Hello,

I've been to see a car tonight and i'm 50/50 on whether I should buy it. The car is an 04 plate fiesta with 57000 miles, 1.4 tdci fiesta finesse.

The buyer was looking 3250 but I have negotiated 3100. I realise this is above the parkers guide price but I have not seen another such example locally. I had a friend come round who works in a garage and he checked everything mechanically, and noticed a new battery, electric wires exposed with no covering going into battery ( not frayed or anything, just no plastic heatproof covering that you would expect).

I have done an HPI check and it cam back clear. However it did say that between 04 and 05 it covered 20,000 miles. In the year before the buyer bought it, the MOT documents said the car had covered just 2500 miles. The buyer has had the car for just a month and when I asked why, he said he took it as part exchange for a boat(!?). He would not negotiate on the price as he assured me he had negotiated a price of 3300 as part of a trade in for a car he was after, but would prefer the cash. I test drove the car and everything worked fine, and it drove beautifully.

The car has a full independent garage service history. I have also seen receipts for work done recently such as timing belts and exhaust boxes. The petrol cap has 'diesel only' sticker on it which suggests to me its first year was spent as a hire car. The current owner is the third owner. I am terrified that this car is a lemon and would like some advice.

Please help..

Edited by Avant on 28/07/2010 at 23:45