That looks an incredibly tidy and presentable car for £450, you did well, what needs doing to it?
Thanks but tbh it's not as tidy as it looks.. off the top of my head:
Mechanical / practical issues that need sorting:
- Front discs and pads excessively worn (hoping to do these myself at some point before the MOT, facilities permitting)
- Rear discs and pads tatty but I won't replace them unless I have to
- Steering wheel self-centring poor (only noticed after buying; apparently a common fault and hopefully a cheap fix in lubing the EPS torque sensor, otherwise I'll live with it)
- P/side window doesn't retract all the way (suspect due to fouling from a loose piece of sound-deadening, thanks to a youtube video)
- Tappets noisy (might have a crack at these myseif if it's not too difficult)
- Rear ARB bushes will need doing at some point (MOT advisory last year)
- Windscreen chipped (might try and get this done on my insurance, depending on excess)
Other faults:
- Non-structural surface rust on passenger sill, rear arch and boot lid
- Varous dings / scratches on the bodywork and bumpers
- Back end has had a light shunt (I suspect reversed into something) - no structural damage but it's holed the boot floor (due to the bumper mounting tabs getting peeled back)
- Interior a bit worn and could do with a clean; oddly pedal rubbers and seat bolster look good but seat squab is worn and no marking left on gear knob!
- Headlights are cloudy
- Water ingress into boot
- Will need a cambelt in another year or two / 25k miles
Good points:
- Seems honest enough
- Four nearly new, seemingly decent tyres
- No whine from gearbox input bearing (common problem on these apparently)
- Gear selection is pretty decent
- Suspension all seems in good nick
- Exhaust looks like it's got a lot of life left in it
- All electrics work
- Engine starts on the button, idles nicely etc
- Generally drives fairly nicely, steering notwithstanding
End of the day I'm not going to get sucked into spending a load of money on it as a clutch or gearbox issue will pretty much write it off, so I'll have to treat it as a typical banger / an expendable lottery.
Its condition and faults are somewhat of a stark contrast to the lower mileage and better-looked-after car it replaces, but then I can't expect a lot for what I paid really, can I? Hopefully I'll get a year or two out of it, in which time maybe I'll source something better (circumstances permitting).
Ambivalent about its purchase at the moment tbh (it's the first time I've knowingly and purposely bought a doomed shed); will have to see how it pans out over the next few months. At least I'm mobile now..
In other news though it seems I continue to be cursed; yesterday afternoon I gave the car's details to my insurance company, stating that I was going to view and wished to get the information on record so I could call them and confirm if the sale went ahead. All went well, agent asked when I was viewing the car so I told him later today / early evening. Rang them to confirm cover after buying at 7pm to get a recorded message stating their opening hours were reduced due to Covid and to call back in the morning - leaving me with no insurance
I've just checked the policy documents they sent over yesterday (due to unconnected policy changes) and the email states their lines close at 8pm... funny they shut me out at 7pm, then.... so, looks like another irate call to these absolute muppets today along with another email to their complaints department
Managed at least to get the car taxed yesterday (12 months) so it must have been registered as insured (probably still in the seller's name) so hopefully my careful drive back won't have tripped any bloody ANPR cameras..
As if that wasn't enough I've just checked the tax details today and despite the cover being stated as taken out as of the first of this month, the DVLA site states that the tax will be due again on the 1st of April which is only eight bloody months. To make this worse I've been trying to contact the DVLA over another matter by both email and phone and they're currently taking no incoming communications; meaning I can't get this rectified and it's going to hang over my head until fap knowns when I actually get the opportunity to argue it out with one of them.. something I'm not looking forward to as in the past I've usually found them unhelpful to the point of being obstructive.
I've been criticised on here in the past for being pessimistic - when I'm seemingly constantly subjected to crap like this, is it any wonder? Is anyone actually capable of doing their job competently?
