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You all usually offer great advice, amongst all the nonsense on here so here is my question...
need to buy my wife a used car, sub £3k, as a run about. Been looking for a bit and now with lockdown easing we are ready to buy. She has seen 2 fiat pandas (her choice) that fit the bill, both at used car dealers. On checking tax status online one appears a more ‘honest’ car as it is mot’d, tax just run out last month and v5c last changed 2017 (so guessing dealer not changed details and last owner had car from 2017 to recently).
the other car (wife prefers color and it’s better spec) has not been taxed since May 19, mot expired sept 19 (will be sold with new mot) and v5c was 2016 according to online check. So am I right thinking this car has been sat around since May 19!? Would this make you run a mile or think there’s a deal/bargain to be had?
Not sure I’d be that bothered, as a perennial buyer of cheap cars I tend to concentrate more on the MOT failure reasons and advisories list when checking the MOT and tax history online rather than the dates.
I'd see which has the cleaner mot history
What kilos said check mot failures (servicing, if it is running crap tyres as an indication of how car has been looked after) I bought my daughter a clio that had been standing in a dealers for about 7 months and it has been absolutely fine, he had just dropped £500 off the price that week (had about a year now) It might only have been sitting because he was wanting too much for the car.
I would think about another car. Just get your wife to Google the safety aspects ,or lack of, of the panda.
Thanks. This is why I asked, i hadn't checked MOT history. Glad I did, i can see why the one that has been sitting a while has been. The other one, failed its MOT last month for excessive oil leak in engine, them passed a week later.....hmmmm. there was a 3rd option a fair drive away but has a good MOT history so the front runner now.
I have told her about the NCap safety result but she is happy (It had a good result when released in 2013, just failed the updated tests in 2018)
Cheers.
Untaxed cars...why? You won't be able to test drive legally surely?
Untaxed cars…why? You won’t be able to test drive legally surely?
It's at a dealer , thier trade plates will be taxed .
Dealers have to display trade plates when test driving on public roads
This allow them to do test drives without taxing them
Imagine if a dealer had to tax every car on their forecourt as soon as they bought it and then cancel the tax and claim back the un used tax every time they sold one, would be a nightmare for them
Not sure I'd buy a Fiat at the moment. There is no Fiat dealer in Bristol as they went bust and I saw another liquidated dealership on Bidspotter last month. My local dealers seem to all small dealerships and not part of a large chain
Plenty of service items available in the after market, but you will get screwed if you need a dealer only part as I found out at the beginning of the year. Back in the day Fiat dealer prices were so competitive I never bothered with the aftermarket. Every Punto, Uno, Tipo 131, Multipla etc I worked on always had genuine parts fitted.
Having said that Pandas are fantastic as a run around, just don't go far or on the M way.
The Fiat/Alfa dealer in Knaresborough has changed to Kia I noticed the other day.
I would think about another car. Just get your wife to Google the safety aspects ,or lack of, of the panda.
Read the report. Rather than looking at the stars.
Basically because the cars not been loaded with technical assistance such as lane assist and auto emergency braking it's been given a shit rating.
The actual safety of the vehicle hasn't changed since 2011 it just doesn't have the tech.
I'd rather not have the tech tbh.
Having said that Pandas are fantastic as a run around, just don’t go far or on the M way.
+1
I hated our Panda. It ate suspension components, electrical modules, and engine parts like starving dog eats anything it can find.
At this price I'd only buy from a local dealer. You are paying a premium buying this way, in return for a fairly crap warranty/fit for use assurance.
Last time we did this we had airbag lights and oil leaking onto the clutch, which was enough to justify dumping it back at the dealer, but it's a major pain in the backside driving it all the way back. It may only be an hour, but you have take two vehicles to return it, and two to go and collect it.
Oil leak and new clutch fitted, get home and the airbag light comes back on. They'd just reset it without checking got the fault, which turned out to be a dirty switch for turning the airbag off, luckily it was an easy DIY fix and the reset tool was cheap.