Thanks for help the help in the car buying saga so far. One final twist though.
Ditched the idea of the Avensis, went back to our original idea of the Focus (helped by the good reports from you guys)
Saw and test drove a really nice 55 plate 1.6 TDCi Ghia Saloon in Panther black. (43K miles, one owner, years MOT and 6 months tax). It drove really really nicely, smooth quiet, no obvious signs of abuse, braked well and straight, clutch and gears a delight, a/c icy cold, cabin nice and tidy, seats still felt nice and firm, good tyres with loads of life in them. SWMBO also thought it was the business.
It was on for £5995 and we got it down to £5600 which seems to be well under book for that model.
He's the problem possibly: The service book is blank.
The car was previously registered to a company in Glasgow who apparently operate a large fleet a cars and commerials (Turner & Co). The chap who co owns the used car dealership told me he had phoned the company and got (over the phone) a record of when the services had been done (12, 25 and 37K) i.e. bang on the service schedule for that engine.
I've handed over a £200 deposit on the car subject to myself being able to obtain some kind of written confirmation (maybe a computer printout?) from this Turner and Co to confirm that the servicing has been carried out.
I wanted to get the backroomers general take on this. Is it at all heard of for fleets not to stamp the book but still service their vehicles? Is the previous fleet garage likely to be cooperative and give me something in writing?
The car it has to be said, looks and drives as though it's been well looked after.
Once again thanks for your continued indulgence!
Steve
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If the car has been serviced at a Ford dealership then it will be recorded on the computer system which any Ford dealer can access and therefore confirm that the services have been carried out as they should have been.
If there is any doubt about its service history, walk away, there are thousands more for sale !
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Many rental or fleet cars have been serviced by a mobile mechanic, i used to know one, but the mechanic would be called out to whichever site the car happened to be at, the paperwork for the car would still be at head office,the chances of getting all things stamped...remote.
This car could well be similar...but i'd trust a car salesman about as much as a politician, and want some written proof or workshop printout.
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should have added. Apparently the fleet operator have their own in-house vehicle maintenance dept.
did a quick google and this is them: www.turner.co.uk/content.php?page=aboutus
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In that case LP, there should be a nice print out somewhere for your perusal.
I got one of those when i bought an ex plod driving school car (Rover 827) many years ago...servicing and care unheard of, hopefully you will have a similar pleasant surprise.
Many fleets used to service their own cars, worth noting however that one company worked for never bothered to replace cambelts on their vast fleet of diesel cars, presumably finding it more cost effective to replace engines at approx 40 to 80K miles, which they did...not the company you mention i hasten to add.
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Ask the company for a detailed computer printout of ALL the servicing/maintenance work carried out on the car, including materials used (e.g. when tyres were changed etc.), and any warranty work carried out (of any), and then have the service book updated, stamped and signed inline with the details shown on the computer records.
Also ensure that any warranty that comes with the car is valid and whether or not it's subject to previous servicing records being up to date (not a problem is everything has been done on time and ok).
If the above is supplied and you're happy with the car then it's a done deal.
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