recommend a cheap auto car please?

Yeah, you should have comeback from a dealer. Technically a private seller can’t legally sell anything that isn’t roadworthy. Personally, I wouldn’t buy a car of that age without a proper visual inspection from somebody who at least has some understanding of cars, as that’s really your only insurance. I appreciate that’s just the way the market is now though. It’s a risk.

 I’ve always been that if it doesn’t blow up on the way home then any further issues are mine to deal with.

fair enough.  but what if it DOES blow up on the way home 😀

“fair enough. but what if it DOES blow up on the way home”

IIRC there is legal recourse if the issue was there and the seller knew about it but I’ve always searched out and bought unicorn cars* and never had any immediate issues.

*Branded tyres, decent brand/factory filters and battery, genuine reason for sale, panel fitment/dents/original dealer issued numberplate still in place, lots of paperwork etc.

well it would appear he’s got a wiser head on his shoulders than i thought.  3 hr round trip to leicester view it with his mate and he walked away cos it didnt feel right.  well actually the signs were probably all there to be honest.

he said his mate “pointed out a couple of bits, the bloke was dodgy, his mate was in latvia who the sale was for, he didnt know where any of them lived, then to top it off a bloke drove past who’s a mechanic and said if you’re buying it off that f***er walk away” 😀

so he did.  hes gutted actually as he was well set for it and he was going to drive to the forest game in it so he’ll miss that too as his mate will be driving him home instead.

pleased he did the right thing tho and didnt feel pressured into buying it just cos hed travelled that far.

the search goes on.

V70 estate still available in Southwell; 1 hour round trip – and, no, I’m not the seller.

V70 estate still available in Southwell; 1 hour round trip – and, no, I’m not the seller.

just had a look, thanks.  i told him about that one yesterday when you first mentioned it, but i think as the other one had fewer miles on the clock and was cheaper he discounted it.  but…… that didnt turn out too well did it 😀

must admit, even tho volvo’s seem to go on for ever, 144,000 miles would put me off at £3,450.  looks to have been well looked after tho.

ive sent him the link tho to have a proper look.

thanks mate.

They are small but practical- Honda jazz.

Would be my recommendation, too…. Tardis like on the inside. Mostly older generation driving them.

if the car conks out on the way home theres no comeback, sold as seen and moneys gone?

That would be the case if he paid cash or via PayPal… Sold as seen.

@sadexpunk

The S80? – shame it looked okay on paper, I’d have gone to look at it if I was after one.

Re V70’s – they changed to the P3 ford Mondeo platform around ’06 / ’07 but still used Volvo engines. General quality dropped a bit so you are better looking for a late P2 platform for maximum Volvo-ness but a P3 is still a thing of Swedish beauty and purposefulness if not driving dynamics!

The V70 I referred to is described as ‘…special edition for 2007 P2 only’.

At this rate I’ll convince myself to buy it!

The S80? – shame it looked okay on paper, I’d have gone to look at it if I was after one.

yes.  the more i hear about it the more i feel hes dodged a bullet.  says the bloke was goading him saying “youre too scared to buy it” 😀  think they exchanged a few ‘pleasantries’ then he decided the best thing to do was just walk away.

for some reason matey took it down when the boy had gone and then re-listed, not sure why youd do that?

Re V70’s – they changed to the P3 ford Mondeo platform around ’06 / ’07 but still used Volvo engines. General quality dropped a bit so you are better looking for a late P2 platform for maximum Volvo-ness but a P3 is still a thing of Swedish beauty and purposefulness if not driving dynamics!

The V70 I referred to is described as ‘…special edition for 2007 P2 only’.

At this rate I’ll convince myself to buy it!

interesting, thanks chaps.  and you wouldnt be put off by the mileage?  i think the combination of the 144,000 miles, plus top end of his affordability is scaring him off it.

cheers

EDIT:

They are small but practical- Honda jazz.
Would be my recommendation, too…. Tardis like on the inside. Mostly older generation driving them.

noting for myself.  will need a small petrol runaround soon, thanks.

144k on a P2 is barely run in! But as per the messages – check the upper inside of the front suspension turret’s for rust and budget £400 for an oil change for the gearbox if it’s never been done (Volvo = sealed for life) and pay attention/budget for the auxiliary belt and components on a D5 otherwise it will kill the engine.

