I just answered a PM and thought why not share it and ask for anything i have missed when looking at a new car with a view to buying it .
I'm a little cynical shall we say but this is what i said ...
Trust me when spending this sort of money you need to take your time .. also any you view and like you will need a ppi on ..
This can add up when you do a few and the cars turn out to be not what is expected of them !
my aim is to try and single out the ones worth viewing.
I would say .. know what you want and go for that type of car .. it's easy to suddenly see a 997 in the budget range and think i'll go for that instead .. every model upwards and you start at the bottom of the cost list for that model .. ie its a base pretty crap car !
Ok normal things ..
The car needs to be stone cold when you turn up .. if warm then there needs to be a dam good reason .. cold issues .. plenty of them so it needs to be cold ... it's a walk away moment shall we say .
Start it up .. it should smoke for 20 seconds then stop .. more is an issue.
Any rattles from startup and cold .. tappets is what i'm thinking .
Coolant lvl .. needs to be on max .. question .. has it been topped up .
tail pipes if very clean then again why ??? they should both be the same color .. one more sooty than the other is not good .
Tyres .. what tread .. need 4 mm and less and you will be buying new soon .
Brake pads .. 5 mm min .. finger on the outside of the disc .. the lip edge of the brake disc basically .. you want less than 1 mm .. you can kinda feel if there is a large lip or not .
these brakes rot on the inner face .. hard to see if no ramp i'm afraid .. try to feel with your hands .. take a cloth as you will get dirty lol .
look at the inside .. how worn are the carpets .. steering wheel .. seats .. pedal rubbers ..take that into account with the recorded mileage .. does it seem correct for the wear you see .. these cars can and do get clocked .. shaved .. a few miles deleted basically.
Service history .. mot history .. as i said last post .. look for a car with no advisories and a good history .. not just yearly service but the major service done on time .
Road test .. car should obviously drive well but what noises / knocking sounds .. diag arms are a common one .. a bonk .. bonk bonk .. bonk bonk bonk type noise .. front or rear ... not an issue but expensive to stop the rather annoying noise .
Body work is what you can live with so ill not comment there .
car at operating temps .. again no noises .. open the drivers door and blip the throttle .
a/c on .. any hissing noises or does it actually work .. both are a leak which can get expensive to fix .. not an issue as such unless you want a/c .
hands down the back of the carpets behind the front seats .. any dampness .
If you find a good one then put a holding deposit on it subject to a ppi inspection .. many people lose out because they don't do this.
obviously if the owner doesn't want a ppi done then walk away .
Head rules heart in these matters .. think logically .. and for me .. as an old cynic .. i want to know why they are selling the car and what might they be trying to hide if anything .
I agree most people are probably not doing that .. but so many years in the game has made me doubt everyone i'm afraid .. you don't need to be as bad as me but just be sensible and use your head .
I'm a little cynical shall we say but this is what i said ...
Trust me when spending this sort of money you need to take your time .. also any you view and like you will need a ppi on ..
This can add up when you do a few and the cars turn out to be not what is expected of them !
my aim is to try and single out the ones worth viewing.
I would say .. know what you want and go for that type of car .. it's easy to suddenly see a 997 in the budget range and think i'll go for that instead .. every model upwards and you start at the bottom of the cost list for that model .. ie its a base pretty crap car !
Ok normal things ..
The car needs to be stone cold when you turn up .. if warm then there needs to be a dam good reason .. cold issues .. plenty of them so it needs to be cold ... it's a walk away moment shall we say .
Start it up .. it should smoke for 20 seconds then stop .. more is an issue.
Any rattles from startup and cold .. tappets is what i'm thinking .
Coolant lvl .. needs to be on max .. question .. has it been topped up .
tail pipes if very clean then again why ??? they should both be the same color .. one more sooty than the other is not good .
Tyres .. what tread .. need 4 mm and less and you will be buying new soon .
Brake pads .. 5 mm min .. finger on the outside of the disc .. the lip edge of the brake disc basically .. you want less than 1 mm .. you can kinda feel if there is a large lip or not .
these brakes rot on the inner face .. hard to see if no ramp i'm afraid .. try to feel with your hands .. take a cloth as you will get dirty lol .
look at the inside .. how worn are the carpets .. steering wheel .. seats .. pedal rubbers ..take that into account with the recorded mileage .. does it seem correct for the wear you see .. these cars can and do get clocked .. shaved .. a few miles deleted basically.
Service history .. mot history .. as i said last post .. look for a car with no advisories and a good history .. not just yearly service but the major service done on time .
Road test .. car should obviously drive well but what noises / knocking sounds .. diag arms are a common one .. a bonk .. bonk bonk .. bonk bonk bonk type noise .. front or rear ... not an issue but expensive to stop the rather annoying noise .
Body work is what you can live with so ill not comment there .
car at operating temps .. again no noises .. open the drivers door and blip the throttle .
a/c on .. any hissing noises or does it actually work .. both are a leak which can get expensive to fix .. not an issue as such unless you want a/c .
hands down the back of the carpets behind the front seats .. any dampness .
If you find a good one then put a holding deposit on it subject to a ppi inspection .. many people lose out because they don't do this.
obviously if the owner doesn't want a ppi done then walk away .
Head rules heart in these matters .. think logically .. and for me .. as an old cynic .. i want to know why they are selling the car and what might they be trying to hide if anything .
I agree most people are probably not doing that .. but so many years in the game has made me doubt everyone i'm afraid .. you don't need to be as bad as me but just be sensible and use your head .
