Yes, the tritec engine…BMW/Rover/Chrysler (or was it Chevrolet?)
Advice on vehicle purchase.
- Thread starter Pugglt Auld Jock
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Advice on vehicle purchase.
So there you have it Jock, like you, a lot of us have been the motor trade, we all have experienced crap cars of one make or another. With all due respect many of you guys have a lot more money to throw at a car than me, one thing you can be sure of is it will be worth less tomorrow than today, so never spend more than you can afford to throw away, then if you get one that really does you proud you will know it was a bargain.
Over the years I have inspected cars that my customers have been interested in buying from private sales all the way to main dealers with National Franchises and everything in between and there is no difference or guarantee they won't dump some rubbish on you! So all you can do is rely on your instincts and years of experience
The other thing I used to say when my customers were talking about buying something newer, I asked them when last they drove up the Motorway what was the average age of cars broken down at the side of the road, I know you can argue that there are less older cars, but it doesn't speak highly of the newer ones or the maintenance they have received.
Over the years I have inspected cars that my customers have been interested in buying from private sales all the way to main dealers with National Franchises and everything in between and there is no difference or guarantee they won't dump some rubbish on you! So all you can do is rely on your instincts and years of experience
The other thing I used to say when my customers were talking about buying something newer, I asked them when last they drove up the Motorway what was the average age of cars broken down at the side of the road, I know you can argue that there are less older cars, but it doesn't speak highly of the newer ones or the maintenance they have received.
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Round here I’ve see, very recently, three of the new LR Defenders being attended by RAC/AA and a brand spanking Jaguar F-Pace…not really a good advertisement in expensive North YorkshireSo there you have it Jock, like you, a lot of us have been the motor trade, we all have experienced crap cars of one make or another. With all due respect many of you guys have a lot more money to throw at a car than me, one thing you can be sure of is it will be worth less tomorrow than today, so never spend more than you can afford to throw away, then if you get one that really does you proud you will know it was a bargain.
Over the years I have inspected cars that my customers have been interested in buying from private sales all the way to main dealers with National Franchises and everything in between and there is no difference or guarantee they won't dump some rubbish on you! So all you can do is rely on your instincts and years of experience
The other thing I used to say when my customers were talking about buying something newer, I asked them when last they drove up the Motorway what was the average age of cars broken down at the side of the road, I know you can argue that there are less older cars, but it doesn't speak highly of the newer ones or the maintenance they have received.
we also have a new Ineos dealership that’s put a sign up saying ‘we’ll service and repair any make of car’…not mine you won’t!
It does make me wonder what progress manufacturers have made when in the 1950s you had people driving LandRovers around deepest darkest Borneo, Saharan deserts and the like, fixing them with a basic tool kit if required and now they can't do a few miles up the motorway reliably and cost shed loads to buy!
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Yup, I guess it's all a bit of a lottery and experience can help insulate you from making the most serious mistakes but we can all be caught out and we are!So there you have it Jock, like you, a lot of us have been the motor trade, we all have experienced crap cars of one make or another. With all due respect many of you guys have a lot more money to throw at a car than me, one thing you can be sure of is it will be worth less tomorrow than today, so never spend more than you can afford to throw away, then if you get one that really does you proud you will know it was a bargain.
Over the years I have inspected cars that my customers have been interested in buying from private sales all the way to main dealers with National Franchises and everything in between and there is no difference or guarantee they won't dump some rubbish on you! So all you can do is rely on your instincts and years of experience
The other thing I used to say when my customers were talking about buying something newer, I asked them when last they drove up the Motorway what was the average age of cars broken down at the side of the road, I know you can argue that there are less older cars, but it doesn't speak highly of the newer ones or the maintenance they have received.
I’d buy a brand that’s got a local dealership
Being used for business the last thing you want it to wait a few days or weeks for a part that could be picked up next day from a dealer
Makes life so much easier
If doing a lot of mile
I would buy a popular car. Service parts are so much cheaper.
Being used for business the last thing you want it to wait a few days or weeks for a part that could be picked up next day from a dealer
Makes life so much easier
If doing a lot of mile
I would buy a popular car. Service parts are so much cheaper.
