Buying myself a secondhand Berlingo. It’s a 2000 model and has about 80k on the clock so it’s not an expensive buy. Costing me just over a grand. It didn’t have an MOT so the dealer is sorting out a new one for me now, and said he will do all the work necessary to get it through the MOT.

The question is, should I also get the AA to do a check over for me? Think it will cost around £180 for the check which is not far off 20% of the van! So do I just trust the dealer and the MOT?

Does it have a full service history? Has it had it’s cambelt done? Does it look/sound/smell/feel in reasonable nick? Do you feel confident to buy it as it is? If so, you can probably forgo the AA man.

If not, might be worth getting it looked over. Whatever gives you peace of mind really

do you know your way round a car at all ?

ime the AA could tell me nothing i couldnt see with my own eyes but if you dont know cars then might be worthwhile

dealer to do mot – if its in house expect it to pass with no issues unless somethings propperly dangerous i wouldnt trust that mot as far as i could throw it really.

what size engine is it ?

The last few 2nd-hand cars I’ve bought, my local regular mechanic has checked them over for me for a nominal charge.

Much less than the AA, and he’s well qualified with 20+ years in the business, so I trust him explicitly.

As for the MOT, I’d have no problems trusting the dealer to get the vehicle through the MOT, but there may be things that don’t affect the MOT …

£1000 van, no £5000 Car = yes.

It’s a 1.4 petrol. I don’t know a great deal about cars. I had a test drive and it seemed to drive pretty well. A different experience to my girlfriend’s brand new Fiat but it worked…

THe body work seems in very good nick. No hint of rust etc and when you lift up the mats in the back it’s pristine – which kind of surprised me. THe driver’s seat, however, is knackered. Cover torn and the foam could do with replacing. Can a seat really get that knackered with 80k driving? He said he would get it fixed too though. But that did make me think maybe it’s been clocked or some such. But then it does have the full set of MOT certs which seem to indicate it isn’t.

If it was a private buy for £5k> then an AA check is wise.

But its only £1k, and its from a dealer so you have some comeback if it turns out to be a lemon anyway.

So no, not worth it.

Edit: If you have the logbook details you can view the MOT history online, and see all the failures and advisories.

When we got our car the new MOT it had contained no advisories, but the car had a list of faults, some that I fixed, a couple that the seller fixed when I returned it.

Afterwards, I found the MOT history site, enter the latest MOT cert details, and all the previous MOT’s had advisories as long as your arm, and the car still showed them all despite the latest being dodgy. If I’d noticed sooner I’d have reported the garage for a below standard MOT. The rear shocks had no damping effort whatsoever and there was a seriously under-inflated tyre for starters.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10020539

There are two buttons, one is current MOT status, the other is MOT history, which can be quite interesting.

Our current car has a failure for bent front wishbone and buckled wheel, but thankfully there is a Ford receipt in the paperwork for replacement parts 🙂

If you are having to ask the question, its probably not the car/van for you…

At a grand you’d be better buying private, as half what you are paying is the dealer margin/profit.

But its only a grand, whats’ the worse that could happen…

+1 on the MOT check it’s amazing what you can unearth! Nearly had a Van that had 70k mileage difference on my hands at one point!!

I’d say watch out for the seat damage – my berlingo has 91k and seats are pretty much fine, so unless they were 20 stone or a bear, I would not expect a wrecked seat at that mileage.

Citroen interiors can sometimes get a bit tatty, especially given the b’lingo’s utility use! but the mechanics are good – the engines especially so, infact a mechanic at my local ford garage had nothing but praise for the berlingo and the HDi engines reliability. Even the 1.9D is tough – my mates old peugoet with same engine went to 160k with less than good servicing!

for somthing that your paying a grand for the aa will tell you its knackered the list will make you weep.. but its a grand ffs.. ride it for 4 months and scrap it for 200 quid for a grand if it stops starts and doesnt loose fluids its a deal

1.9 is more robust than the hdi innit

I have the 1.9 its mostly mechanical with only a couple of sensors to go wrong …..

But tis slow ! Mines currently at 70k with the only non service item being the alternator that fried when i submersed it in the storms !

Seats can get worn quickly if its been used for lots of drops ie parcels etc .Think about it drive to work and in and out the van maybe 4 times a day doing deliveries that could be 40 +easily +lots of seat wear

Interesting reading that MOT site, thanks!

Hmm. Getting OT but looking over the fail-and-pass from just before I bought my banger, it’s pretty unmissable that the pass was crooked- it failed for corroded brake pipes and excess play in front offside ball joint, then a week later passed with no advisories.

Then a year later when I took it in, with 4000 more miles on the clock, it failed on corroded brake pipes and excess play in front offside ball joint!

All water under the bridge for me- car’s still been a good buy and it wasn’t difficult to sort those issues- but I’m surprised by how brazen that all seems. Any point in a complaint to VOSA about the tester do you think? Just out of spite really!