Buying an older car

[El Cid]

Hi

 

I am hoping to buy a car, around the £500 mark. Are cars coping with rust better these days? I used to work on Honda cars, and they were really bad for rusting.

[Tasai]

We bought our 10 year old Focus, for 1k, and it has lasted us with no work, and passing its MOT's like a dream for 5 years! I would do some research, and even look on the roads. Volvos are the classic if you want an old car that will not fall apart!

 

---------- Post added 05-07-2013 at 12:27 ----------

 

If you do not see many of the model you want to buy on the roads anymore, there is probably a reason.

[El Cid]

I saw some Skodas at the car auction a few days ago, I thought they looked good. Not seen many Skodas on ebay tho.

[alchresearch]

Depends on the car. If you want a rust free car for £500 I'd recommend a Peugeot 306.

 

But a rust free car is useless if the engine is shot so don't just focus on the bodywork.

 

There's a lad on one of the Pug forums I frequent selling his W reg 306 for £650 ONO. Its got 193,000 miles on it but you'd never tell and it has documented FSH from 20,000 miles.

[geared]

As a happy 306 owner I'd have to agree they don't rust much, and the earlier 1.9 diesel engine is reliable as you can get.

 

Problem is everything else connected to the car is abit 'fally-offy' and the electrics can be, err interesting at times.

Still I've many years happy motoring in mine, and many more to come.

[El Cid]

 

There's a lad on one of the Pug forums I frequent selling his W reg 306 for £650 ONO. Its got 193,000 miles on it but you'd never tell and it has documented FSH from 20,000 miles.

 

It may be good value, but its not what I am looking for. You never know when an older car is going to give up the ghost, so £650 is a lot of money.

Smaller cars are popular today, but at 10 years old, larger, petrol cars seems to be more abundant.

[woolyhead]

Surely it's got nothing to do with the age of the car but about what condition it's in? I realise that the two things usually go hand in hand but that's not always the case. For example a friend of mine recently sold a 25 year old Volvo 2000 saloon. He hadn't done many miles in it and kept in garaged overnight. It was immaculate. All he got for it was £200! Look out for bargains like this.

[El Cid]

 

Surely it's got nothing to do with the age of the car but about what condition it's in?

 

But when you look at the cars, you can only inspect the underneath and framework of the car if you get it up on ramps.

You can be pretty sure that a 5-10 old car will last a few more years, but the older they get the lower that certainty is.

Same goes for high milage cars, petrol above 80K and diesel above 100k

[sh3rb3t]

I would personally recommend a Vauxhall Corsa, in the price bracket you are looking at. You can pick up a decent one for £500. They tend to rust badly on the bonnet, and around the arches underneath the plastic spats, but this won't affect the running or the MOT'ability of the vehicle. Rust will only render the vehicle unroadworthy if it is within 12 inches of a mounting point, so you need to be looking at how well the chassis has fared, not the shell (bodywork, mainly cosmetic). Volvos, as already pointed out, are also quite good at weathering the years if they have been kept well. Look at how many owners the vehicle has had, and especially whether it has been garaged. That makes a massive difference! As pointed out, its no good buying a good looking car if the engine has seen better days - look for one that has done either around or ideally under the mileage (though these will obviously be more expensive) for its' year (allow 10,000 miles per year of age). Check the cambelt has been changed as well, if it's done more than 70,000 miles. Hope this helps!

[Isabelle]

I know what people will say, but MGs can be had quite cheap, if you can find a well-looked after example, not a ZR that has been ragged about by a young lad. There are still quite a few on the roads.

Also, if you have a good clean driving/insurance history you can get some models (10+ years old I think) insured under classic car insurance. I had mine insured by Lancaster for a third of the price of regular insurance, and Peter Best are even cheaper.