£60K for a ’basic’, I’ll stick to my panda as long as they make them…just bought an electric UTV (like a John Deere Gator), so, if they can do them, they can continue a 4x4 version of the Panda and not ruin by making it absurdly expensive, bloated and overly complicated
Unless your nearest dealer will drop off a courtesy car and take yours…a service that seems to be diminishing as fast as courtesy is
I’m inclined to follow this mantra as well. Cars these days are complicated far more so than any other time in history.
but it’s worth considering engines are made by robots, with stupidly tight tolerances computers and other systems are made by companies like Bosch and Siemens.
gear boxes and transfer boxes made by companies like Borg and Warner or Friedrichshafen
They all get bolted together in much the same way. but poor maintenance is more likely to see you on the side of the motorway than any particular brand or model of car.
I am going to make a controversial point here now Jock. As this isn’t your car and what you feel comfortable or happy to work on may become completely irrelevant tomorrow if you were to be taken ill and couldn’t work on his cars anymore.
If he has his heart set on a certain car or something he likes then guide him to a good one and not just rule something out because you’re not keen on it, or feel out of your depth. Pushing him towards something you are happy or comfortable with could come back to bite.
This may be very true and people are free to ignore advice whether by family members or paid alleged experts in the that field, but surely if a member of your family has more experience in the subject than yourself, it is wise to at least hear them, even though many times from personal experience with my own children they choose to ignore you, even when they are in their 40s trust me but that is life.
It is a well known saying that "people learn from their own mistakes", but where family is involved you always try to help.
If you approach a salesman whatever they are selling, cars, quickfit type repairs, double glazing etc. and they offer guidance you have to know their advice is based on commission rather than what is best for you in many cases, which people often find to their regret later.
There's so many things come out each year..."These are the cars most likely to fail an MOT!" Etc..
But if you ever look at the top offenders (think it was Fiat last year followed by a Citroën of some description) the vast majority of fails are on things a quick walk round prior to test would have caught or drop links or track rods..which if you've got ears and care you know.
It goes down as a fail but is a blown bulb, bald tyres or still having the factory wipers smearing at 6 years old the cars fault? Or is it people just buy them and beat them to death and complain when the consequences of their actions arrive.
Or they buy them, beat them to death...then sell them and the next owner has a terrible experience with that car and will happily tell anyone not to buy one.
Obviously intrinsic material quality does determine the useful life span if looked after but...you can shorten or lengthen that considerably.
I never trust the JD power or which surveys, the questions are leading, those that respond are, as said above, more likely to have an axe to grind and, and this is an important socio-psychological finding, those buying higher quality goods (doesn’t matter if it’s jam or cars) are more likely to report their product as superior, ergo ‘you get what you pay for’ is little more than ‘I, and what I buy, is better than you’
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excellent and sensible advice from you koalar - I'd have expected no less!
After his wife recently bought a Mazda2 he looked at and liked a Mazda6 estate which would have suited his purposes admirably. However, unlike the 2 and the commonality of many of it's parts with the Fiesta, the 6 had many more parts unique to it - electric rear caliper prices really frightened me to mention just one part I explored and also not available at my local factor - hence the quest for VAG group stuff and others like the KIA Ceed which all seem to be well supported around us.
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Yes, unless you pay extra for it. My local wee Honda indy extended this service to my daughter in law a couple of years ago - She was visiting us during the day and arrived with smoke curling out of the front wheel. Obviously a seized brake. She needed to be back home (a good half hour's drive in light traffic) by mid afternoon to collect the kids from school - A quick check after whipping off the wheel confirmed a siezed piston so I rang our local factor but he didn't have a caliper so I rang Steven and he said he'd send a man round to collect it and should have it back to us early afternoon. As good as his word two of them came round in a car and one of them carefully drove her car the couple of miles to their garage. Just after lunch he rang to say it was ready but could I run her down to collect it as they were a bit busy to deliver it back to the house! They'd located a new caliper and fitted it and new front pads. Don't remember what he charged but it wasn't excessive and the service was exemplary. Just in case there's anyone up in this part of the world with a Honda (or most other makes too as, although they specialize in Hondas, they are a small workshop and will make their money when and as they can. I make no excuse for giving them a recommendation here: https://www.bonningtonmillgarage.com/ Steven and his partner are getting on a bit now but it's nice to see his son is also working in the garage and will, I would imagine, continue with the good work. I certainly hope so as they - along with Kenny and his guys at Harrisons - are an excellent fall back for me when I bite off more than I can chew.
Nissan is basically renault for the engine and drivetrain, odd servicing a juke and seeing renault on oil filter.
