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"What you would expect with this age"


Neil clark

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It's the way you ask the question.  Not specific enough. 

You need to say that you aren't looking for perfection, but you are coming a long way, so you'd like an idea of what to expect. 

1) do the bumpers have any scuffs?

2) are there any stone chips on the bonnet? 

3) any key scratches on the doors

4) any rust bubbles on the passenger front wing.

5) is there a dent on the drivers door.

6) any loose trim on the roof 

To be honest you can ask 100 questions and they won't tell you the truth. 

 

 

 

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If they start answering above with ‘just come and see it’ this means it’s a mess. 
 

I once drove a 100 mile round trip to look at car with the idea of buying it for a body parts donor after being told it was ‘mint’. By mint they meant all the bottoms of the doors were rusty and badly touched up with a different colour. 

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1 hour ago, New POD said:

To be fair, I've got Some mint in the garden, that has rusty leaves. (One for the gardeners corner question perhaps) 

Apply Rust Conversion fluid, innit. 

Try to avoid growing mint in areas by the coast. 

Come to me for gardenistic advice. 😁

Edited by Leyland Worldmaster
More kwalitee advice.
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4 hours ago, New POD said:

To be honest you can ask 100 questions and they won't tell you the truth. 

In a lot of cases sadly true. Remember dad going to look at a Humber sceptre. "Excellent car needed a little tlc to paint" Came back fuming. It was rotten with holes in the front wings near the headlights. No decent bodywork to put the paint on he said on his return.

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2 hours ago, rainagain said:

If they start answering above with ‘just come and see it’ this means it’s a mess. 
 

I once drove a 100 mile round trip to look at car with the idea of buying it for a body parts donor after being told it was ‘mint’. By mint they meant all the bottoms of the doors were rusty and badly touched up with a different colour. 

Maybe by mint they were thinking of a Polo mint, ie full of holes 🤣

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Rust free is the best one, no floor in it, thought you said it was rust free.....yeah, it is, we ent charging for the rust.

it’s the owners thing that gets me, two owners.  So there is one previous recorded keeper on the V5C.........no, two....... so it’s had three owners then, the two before you and you.  Not that it matters that much as stuff gets older, but on the newer metal.  

Then the quite new kit I was looking at from a car supermarket (did buy it) has it got the same brand and tyres on all four corners...we don’t know, it doesn’t say on the computer, just says tread depth.....let me help you, get yourselves a fekkin pen and paper and walk out to the car park, have a look, write it down and call me back.

always remember, your the buyer and you can ask as many awkward questions as you like.  It is also good to look online at MOT history, is it taxed, tells you the day it was untaxed (and thus how long it might have been in the trade) date of last V5C (might not be an owner change, could be addy or plate) but it is a guide.  Then ask questions to which you already have and indication of what the correct answer is, see what you get back. 

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4 minutes ago, SiC said:

Usually I bring one of my cars that is older or similar age (not hard). When I get the usual spiel about being unreasonable with condition in regards to age, I point over to mine and mention that is older. 

Yeah, went to look at a 3yr old Golf for me lad at a main dealer.   It had the rare leather seat option or I probs wouldn’t have given the main dealer a look.

Fekk me it was grim, I concluded it was just at 3 yr PCP end of term hand-back (which many/most are) and it had just had a less than careful owner.  It stunk of fags, the carpets had been run without mats and were really tatty, I don’t think there was a panel on it without a scratch or dent.  All four tyres were a different brand, but it had the VW used approval (load of bollocks). 

The young lad said ‘can you see yourself in the car’....... no I fekkin can’t and tbh i’m surprised you are retailing it as a main dealer, it is auction fodder for ‘cut price cars of clapham’.  It is not a new car Sir and you can expect some age related wear and tear.  

I wandered the sales lad over to my car which I bought at 12 months old, was one year older and it had done 20,000 more miles, not a mark on it.  He got the point.  

I declined his offer of the test drive and thanked him for his time, he was only doing his job.  Car was just horrid.

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1 hour ago, Isaac Hunt said:

Rust free is the best one

Yes, it’s a bold claim. Unless it’s had a bare shell rebuild it’s a brave statement. It usually means I can seen no obvious bubbling or bare rust on a walk round the car. Usually there will be rust somewhere, trivial or otherwise.

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depends on age

up to 5 years old, wouldn't expect much damage at all, maybe a tiny wheel scuff etc and a couple of tiny stone chips

5-10 years old, more stone chips, maybe a couple of little scratches and door dints.....

over 10, yeah, bumper scuffs, stone chips, door dints and so on are to be expected.....depending on severity i'd class as good condition still

over 15, to be expected, it's a metal painted box that's been mainly outside for 15 years and driven 100,000 miles etc

C5 i'd class as good, has a fair few stone chips and a few scratches but it's 18 with 160k so you know not getting a minter

if you want immaculate without a mark, then buy brand new

problems are the same, i expect them

if i wanted a car in pristine condition without problems and low mileage, well erm yeah i'd buy brand new

second hand cars are second hand cars, rarely immaculate and the price reflects that

if they were immaculate and say a grand cheaper than brand new at 5 years old then why would would you buy second hand

albeit, current sub 5 year old car prices are insane at the moment where it makes more sense to buy new

well this has always been my take on it

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