 6
Insurance ive got is 3rd party, because i cant have a "good" (in my eyes) car for my budget, my mums agreed to be the main driver person and i'll use it too. Ive got insurance for £900 annually or £79 a month.
The asking price is £1600 but WhatCar valued it at £1,600. So im going to offer £1400 and get a viewing sometime soon.
Personal opinions? I appriciate anyones input! thanks
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Cam belt - make sure it has been changed as it is long overdue (book says every 40k) if it has not.
Genuine Vauxhall kit is roughly £80 + labour to fit if you can't do it yourself.
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Where are you buying it from Rough* , dealer, main-dealer, private ?
A lot can happen in 8 years & 68,000m
How about service history ... is it main-dealer history - is it FSH ?
Dog.
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I guess you are not asking us to condone your approach to insurance!
If you are the main driver you will be contravening the terms of the policy, also your mother will build up the NCB and not you. Bite the bullet and insure it in your name - if this is too expensive pick a car with cheaper insurance.
Oddly some newer cars will be cheaper to insure probably because the insurer's believe you will take more care of it.
Edit - have you told the insurer that your mother won't own the car, or will she, this must be disclosed and will affect the premium.
Edited by ijws15 on 05/09/2008 at 09:03
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And yes, my mum would be the legal owner etc :(
i would have it on my own insurance policy for £1700 fully comp with churchill, its cheaper than 3p, f+t!
but i cant have the option of paying monthly which i would need! :( i would need to somehow get myself about £600 extra to insure which i dont have for at least another 3/4 months :(
Anyway, ive got a scratch card i bought here..so :P maybe!
ok no i failed! :D>> I guess you are not asking us to condone your approach to insurance!
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its private, im going to give them a ring and ask what the service history is. As it just simply says "service history". Ill find out if its got full service history, and if its with a vauxhall garage.
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Ok, full service history. the cambelt hasnt been changed since new, so itll need a new one most likely.
How much should i ask off? i was going to offer the £1450 for the car presuming the cambelt had been changed...should i knock a £100 off? or more?! :O
thanks
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Main dealer cam belt change with genuine kit - rollers etc will be upwards of £250 depending on where it's done.
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I have not used these so I have no idea what they are like tinyurl.com/56ebqw but I did use them against my Vauxhall dealership to get a price match.
If that cam belt lets go - you may as well write the engine off.
Edited by Tron on 05/09/2008 at 13:49
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got 3 quotes so far, waiting on a 4th
vauxall
£250 full
rs motors
£199 full
bricken motors
150+vat (i lied and said another garage offered 150+vat) haha :D
all those prices are for cambelt, timing belt, tensioners etc.
opinions? waiting on the person ringing back now for the 4th quote.
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Make sure you take someone with you who knows injuns!
Sounds like quite a nice jamjar actually - Good Luck!
Dog.
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68k & 8 years is also MAJOR service time too - that means all fluids, filters etc., need changing and the cambelt should have been done at 40k.
As that has not been - it shows the vehicle may not have been serviced as well as it should & claims to have been?
Probably the reason why it is being sold...
...current owner has had a quote for the service & cam belt work and decided cheaper to push it on to someone else!
At 68k check those front discs for wear as well.
Well worth the small fee to have this vehicle HPi & AA or RAC inspected and I would certainly not take this vehicle from anyone unless it had a full 12 month MOT.
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ill have to check the service history too whats been done when i go view it tommorow or somtime soon. The owner agreed to change the cambelt etc, how would i check the front discs for wear exactly?
and how much is the hpi clear fee? also aa or rax inspected? does that mean they check the car over...i imagine this will be really expensive... :<
its got 11months left on the insurance now. just left the 12month bracket.
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The owner agreed to change the cambelt etc how wouldi check the front discs for wear exactly?
Now why would he do that? Most people wouldn't have the hassle and just knock the price off the bill, unless of course a: he's a dealer with a mate who will do it at trade or b; he isn't going to do it at all - do you know how to check if its been done?
