Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Ah, so simply for the availability of cars to look at/consider. I guess also the risk/reward calculation of lower value cars also makes sense.

A different question - anyone bought/considered buying via Cinch? They offer 90 day warranty and 14 day money back guarantee which seems reasonable levels of protection....

You say buy private up to £10k which I assume infers some value in buying from a dealer

buying cars privately is mainly a shit show. so much time waste looking at crap cars not as described, obvious bad repairs etc etc.

So if you can afford it, it's just so much easier to go to a car supermarket where you can look round a large number of decent ex fleet cars and take your pick. But if you don't have budget for that, you are left with the private option or low value forecourt sales which are likely no better than private.

Private terrifies me.

Had I just bought my car privately I’d be very very very unhappy. 18 days into ownership - I’ve been without it for 2 weeks, with another week predicted.

Considering replacements for my much loved 2006 Subaru Outback, which I've had for the last 11 years. Finding the seats a bit lacking in comfort and the fuel economy taking shine off ownership recently.

Options for replacement, Skoda Enyak, Passat Alltrack, Superb 4x4 or maybe an A6 Allroad.

Needs to be up to carting a full load of family, dog bikes and toys on camping trips, be comfortable and have a bit of character.

Interesting data point. Were these repairs under the "90 day warranty" or similar and did the problem appear immediately or did you take it in for your own check up where they were uncovered?

The issues became apparent on the drive home - they aren’t something you would necessarily notice on a short test drive(I didn’t), but apparent in every day driving.

They’re being covered by the dealership as we’re within 30 days. Outside of this they would fall under the manufacturer used approved warranty.

I actually tracked down the original owner (only 97 of these in uk so was relatively easy) and they acknowledged the faults were existing also. I don’t think that level of honesty would have been there had I bought it privately from them…

Ouch, lucky they are covering it. I'm suspecting they traded that for a fairly low amount and just gambled on no one noticing the issues.

Only one damper? Dampers are supposed to be changed in pairs. I'd also make sure that they didn't go for the cheapest repair then say it is something you did

Recently went to view a car at a dealer, the cars engine had a knocking under load and was told that the engine was pinking.

@TRA would you believe it was sourced and not traded?! Baffling.

Yes, one only. They’re technically fully re-buildable. I did query it, and have since checked the VIDA system they use, and with a Volvo master tech that I know, it’s suggested as OK. Without Volvos tech manual saying so they ultimately won’t do anything more than they have to.
I guess knowing the parts are coming from Sweden and the dealership can only use genuine parts gives some comfort - they have already replaced the top mount as part of investigation so the parts gun has been loaded.

Honda Jazz, Fiesta, I20, mazda 2 or 3. All with the basic or mid range petrol and a manual gearbox. Citroen C3 C4 with the basic petrol are OK, avoid the 1.6 diesel, a chocolate turd of an engine.

Anyone looking to get rid of something like the above? (OK, not the Citroen)

Am wary of dealers.

Well ford ones mostly

Quite rightly so.

"All our Volvo Selekt Approved Used cars are carefully selected by our Retailers, pass 150 checks to meet our highest safety standards, and come with a range of complementary benefits."

Words, words, words.

Can i sense check something from more experienced and successful car buyers (my record: cars bought=1, cars died within two months of buying=1) - found a Honda i like, test drive great, looks immaculate inside and out. ~35k miles, 2016, nothing on MOT history except advisories on two tyres. The salesman wants to sell me a warranty (of course). The warranty, from the dealership themselves, is very well reviewed online, but ~£800 for 1 year up to ~£1.4k for 3 years (after negotiations). I know that warranties/insurance are all about an individual's appetite for risk and personal financial circumstances, but surely the odds of a car of this age/mileage incurring sufficient costs to justify the warranty spend are seriously low? Assuming i get the car once-overed by a trusted mechanic within the 30 day consumer rights window, my inclination is to give the proffered warranty a wide swerve , but would appreciate other views and i assume there's no obvious alternative like where you can arrange your own excess waiver hire car insurance for a fraction of the amount the hire company want to charge?

Personally I would not buy that warranty. Seems unlikely that something would go wrong that would cost me >£800 within a year.

RE spending a bit more and buying from an online dealer - My dad bought a Jaguar F Pace from Cinch last year, they give you 14 day money back guarantee and a 90 day warranty. The F Pace started developing intermittent problems with the power steering within weeks, Cinch paid to have the steering looked at within the 14 days, apparently there was some sort of software issue which was resolved. The car was fine for another week, and if by magic, after 20 days, the steering fault came back, my dad then tried to return the car, couldn't as it was outside the 14 days.

Next 3 months were spent between phone calls to Cinch and the local garage with the intermittent power steering failing coming and going, each time he had to open a new warranty claim with Cinch which would take a fortnight to confirm. Eventually a different garage said that the steering column should be replaced, at £5k. Cinch wouldn't cover it as by now the 90 day warranty was over. Took about 6 months of pain and bugging their CEO over email to get them to pay to have the electric steering replaced which they did in the end.

how old/how many miles was the car?

I think this is a classic isn't it?

Mates had an issue with one of the cells in their Toyota hybrid. The first 3 times the dealer just reset/deleted the code.

Not especially old, 50k miles maybe?

Just a complete nightmare scenario, the power steering would intermittently fail, whilst driving, whilst turning in some cases, after it happened on the motorway he stopped driving it after that. So dangerous.

Not sure what the lesson is, if you buy a car from a dealer make sure you return it immediately if there is the slightest issue.

What car? Does the car come with service history?

Note you have more than 30 days if the fault was there when you bought the car. But the proof

Honda Civic SR Tourer, full service history, mostly at main dealer garages.

I’ve never use one, but loads of companies offer used car warranty. This is the first hit on Google https://www.motoreasy.com/used-car-warranty/quotes/step/1?gbraid=0AAAAADQne1CJ_V5rSvLSn-LbrQr1NuzZ6&gclid=Cj0KCQiAmNeqBhD4ARIsADsYfTdkYPLRlB5v5-FJTvreQRNu5RAlN_w4XXod79gIrjd-o0sUoO5dU5waAg3cEALw_wcB there are tonnes of other ones out there. Obviously read the small print.

Thanks - I'm not actually looking for a warranty, more canvassing opinion on whether they are a decent investment or another way for the garage to milk their customers.

my argument for going to a dealer (specifically a car supermarket) isn't that you get a good warranty, it's that you have a better selection of cars to choose from so less time waste and less chance of inadvertently buying a lemon.

re warranties - if you can afford to buy a car, my logic is that you don't need a warranty. insure risks that you can't afford to incur, not ones which you can. unless it's purely a convenience thing like the excess waiver on a hire car.

I would not buy the warranty for a car like that, personally. The warranty company only exists because they make a profit, so if you're worried you're better off saving a pot of money to replace things when they start going wrong. A low mileage Honda should be pretty reliable, though.