2007 special edition = piqued my interest!

“his mate was in latvia who the sale was for…”

It’s surprising how many mates in Eastern Europe eBay sellers are selling cars for: “Selling for a friend as he has no Ebay and English is not his first language, he has owned this vehicle since 2013 and was used to drive to and from Romania in the earlier years of him owning it, hance the mileage…” That seller is also selling another car at the same time but apparently there’s no friend involved…

You maybe lucky to find a Subaru with a good history.  Some nice Outbacks around.

The reliability should/may overcome the low mpg and thus running costs are not (quite ) as bad as you think.

well first he said he hated the look of that volvo, backed up my mrs ex-p who also said it was ugly.  but after reading your comments hes considering it again.  amongst others, octavias, mondeos and…. saabs.

havent seen those mentioned yet.  always used to be sound cars, that still the case?

Touran 1T2 go for far less cash than they should imo – looks like there’s a few autos available for <£4k. We’ve a manual that just refuses to die, very solid car.

Touran 1T2 go for far less cash than they should imo – looks like there’s a few autos available for <£4k.

hes looking for those as well but nothing local.  at the minute hes narrowed it down to 2…..  THAT volvo (144,000 miles, £3,400) and a vw golf estate (1.9TDi, 2009, 89,000 miles).

we know you seem to like the volvo, any love for the golf too?

thanks

ok which of you was it? 😀

we were going to look at the volvo today but it sold yesterday.  think we’ll go look at the golf estate and maybe a mondeo he mentioned.

Not guilty.

Try RNP.

😉

😉

haha was it you mate?

poor old lads tearing his hair out trying to find something now.  got to say im impressed with his research, hes not just jumping in.  looking at traders reviews, advisories on past MOTs, whether cambelts have been done etc but i think he’s close to info overload now and just needs to step back and look again when refreshed.

doesnt help that by putting in ’40 miles from lincoln’ into the filter, it still brings up cars in bedford and milton keynes 🤬

I may know of (ahem) a well maintained BMW E92 330i auto for sale very soon, not a van but the back seats drop flat to provide a lot of room in the boot (swallows a bike easily)… South London though…

yeah bit too far thanks mate.

any expert info on a Volvo S60 2.4D SE Geartronic?  same price as the one that he was after ^^^ (£3,400) and 90,000 miles?

cheers

No sorry it wasn’t me – I would have been tempted as my trusty old Berlingo’s clutch shat itself last night.

Advice for S60 is as per any other P2 Volvo of that era – they are all the same underneath. Obviously not as practical as the estate and won’t come with a free Labrador

whether cambelts have been done etc

one thing to bear in mind for VAG cars-  the UK has recently upped the cambelt service life form c50,000 miles to 80-100,000 miles in line with what VAG in the rest of Europe/World have been recommending for years. So a car that may need it done soon based on previous schedule can go a bit longer.

I may know of (ahem) a well maintained BMW E92 330i auto for sale very soon, not a van but the back seats drop flat to provide a lot of room in the boot

I’ve not seen it come up as a significant factor but I’d have thought the cost of insuring that for a relative youngster’s business use would have been horrifying!

any advice on saabs these days?  hes seen a 2008 Saab 9-3 2.0 Aero SportWagon with 90,000 on the clock that he quite likes.  they always used to have a solid reputation.

and are mondeos decent workhorses?  think they always used to be rep cars didnt they, so must be a reason for that.

missed the boat on going to see anything today sadly, so he may not get sorted for a few days now.  shame as he was set on that P2 volvo.

thanks

@johnners Fair point… It was just a thought.

We’ve just cleaned the interior, it’s a lot nicer inside than it’s likely replacement….

hmmmm……. spidey senses time so need some advice before the boy goes and maybe buys a volvo tonight from doncaster.

S60 2.4 D5 SE Lux Saloon 4dr Diesel Geartronic up for £2600.  the boys been yapping to him, sounds like an elderly bloke, private sale, bought a merc and doesnt have space for this now.  for some reason he’s willing to drop to either £2000 or £1800 (not sure which) as hes had his ‘time wasted by a few foreigners and you sound like youre english’.

seems like a lot of money to drop with no hard bargaining, so bottom line, whats the worst that can happen?  if the boy does an HPI check, and all paperwork seems present and correct, and he does a bank transfer, is there any way he can still be conned?  obviously something may be seriously wrong with the car that we wouldnt pick up, but am i worrying unnecessarily?

thanks

EDIT: hes given the boy his address which would appear to be a decent road in a nice area.