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Now why would he do that? Most people wouldn't have the hassle and just knock the price off the bill unless of course a: he's a dealer with a mate who will do it at trade or b; he isn't going to do it at all - do you know how to check if its been done?
Or (c) he'll replace the cambelt only with a cheap pattern part, not bother with the tensioners and leave you with an invoice, but work that's effectively useless.
Cambelt, tensioner set and water pump all need doing on these at the same time -- £250 not unreasonable -- don't bother with one of them, might as well not bother with any of them.
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>>all - do you know how to check if its been done?
Yeah, he'll have the service info, and a receipt.
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Rough*
Check that an advisory has not been issued with the MOT advising of such as brake wear etc.
If one was issued it will be clearly maked on the right hand side half way down of the current MOT certificate (VT20).
To check the discs take a torch - easier to see even in daylight. Put wheel to full lock (if not alloys you can see through) and look at the discs. You are looking for excessive grooves in the discs (front & back) surfaces and on the outer edge of the disc and if there is a (of more than 2mm max) lip. No or a lip or less than 2mm or (excessive) grooves = ok.
AA & RAC inspections can be booked using their websites same with HPi checks - many companies out there offering the service - just Google AA RAC & HPi check.
An MOT of the vehicle before you buy could save a you a lot of monies in the future too.
I feel this may help you a bit too: tinyurl.com/58qcsf & never view a vehicle in the wet or after dark.
If you don't know what to look for take someone with you that does.
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I think the Vauxhall/Opel model system is pretty good i.e Astra G, Corsa C, Omega B etc etc. We all know what shape the OP is referring to. I wish more manufacturers would do same.
Shame BMW dont pick incremental code numbers though I can never get it - or do they?
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Don't worry about the discs and pads, its 8 years old for Jehovahs sake!
Just make sure that injun and gearbox is ok, then "go for the jugular" offer £1300 and take it from there.
Dog.
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Don't worry about the discs and pads its 8 years old for Jehovahs sake! Just make sure that injun and gearbox is ok then "go for the jugular" offer £1300 and take it from there.
Dog.
I have the estate version of this car. You need to be looking at the brakes and especially more so if it has ever had a towing hook on the vehicle.
Front double vented discs are not half as cheap as the rear drums are and all in you could be looking at another good £200+ for the brakes as well as the £200+ for the cam belt.
8 years old 68k it may be. But why buy something that you then have to start paying out on to rectify faults on from day one of owning it?
Even knocking the seller down to 1.3k - you could end up out of pocket on this.
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>>>8 years old 68k it may be. But why buy something that you then have to start paying out on to rectify faults on from day one of owning it? <<<
Fair comment guv'nor!
Dog.
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Yebbut the used car search is hard enough without trying to find a car that needs no work.
Better to check the history,body, engine than to pass up on a car that needs disks. Good to know they are a weak spot but surely you'd only use that as negotiating ammo to get the price down a little. Expecting to lop off the full price of brakes or a cambelt is un-reasonable as that is akin to "betterment" Its a used car for goodness sake.
Its 1600 quid at the end of the day not 5 grand. 1600 quid and 8 years and if thats the market value, then that reflects that it WILL need some money spending on it relatively soon.
Oh well, better move on, find another. This one needs disks...... doh.
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>>>Its 1600 quid at the end of the day not 5 grand<<<
Ah, but davidh - 1600 sovs is a lot of money to many, many people, especially for a 1st car.
My 1st car cost me £30, and that was a fair bit then ;)
Dog.
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Ah but davidh - 1600 sovs is a lot of money to many many people especially for a 1st car.
Which is why, instead of busting a gut trying to find the best £1500 car you can buy, you should instead get a hold of a reasonably-decent car for £500 less, and use said excess for any possible repairs.
