To buy or not to buy?

[Phils_VTR]

(If too long just skip to bold)

I know I have posted a thread recently about car buying but I shall be viewing one tomorrow.

From my insurance I got £2k for my burnt out car. This is most money I have had to put toward a car yet. I was going to spend around £1k on a car and save myself £1k but I thought I may aswell get something fairly nice and worthwhile.

I needed something to tick the boxes of not drinking fuel but still nippy if I need it to move, not too high on insurance, modern (anything is modern compared to my 26yr old golf previously), reliable and pretty.

Ticking all these boxes I have come to the conclusion of a Honda Civic EP2 Sport. Always had a soft spot for a nice one of these and I have been told that you can't go wrong with a Honda.

Problem is that a decent one will be much past my budget but some of the cheaper advertisements do seem to hover around the £2k mark. I have found one fairly local for sale (compared to the others) for £1990 and have managed to haggle to £1700 but apparently wont go lower. He said it is priced low because it needs brake pads and has a few cosmetic downfalls (small bumper scrape and dent..) - (don't know why he hasn't fixed these himself)

It is fairly newer than most, 2004 model. Which means that if I look after it for a couple years it'll still be only 10 year old and a nice example that I think will hold it's value well personally.

Only main concern that I have is the cambelt. It is on 100k miles and the description said nothing to do with it, when I messaged him regarding the cambelt he said that it was done at 75k but cannot find the receipt. I'm guessing there is no way of knowing if it has been done just by viewing the car, would you stay away from it or buy it and get it replaced? I will use that excuse when I am there to try haggle some more... that it'll cost somewhere around £300 to replace...

Car is worth much more than what it is advertised at though. Thoughts? Opinions? I was going to get something that would be cheap to buy/run and just save money but i've settled that I want something I can be happy about when I look at it, something to have a bit of passion for but not at great expense. (Still a working/student)

[Tc24]

(If too long just skip to bold)

I know I have posted a thread recently about car buying but I shall be viewing one tomorrow.

From my insurance I got £2k for my burnt out car. This is most money I have had to put toward a car yet. I was going to spend around £1k on a car and save myself £1k but I thought I may aswell get something fairly nice and worthwhile.

I needed something to tick the boxes of not drinking fuel but still nippy if I need it to move, not too high on insurance, modern (anything is modern compared to my 26yr old golf previously), reliable and pretty.

Ticking all these boxes I have come to the conclusion of a Honda Civic EP2 Sport. Always had a soft spot for a nice one of these and I have been told that you can't go wrong with a Honda.

Problem is that a decent one will be much past my budget but some of the cheaper advertisements do seem to hover around the £2k mark. I have found one fairly local for sale (compared to the others) for £1990 and have managed to haggle to £1700 but apparently wont go lower. He said it is priced low because it needs brake pads and has a few cosmetic downfalls (small bumper scrape and dent..) - (don't know why he hasn't fixed these himself)

It is fairly newer than most, 2004 model. Which means that if I look after it for a couple years it'll still be only 10 year old and a nice example that I think will hold it's value well personally.

Only main concern that I have is the cambelt. It is on 100k miles and the description said nothing to do with it, when I messaged him regarding the cambelt he said that it was done at 75k but cannot find the receipt. I'm guessing there is no way of knowing if it has been done just by viewing the car, would you stay away from it or buy it and get it replaced? I will use that excuse when I am there to try haggle some more... that it'll cost somewhere around £300 to replace...

Car is worth much more than what it is advertised at though. Thoughts? Opinions? I was going to get something that would be cheap to buy/run and just save money but i've settled that I want something I can be happy about when I look at it, something to have a bit of passion for but not at great expense. (Still a working/student)

Is this a different one from the other thread? Whoever quoted you £300 for the cambelt was having a laugh! Had a look on autodata and it's a 2.3hr job, so £100-120 labour plus £50 for the kit... £170 would be more like it.

If you can afford to get it, go for it. Get some pics up! :y:

[mlawlan69]

to be honest, most people on here would suggest a belt change immediately for peace of mind.

as said get some photos up, sounds better than the last one!!!

[Phils_VTR]

Is this a different one from the other thread? Whoever quoted you £300 for the cambelt was having a laugh! Had a look on autodata and it's a 2.3hr job, so £100-120 labour plus £50 for the kit... £170 would be more like it.

If you can afford to get it, go for it. Get some pics up! :y:

Yeah but £300 is what I say when I haggle as it'll cost me all this to put her right ;)

Thanks for the interest :A: hopefully all goes well tomorrow hey! Hope it isn't another wasted trip

to be honest, most people on here would suggest a belt change immediately for peace of mind.

as said get some photos up, sounds better than the last one!!!


Yeah, I'll see what he says about it when I get there, if he has any sort of story about the belt, i'll still use the no receipt making it seem dodgy etc. My local Honda is doing a 'Honda Happiness' deal, where it is only £125 for cambelt inc. fitting and vat! :cool:

[Tommo87]

My local Honda is doing a 'Honda Happiness' deal, where it is only £125 for cambelt inc. fitting and vat! :cool:

Wow, you'd let a main dealer have at your car, personally I'd pay more to not let those chimps there near my car.

This is only because I have mates who worked there and some of the things I've seen and heard would make me avoid them like Kwik-Fit.

[Phils_VTR]

Wow, you'd let a main dealer have at your car, personally I'd pay more to not let those chimps there near my car.

This is only because I have mates who worked there and some of the things I've seen and heard would make me avoid them like Kwik-Fit.

I would have assumed they were the best choice? Usually more expensive, but this is cheap but they know what they're doing.

[rey]

Not all dealers are the same.

They all have insurance anyway, so if they fuck up it goes back to them.

If you like the car, get it. Cambelt shouldn't be massively expensive for the 1.6 I'd have thought anyway!