We’ve just cleaned the interior, it’s a lot nicer inside than it’s likely replacement….

Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of the e series 3s (e91 owner for some years) but a 330i e92 would be a fair way down my list for a tradesman’s transport!

Start by checking MOT history online.

The fact the seller is offering a chunky %-age discount without any negotiation would cause me to re-think.

It’s entirely possible the old boy is being 100% honest, just wants rid and prefers brits to other nationalities.

Who knows?

Entirely plausible that he wants it out of the way after getting a new car – trade in price would have been derisory- selling privately can be a wind up if you get a couple of chancers hassling you .  I have bought a couple of cars in those circumstances with good outcomes –  key is service history- if it has that and long term ownership with the seller then it’s a good bet . Auto box oil change a must on those

  if the boy does an HPI check

There’s also vcheck that picks up insurance write offs to use

If seller has a new car likely tax and insurance will have lapsed expired it’s end of month so he can only keep it on drive -that got me a cheap Saab estate once

Not all private sellers are grifters. Last one I bought, the seller dropped the car off for me – they offered, I never asked. They lived nearly an hour’s drive away. The car was less than 2k.

well we’re just back, and im pleased to say it looks like hes got himself a bargain.  bloke seemed genuine, bought a merc on a whim and will be sad to see the volvo go.  had all receipts, photos of him changing suspension bits, photos of all the filters and oil lined up when he serviced it himself the last couple of years, everything dated.

seemed like a couple of ‘foreigners’ had turned up, parked on his neighbours grass, had a row with neighbour, tried dissing the car by putting fingers in exhaust and saying “look, soot” or something and then werent even bothered about getting in to have a look, they just went away.  so he was pleased to sell to “an english person thats not going to muck me around”.

he actually knocked around £800 off, was up for £2600 and let my lad have it for £1800.  lad said he felt guilty taking it for that so gave him £50 back.  hes got a lot to learn (or has he) 🙂

of course it wasnt without drama with the boy, hes a donut and couldnt pay for it, new payee, needed his card reader, er……. 😀  good job daddy was there to bale him out.  dread to think what he would have done if hed decided to buy that other one in leicester with his mate 😀

test drive was a dream he said and hes so chuffed with it.  makes me happy to see him so happy.  he’d better look after it!

so……. hopefully thats the end of this thread, and no follow up story.  cant thank you all enough for your help and advice on the way, much appreciated.

cheers

Good result, happy Volvo-ing!

Given the current state of the car market, finding a reliable auto within a tight budget might feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It’s true that prices are soaring, but there are still gems to be found if you’re willing to put in the legwork.

For your budget, consider looking into older big-engined estates with automatic transmissions. They tend to offer decent value for money and can be surprisingly reliable if properly maintained. While saloons might be cheaper upfront, estates often provide more practicality and space, making them worth the consideration.

As for specific recommendations, the Toyota Avensis mentioned by another user could be a solid option. Toyotas are renowned for their longevity, and with proper care, they can run for hundreds of thousands of miles. The link provided seems to offer a reasonable deal within your price range, so it’s definitely worth checking out………

Regarding the issue of vehicle tax, it’s essential to consider the timing of your purchase. While you might lose a month’s tax by buying and taxing the car immediately, waiting until the beginning of the next month could save you some money in the long run. However, if you find a good deal on a vehicle that meets your needs, the extra month’s tax might be a worthwhile trade-off.

Remember to thoroughly inspect any potential purchases and, if possible, have a trusted mechanic look over the vehicle before making a final decision. And for those hunting for great deals this April, be sure to check out the latest car lease offers at Car Lease Deals Near Me.

“S60 2.4 D5 SE Lux Saloon 4dr Diesel Geartronic up for £2600.”

Don’t know if this has the electronic dipstick or not but if it has make sure he learns how to read it. Otherwise those 5 cylinder diesels are great, top purchase 👍