That said, any Vauxhall (or Daewoo, or any other car with plastic tensioners or cam-driven water pump such as Renault or Fiat) that is overdue a cambelt change I personally would not buy unless it was at least £250 under book -- because it'd be the first thing I'd be seeking to replace (unless the car was worth less than £500 in which case I'd wing it and hope the belt didn't snap while I owned it). Cambelts are a special case IMO.
Brake parts, clutches, suspension etc are all things that are going to go at some time, and won't take the rest of the car out when they do go wrong, so that buffer is all that is necessary.
If the car needs more than £500 worth of repairs, you're unlucky, but you're almost certainly going to need a hundred or two's worth of repair anyway on the more expensive car, so you'll most likely be fine.
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>>get a viewing sometime soon.
Rough*
So what happened?!
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Haha, excited? :D In the end, ive decided to not to take it any further with that car. I've decided to look at a 1.4 from a Trade advert i've seen. Gonna have a look soon, do all the checks etc :)
Comes with 12months mot/6 months tax etc. Full service history, pretty much the same...not sure about cambelt etc and what has been done to it.
Ill find out, only main difference is that its a 1.4i 16v LS :] A bit cheaper so leaves me with more money, theres 10k less miles and its the same year. Only downside is its £100 more expensive on insurance! Its insurance group 4 compared to the 1.6 insurance group 6!
I dont understand why...
Got a little plan set out if i buy it ;)
alloys, lower it about 50mm then thats about £500 all together :D
Good job im paying insurance monthly ;p
Thanks for everyones input, i feel its helped me for the better. Glad i made the decision now rather than buying it :)>> >>get a viewing sometime soon.
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I don't see any particular reason to get a 1.4 over a 1.6 Astra. The MPG is similar, the 1.4 is slower and it'll have been gunned everywhere to keep up with traffic.
If you are concerned with the cambelt, buy a car with a chain.
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A Chain?
I know theres very little difference, but im looking for cars closer to me in my area. Also a big factor is "mummy doesnt want to me get a 1.6, it will run away with you.." :D
clueless :P
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Camchain.
That way you don't have to bother with the cambelt until the engine rattles. Simple.
As for "the 1.6 will run away with you", someone better tell that to my Daewoo 1.6 (same engine, in fact same most things as an Astra) -- it goes well enough but it wouldn't lift the skin off a custard tart.
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Yeah, its anoys me...my mams clueless when it comes to cars but she tells me every time "whos been driving for longer than youve been alive" :\
she says alloy wheels mean the cars gonna get stolen.
a spoiler will mean a car gets pulled over by the police ALL the time
v16 on the back of a car means its a 1.6 litre not 16 valve.
and theres so much more... so frustrating as were a small family and my dads not about, so theres nobody to tell her she doesnt have a clue...i do but i get the "ive been driving..." comment !
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To be honest, she's only thinking of you and wants what she thinks best. The 1.4 16v will be lively enough and alloys can be a pain in the bum to keep in decent nick. A decent set of plastic wheel trims can look smart. The spoilers nowt to write home about either you wont benefit from having one in terms of handling/grip etc any way although I think they can look snazzy.
If you do get the LS model and fancy adding afew extras to it, dont forget to tell your insurer. They may not charge you any more but instead might not cover you if the wheels etc get nicked. And check before you splash out how much any slight mods might add to your insurance.
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i rang norwich union for a quote, my mum as policy holder..myself as the main driver with alloy wheels and lowered suspension its £1150 anually or about £1250 if i pay monthly.
Got some £450 alloys asking me to buy them.. :D
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Pre March 2001 1.4 only £120 VED, 1.6 of the same age £185.
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VED?
also, anyone know what tax group the car could be? its not listed on the website!
1.4i vauxall astra 1999 16v LS
Thanks
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VED = Vehicle Excise Duty.
The 1.4 Astra will be £120 a year -- registered before 2001 so it's on the old tax regime (the 1.6 would be £185/year).
EDIT: and I just realised that I echoed cheddar's post. Sorry about that.
Edited by jase1 on 09/09/2008 at 22:39
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dont worry! Just confirmed what i understood from Cheddar's post! :)
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