What's the biggest risk you've taken when buying a car?

[sam1176uk]

Anyone taken a big chance on a car and it's paid off??

Going to view this tmrw even though my head says no, the seller doesn't seem to know anything about it and the tax expired 2 months ago even though he says he still uses it?!
Lots of service history so may have been well looked after till he got it, he's only had it a few months?
http://glasgow.gumtree.com/glasgow/47/64608747.html

What's a worst case scenario when buying a turbo?

[JJ]

Hmmmm .... Lack of tax wouldn't stop me driving it ! At the end of the day, I'd be parting with money, I'd take it round the block and see how it runs ! Could be genuine why he's selling it ( loss of job ) but also have your wits about you too... Spares or repairs !!

[sam1176uk]

Without being rude, the guy sounds like a total rocket, lol (hope he's not a member here).
Bit risky i suppose, just getting impatient as there seems to be no decent examples around

[JJ]

To be fair, these cars are pretty idiot proof ! As long as you stick oil in and it's reasonably modded, shouldn't be a problem !!

You say he hasn't had it long ?! ... Look for signs of accident damage mainly !

Under the bonnet

check oil level / colour
check tyres, quality / brand ! Usually a key to affordability
check for loads of 5hittty hoses plumbed in everwhere
air filter if you can/ colour / quality
grab each wheel and tug hard at it for movement / joint play
look at the brake discs, scoring / rustyness
oil leaks

[furiouslee1]

I purchased my first mr2 8 years ago from London and in the mad excitement I forgot to check loads of things, I had it all planned out but I just wanted to drive home in my new car.

Big mistake, within a week the gearbox gave up and cost me a fortune. I also had to replace the clutch, when the garage checked it over for me (this is a garage I always use, friend of the family) I got hit with a £1200 bill for all of the work that they did.

It still has not put me off these cars as when i sold it i knew i had to buy another one but just use common sense and if you're not sure take someone who is.

Good luck, i hope you find something decent

[ryan]

Biggest risk I took was on a 406 coupe V6 on Ebay. It was a 1999 V plate 80k with £600 cambelt just done by Peugeot. Did a buy it now for £1695, £1000 below book. I caught the train to cleveland (from South Wales), and the seller met me at the train station. I was imagining allsorts, car in poor condition, engine knackered etc, but i was pleasantly suprised, couldnt have wished to have met a nicer chap. Turns out he had been messed around twice on E bay, and people not turning up, and he worked 7 days a week so didnt really have any spare time to sell the car.
Only problem I had with the car was the folding mirrors didnt work, otherwise it was great.
I did buy a micra off E bay as well which I wish id seen beforehand, it wasnt quite as described and was a bit of a shed, even for £400. Luck of the draw I think.

[loudandproud205]

my biggest risk was buying and paying for a car on ebay id never seen before and was other side of the country in cumbria.

althou am not one to bother with stuff i didnt drive the mr2 or anything i turned up put money in his hand signed paper work and drove of.

i really should have looked deeper at it!!!!!!!!

[paul port]

Sending a Grand deposit to some bloke in Japan I had never met, to buy me a car at Auction that I wouldn't see for Months.

Car turned out to be Excellent and did me for over 10 years.



I see nothing particularly wrong in your advert, except the picture of the history paperwork clearly was not taken by the same chap that took pictures of the car - maybe these are from the original owner?

If you are going up there in advance of any payment then I think the only risk you are taking is the travel cost - after that the risk is no different to buying any other car. £2.5k is criminally cheap for what the MR2 has to offer, there are guys I've met over in Germany / Holland that would tear your arm off at another grand above that for a Rev3 in that apparent condition.

Do the basics,
Check oil level when you arrive, ignore the colour as frankly oil goes dark within 1000 miles on a turbo
Check Rad Cap for Oil / mayo
Start from cold looking for blue sharp smelling smoke
Drive it, when up to temperature does it accelerate hard smoothly? If you have a friend following is there blue smoke?
Park up and look all round for dripping fluids.
Does the aircon work?

If you buy it, take it home and service it immediately

After that you just have normal running costs for a car that is at the end of the day ~16 years old.

[Chris]

I take risks all the time with cars. I don't even view half of them! I send a mate of mine with cash in his hand and his Transit recovery truck.

Most people are genuine, don't get me wrong though I have been stung by a few. I just can't be bothered to spend a full day travelling to possibly be disapointed. I'd rather take the chance, let my mate decide.

[fearless]

buying a used car is always a risk i think, and ive always bought cars below book value and nearly all of them have had problems which ive known about, as long as the price is adjusted according i dont see it being a problem i have a guy that does paintwork for me and my cousin was a mechanic so i can call on them to help me out, i just bought a 51 plate galaxy which had problems but i got for £800 below going rate problems it had and cost to repair.

1) tailgate central locking not working (broken wire) cost free
2)alloys curbed in need of refurb (done myself in mercedes silver 2k paint cost £20.
3) banging on front suspension (droplinks) ebay £12.50
4)tailgate paint bad condition (repainted by mate) £100
5)wear on front tyres (replaced track rod ends myself) £24 on ebay £15 to have tracked and tyre changed over.
6) interior door handles faded and chipped (normal galaxy thing painted in mercedes silver as £17 each to buy and my bus is a zetec model with silver dash panels) cost free
7) chipped windscreen (replaced under insurance) cost free

total cost £171.50 and i now have a nice car that my mrs loves to bits and being turbo diesel we save a packet in fuel now and over £600 in pocket, i just go to view cars with an open mind and just had up in your head what its going to cost and then hopefully the seller will budge on price if they dont just walk away, i got my mr2 for £300 below screen price with nearly full service history.

good luck with it.

