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Buying a second - hand car, especially one which is considered “very old” by modern standards ( 7 - 10 years old ) is a bit of a minefield, but using some basic powers of deduction the risks can be greatly reduced. Firstly take a look on the likes of www.cbg.ie ( also on the links page, with others ) - The Car Buyer’s Guide. Get a feel for the prices and work out what you have to spend. With an older car, regardless of how it checks out, you need a budget just in case something does go wrong.
Whether you buy from a dealer or a private individual is really neither here nor there at this age. There are ‘for’ and ‘against’ factors in both. Firstly, avoid paying a ‘premium’ dealer price. You are unlikely to get a guarantee of any sort from a main dealer, and as that is why you pay a premium in the first place, what’s the point?
On the positive side, many reputable dealers do not want hassle, and are probably less likely to knowingly sell you a heap. Many are also delighted to shift older - reg. cars which do not exactly “fly off the forecourt” due to age prejudice among the public ( and often nothing else ). So if a dealer is being reasonable on price, why not?
Private sellers are usually more reasonable on price, but you really DO need documentation. Beware of traders selling at the side of the road - these guys usually end up with cars which have been offloaded from the Trade ... you’re taking a risk with these ‘passed on’ cars that people have traded in. If someone couldn’t be bothered setting up in business properly - with the liabilities that go with it - you’ve got to wonder.
“Sold as is” / “Trade Sale”
“Sold as is” / “Trade Sale”. These two terms could signify a bargain - or a nightmare. A friend in the trade once explained what they mean. If a Main Dealer sells a new car and takes an old one as part - exchange, these old cars re - enter the market without checks or warranty ( that is why they are usually cheap ). If the car turns out to be a ‘lemon’, that’s just too bad.
Example: Mr. Jones trades in his 1995 Ford Mondeo for a new one. 30 minutes later Joan is on her way back from the shops and spots it, and wants to buy. The Garage has not had time to check it, so they sell it to her for a knock - down price on a “Sold as seen” / “Trade” basis because they can’t stand over it with a warranty.
Garages are increasingly distancing themselves from this practise, and passing on cars to roadside sellers / ‘work from home’ guys. You could very well end up with a problem car that’s been doing the rounds in the trade before ending up there. Really, instead of living this dangerously, at least go to an auction!
Viewing
General pointers: the usual, but worth stating anyway! - oh, and some of my own ideas.
First of all, don’t go to view a car in the dark: sounds obvious and is, but you’d be surprised at how many people do. You need to get a good look at your future ‘partner’. Your initial instinct has got to be: does everything look right? If a young lad is selling his bed - ridden ‘grandfather’s’ 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX with 22,000 miles on it, there’s something amiss.
If the car is a ‘one lady owner’ car and there’s no sign of ‘one lady’, that too would be odd. A car with 2 aerials and no hubcaps was most likely a Hackney / Taxi in it’s former life, or a rental car. Sometimes this is disguised with cheap ‘aftermarket’ hubcaps, the usually hideous looking ones that are hawked at markets.
If you happen upon a pristine car in the middle of a muddy farm, that too would be odd. There’s no harm in cleaning up a car pre-sale, and who wouldn’t? Just bear it in mind.
Your first job is to look at the ‘stand’ of the car. Does it sit right? If it’s down at the back, you’re probably looking at new shock absorbers.
 No prizes for guessing what my choice would be ...
Before taking any test - drive, make sure the brakes work. I once drove half way accross a roundabout ‘by mistake’ because the brakes didn’t work properly ( and that was a main dealer car! ) During your test drive listen to the engine. Tell the owner you want to if s/he jabbers on while you are trying to hear. See does the car pull to one side on braking, and whether the steering wheel properly ‘centres’ when the wheels are straight. If it does not drive properly, don’t take any explanation about the tyres being under - inflated. Go to a garage and inflate them, and then see.
Are all of the panels the same colour? are they aligned properly? Open doors / bonnet / boot and check the colour. A re - spray can be convincing on the outside, but on the inside less so. If the car has been sprayed, this is not necessarily bad - but you need to know WHY!
The seats / pedals / carpet should reflect the mileage of the car. If the car has seat covers, have a look under them. The same with floor mats. If the pedals have brand new rubbers, that would indicate that the old ones were worn to bits. Depending on the car, some switches can be very expensive to replace if broken.