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You make a lot of very good points here Andy. In times gone by I wouldn't have thought twice about dismantling an engine and sending the block off down to Browns to have the bores opened out and oversize pistons - and cords rings, which were my favourites - bought, maybe a big end regrind - mains were often Ok I found - and then rebuild it all in my garage. But now? absolutely no chance! and anyway there are some now where you mustn't slacken the mains or the crankcase distorts making it impossible to reassemble it. I might take a head off if I suspect a blown gasket but that's about it. As for the electronics? Well, my diagnostic skills rely a lot on luck!
Not controversial at all to mention my aging body - mind's not doing too bad so far but I am getting more forgetful! Although I'm finding it difficult to admit to increasing restrictions my body is placing on my activities, I am reducing my ambitions regarding what I'm undertaking on the "Family Fleet" Just over the last couple of years several have been replaced with newer models and different makes which I'm not intimately familiar with. Also for most I can't buy a Haynes manual and I find on line manuals very difficult to use. I'm becoming much more of an "out of hours" service of last resort these days. and doing simpler jobs like disc and pad replacement rather than a full service where I can't read fault codes and even sometimes have trouble resetting a service reminder.
Your last point is a very good one and I think it's probably what I need to do. Anyway, I'm going cross eyed doing searches on my computer for suitable vehicles. I was thinking just last night that I need to step back and let him come to me with something he's seen and then we'll both go and take a look at it.
These days this isn’t uncommon, there is a guy does videos about where to get cheap parts for Lamborghini most of his hints and tips show parts from everyone from Ford to Volvo not even counting all those parts taken from the VAG parts bins.
I seem to think the Renault engines are certainly a lot better build than they used to be when I was in the trade and we had regular problems with seized water pumps breaking cam belts on low mile cars
I think back to a good friend of mine who wanted a Lotus Elise, he took his father with him who was a seasoned mechanic who owned a garage.
The car he bought home that day had a knackered clutch. Something you’d think a mechanic would have spotted a mile off.
Having a conversation one day with one of the mechanics in the garage next door to my brothers camper company, I was explaining that the grande Punto was the same platform as the corsa and he went on to tell me with conviction that the Ford fiesta also used the same platform.
The problem with “experts” especially when it comes to cars is they go their training leave college with a C&G and don’t do any more training for the rest of their career if they do learn anything new it’s often by trial and error
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I'll include replying to Porta here too
Absolutely, I don't pay much attention to these sort of surveys for exactly the reasons you mention above but I do try to avoid even looking at stuff which has potentially very expensive repairs in prospect - I'm thinking about stuff with active shock absorbers, rear wheel steering and other "sillyness"
I also find myself wondering about crash test ratings. There's so much by way of electronic intervention affecting the rating figure I do question how much safer than the same vehicle without much of this gubbins but with a competent driver behind the wheel would be. I'm a strong advocate for increasing driver competence and reducing distractions - like mobile phones and built in screens for instance. In my opinion the mobile phone "thing" is not receiving attention it should. I doubt if I complete a single journey across the city without witnessing multiple instances of misuse of these devices. You look in your rear view mirror and very often you'll see the driver behind looking down and glancing up before looking down again and glancing up and then down again as they are texting away. On a recent walk down to the library There was a car next to me which failed to move off sharply when the lights went to green. I glanced through the passenger window to see the driver deeply engrossed in trying to select something on the central display screen and it was only when the chap behind planted his hand on his horn and left it there that this driver "woke up" and moved off.
You make a good point about pre MOT checks Steven. I had a conversation not so long ago with the lads at the garage about this and most failures are for exactly that sort of thing, ie. bulbs, worn tyres, (apparently many fail on inner shoulder being bald or even through to the cords!) wiper blades, etc, etc. People just don't check their cars anymore. I think this may be a consequence of modern cars needing so little maintenance. How often do you see anyone doing tyre pressures or checking under the bonnet on a Saturday morning. Ok, I now we now have TPM systems and multiple sensors on the engine but a quick physical look over maybe every fortnight would only take five minutes or so and might catch many of these problems and avoid being pulled by "the boys in blue" too. They're not even going to notice a worn tyre when washing the car because nearly everyone now uses a car wash of some sort.
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So easy to miss something. I thought I'd gone over that Mazda with a fine tooth comb but I missed that the N/S/R power window wasn't working - I only checked the front ones for some inexplicable reason? and the rear number plate lights are missing their lenses! how did I miss that!
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