[fimmo]

buying a car you havent seen or driven.

i bought a yellow rev 2 n/a of a member of here a few months ago, got it for £850 plus transportation costs of £186 so in total just over a grand.

wow, wasnt expecting much but ad said rust free, it wasnt, it had been lowered, yes, but bounces everywhere, new £180 k+n filter, nice but pipe keeps falling off and also engine breather pipe left hanging and exhaust covered in tiny holes and had a loose baffle etc etc etc

all fixed now and part ex'd it to get my winter hack ( rev 2 with 3.0 v6)

as long as you drive it and give it the once over, also do a hpi check or one f those text check things for about £4 just to see if its had a recorded crash or finance etc.

[rgb]

dont buy a car from bradford

[ashley]

Buying a car that was still in Japan, was terrified the boat would sink or sommit

I bought a car on ebay once- that was a mistake....worst car I've ever owned- nuthin but trouble from the second I took ownership. That one went to the scrappy when I put a rod through the block

I bought a car at auction once as well, got to hear it running first as it drove in- that was it. Lasted me a few years though- was a better buy than the one off ebay, and I got my money back when I sold it on

[GBTurbo]

Why doesnt it have a jap rear bumper?

Or am I being stupid

[fearless]

looks like its been changed but doesnt bumper and rear light panel look a different shade aswell or is it the picture. :0)

[cvega666]

i must be _rather_ lucky so far - I bought a 120k miles Honda Concerto (lol i know) from a trade seller as i needed a car on THAT day due to moving etc. For 350 notes i literally took the keys and drove it home without as much as looking under the bonnet. It served me well for 2 months, covered well over 2k miles, not a single pound put into repairs and was a happy little car. Sold it on with profit :> Never missed a beat that car.

My current MR2 i looked at obvious things - but still didnt discover the clutch was on the way out and the handbrake cables, brake pads were gone... Price was low so it didnt take a lot of thinking./.. Apart from that it's been pretty much OK.

[fishy89]

Why doesnt it have a jap rear bumper?

Or am I being stupid

agreed.. uk rear end.....

the red on the light panel and rear bumper looks a different colour aswell..

anddddddd odd registration..

just a few little things

[toxo]

As mentioned above, deposit for the risk involved when importing a car from Japan! Mine was meant to be grade 4 and when I got it I didn't peel back the carpet in the boot and find the enormous (perfectly good) weld that was evidence of a rear 1/4 replacement. I'm still undecided as to whether the auctioneers / inspectors in Japan knew about it as it's a really good repair job, and must've been done when the car was still worth quite a bit, or whether they were just pulling the wool over my eyes.

And thinking that a misfire was the car hitting fuel cut

I bought a car on eBay recently for a grand that was advertised as having no MOT, and having had a minor front end ding (driver's side indicator was smashed, scuffing along the front bumper). Upon collection and getting underneath the car I rapidly discovered that the steering rack had had it, the tie rods were shot which had lead to the damaged alloy with a very weirdly worn tyre on that corner being swapped with the spare for sale, during the process they'd sheared off a wheel stud too! And the boot lid didn't fit anymore.

I'm actually glad I bought that one, I was breaking it for the engine anyway and it would've been a shame to break a perfectly good car which this clearly wasn't. And better that than it still be on the road!

[jasongtr]

i bought my V6 unseen, i trusted the honesty of the seller and the build thread/photos, all turned out good, thankfully

i have also gone to see cars that have been 'honestly' described and you get there and think that they must of already sold the car they talked to me about over the phone, but then i got the impression i shouldnt of trusted the dodgy sounding ones anyway.

[frogger]

Bought a volvo V40 off ebay without viewing and then collected in the dark...

- Brake calipers all round were almost entirely siezed
- Thermostat was removed (presumed head gasket issues)
- Some very skilled person had done a right number on the electrical systems
- Bypassed sensors and relays forcing the car to run without several inputs
- Fuel pump stayed on at full pelt from first click of the key
- Headlights did whatever they felt like (also plenty of jumper wires spliced in!).

But it served its purpose!!
- A couple of ikea trips including wardrobe and sofa transportation
- Many buillders merchant journeys
- Some 200 mile round trip of snow driving which involved pitting the car into hedges and ditches to slow the car down on steep roads!
- And finally used to knock down a wall and nearby brick pillars - much easier than a sledgehammer!

Cost £450 - spent £30 on replacement brake calipers and discs from local scrappy, never bothered experimenting with the thermostat and wiring, sold the private plate for £300, sold off a few parts on ebay for around £150, and then got £145 in scrap value when the tax ran out!

Would I buy such a heap of crap again? Hell Yes!
I loved not having to give a damn about a car!

On the topic of that MR2 :- Betcha the speedo is actually reading in mph now and that 136k milage is really part clocked up in miles, not all in kilometers as implied in the advert. Not that it really makes much difference tho...