Similarly, any major electrical ‘goodies’ such as power windows / sunroof / aerial and so on should be tested. Smarter guys might try and tell you, in the event of one or the other ( or all ) not working that it’s just a “blown fuse” and something like “it worked the last time”. Right! Apart from the fact that this could be a likely story, if fuses have blown that could be a bad thing in itself, and may indicate a general electrical fault.
Do the manditory boot / engine check. Is the boot clean? is it SUSPICIOUSLY clean? Is the spare wheel present, and does it look like it belongs to the car? If the spare wheel looks like new but the car doesn’t, that would be very odd. Similarly if the engine is pristine but the rest of the car isn’t, that could well be a sign that the owner is trying to hide something - like a major oil leak. Personally I like to get a ‘medium use’ impression from looking in the boot, and to see a drop of oil ( but not a lot of it ) on the engine. If the engine is shining you have no way of judging anything.
Whatever about clutches, the engine and gearbox are really awkward / potentially expensive to repair. Does it refuse to go into gear properly / easily? Does the gearlever ‘pop’ out of gear? Does the gearbox make a strange high - pitched ‘whining’ / ‘screeching’ noise? If the answer to any of these is ‘yes’, think again.
The engine itself is probably less easy to diagnose in a short time, but obviously checking for blue smoke out of the exhaust is a good place to start. Does it pull like it should? Does it idle ( tick over ) properly, and without sounding rough?
Look out for any warning lights which may indicate that the catalytic converter is inoperative. You will be looking at the most of 1,000 euro to replace it. Similarly, the airbag / abs lights should not illuminate. Airbag systems are not for D.I.Y. work either - if they detonate whilst being worked on they can break the neck of the person working on the car and kill them.
Take a look at the tyres. What state are they in? - check both the tread and condition of the tyre walls. I recently followed a hot debate on a car website: “would you buy second hand tyres?”. The overwhelming answer was “No” but yet most are happy to buy four - on a second hand car! If the four tyres are different brands, that’s bad. It shows that the owner wasn’t too fussed, and probably only replaced them when at a critical stage. If the two front tyres are the same brand, that is good: the owner obviously cared enough to do them both at the same time.
This is a far from comprehensive list, and really it depends on you, your budget, your level of proficiency in various tasks, and whether or not you have that friend we all wish we had ( a good mechanic! ). Few if any old cars will pass all of the points raised with flying colours, but this is where bargaining comes in. Certain repairs being needed should be reflected in the price. Do, however, take care to check what price parts are if you do not know.
Just to give an example, a bootseal for my 480 cost 52 euro. A doorseal for my SAAB is 250 euro. Some parts for all brands are cheap, yet others are a crazy price: it seems to depend on who makes the part for the manufacturer. With something big, you want to be sure before you go bargaining.
THE DANGERS OF BUYING AN OLDER CAR
A mechanic once told me: “You’re better off buying a car made up to 1990, or one made after 1995”. He was referring to the bugbear of older cars: electronics. Electronics control so many functions in cars these days, and if they go wrong your life - and more specifically your pocket - can be in for an interesting ‘ride’.
The mechanic in question ( a guy with over 30 years’ experience ) elaborated: “cars made up to 1990 didn’t have all these electronics. In the early 1990’s they started messing with them, and didn’t really have a clue what they were doing until after the mid ‘90’s”. A generalisation perhaps, but interesting points.
Every year, thousands of cars made in that ‘middle period’ fall foul of problems which no one can effectively trace / fix, and as a result, otherwise perfect cars end up on the scrapheap. Paying a mechanic to investigate 10 different possibilities is not economically viable. Personally, I just buy all of the parts which may be defective. It works out cheaper than paying someone to try a load of different things.
What I am going to say next applies to Ireland, but it may also apply elsewhere too. Main dealers don’t like older cars. When they see an older car coming, it means time - and as one explained to me, people who own old cars usually don’t like getting a bill for 600 euro labour! Garages have to justify man hours, and they cost. As a result some employ a ‘trick of the trade’: give the customer yards of lists of what’s wrong ( exaggerated ) to scare them away.
Put simply, I think your best options with such cars are as follows. If you are ‘handy’ with mechanical things / electrics, do as much as you can yourself. There is plenty of information / clubs on the internet, so knowledge is not hard to come by. Get an independent operator on - side who knows what they are doing to do the mechanical work if needed: the hourly rate is much less. For dealer only stuff, obviously go to the dealer.
Oh, and enjoy your purchase!
SEE ALSO: Volvo Buyer’s tips
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