Off topic, anyone have advice on buying a car?

[Mentholdan]

I'm looking to buy a second hand car and was advised to look on Facebook. They do have a lot of cars for sale there but they are either dealers and all but a small minority of private sales seem to be foreigners or at least they have foreign sounding names, is this some kind of scam? I've totally ruled out buying from ebay as most vehicles there seem sub standard, or in layman's terms crap. Any advice on buying a 2nd hand car welcomed. 🚙😁

[The happy man]

I usually go to a dealership and ask if there are any deals on cars they have traded in. This way you usually get some sort of warranty. Usually 3 months

 

[Seaton-slots]

Buying from a dealer you are covered under consumer law regardless of any warrranty offered  ( a warranty is in addition to your legal rights not a replacemnt) However be aware that the way the market is at present there is a severe shortage of used cars and prices are peaking at present. This bubble will burst eventually so if you can hold off for a couple of months you will save a bit of cash.

if you buy privately it is very much buyer beware, also look out for traders pretending to be private sellers to get around their legal responabilties.

   

[Stormy]

Dealerships are ok pros and cons but as previously commented you do then have consumer law on your side. If you are a skilled negotiator dealers do move on price.

I purchased a second-hand Vauxhall a few years ago from Network-Q and after three years just out of warranty the engine developed a cracked piston. The dealership arranged for a new engine and contributed 90% of the cost as I had full servcie history with them. Otherwise it would have cost me thousands...

Couple of tips. If you are a cash buyer, don't tell them until the last minute. The last car I brought 10 months old 14k on clock, I got it confirmed only one previous owner. When I got the documentation realised that was Avis. 🤬. Apparently a lot of second-hand cars less than a year old sold through dealerships are ex rental.

[Mentholdan]

The car I've set my heart on is a Toyota Estima Hybrid and I'm looking to spend between 5k and 8k. And it has to be in pearl white. 😁

[Mentholdan]

Just a quick update on my progress. Found a car I liked last week, advertised at 103k miles on the clock but when I did my own check it was actually 150k and there was a 2 year gap between one particular mot which meant the car had been off the road for about 2 years, also, when I asked the seller to show me his drivers licence to prove it was his name on the v5 document he refused to show it. More recently, I found a car advertised on Facebook where you message the seller, here's how the conversation went, remember these are all separate texts. 

Me, Hi, I've seen your ad on Facebook about the BMW for sale, I would like to come and view it,

Seller, OK. 

Me. When would it be convenient to view the car please? 

Seller, Any time. 

Me, we'll can you send me the address and postcode so I can view the car? 

Seller then sends me just the postcode, no address no look forward to seeing you or thanks mate or kiss my arse. The address tur s out to be in North London while the guys Facebook page shows he's in Beckenham?? 

I've decided against the Toyota and decided to get a BMW X5 mainly because the engines are practically bullet proof. 

[Seaton-slots]

I reckon you dodged a bullet their mate... dodge another, if the X5 has the slightest rattle comming from around the engine run a mile... great cars but timing chain tentioners are a bit suspect.

[Mentholdan]

I finally bought a car, my winnings from Coral was just sitting in the bank just asking me to give it all back 😭 I ended up buying a BMW X5 Sport. I did find it on Facebook and luckily enough it was in Earlsfield so just 15 mins or so from me. A cracking car in mint condition although I must say buying a second hand car was a bit of a mission, I looked at loads before this one. My advice to anyone from my experience of buying a second hand car is be prepared for the "long game" Be patient, look at as many as you need to until the right car comes, along. 

[Mentholdan]

This is a very very long message but the moral is, if you do care to read it, NEVER GIVE UP.

It's been a while now since I bought the BMW, just before "Christmas". It's been parked in the car park ever since and I haven't even driven it. 

Why?????????? 

The car is beautiful, metallic black with beige interior in beautiful condition. The two front seats were just showing signs of wear so I ordered a bottle of BMW leather Dye to match the colour beige of my seats. So when the Dye arrived I decided to remove the seats, take them indoors and set up a bench and Dye them properly/professionally. 

The seats are electric motorised, up, down, back, forward, tilt etc and are also heated and have airbags sewn into them, so I had to unbolt them and disconnect all the electrics. This is when the trouble started. Whilst undoing all the electrics I noticed the carpet felt damp? To look under the carpet I had to remove some side panels of trim, lifted it up and it was like a river under there. This problem had clearly been going on for some time. The next time it rained I went out to the car and pulled the carpet up as much as I could in the passenger footwell and I could see the water dripping down the inside of the car from under the dashboard and behind the carpet. I looked on YouTube for a solution and apparently this is a common problem with BMWs, the drain pipe from the sun roof gets blocked and it backs up until it comes out behind the dashboard. I bought a long "fish wire" poked around for a while until I found the blockage, I gave it a good poke and out pissed half a bucket of water from the drain plug under the car. Great I thought, fixed it. I dried all the water by hand which took hours. That night we had loads of rain so I went back the next morning to make sure it was still dry and it was fucking soaking, 2 inches of water under all the carpet again. Back to YouTube. Apparently the vapour barriers behind the door cards can come away from the metal and let water in from under the doors. So, off with the 4 door cards, having to dissconect the wiring for the electric door mirrors, door speakers, central locking, electric windows and puddle lights, ON EACH DOOR. Sure enough the vapour barriers had come away in places on all 4 doors so instead of buying the butyl tape from BMW that failed in the first place I went and bought a roll of industrial waterproof tape the sticks like shit to a blanket, permanently.  Reconnected all the wiring for the door cards and re installed them. A days work but Job done. I had to wait about a week for the next rainfall, "I could have used a hosepipe but I wanted to see the results from natural conditions." Anyway, next morning after the heavy rain I went out to the car to inspect the fruits of my labour. Fuck fuck fuck, full of fucking water again. Now look, I know I'm starting to use the f word a lot but come on, look at it from my point. By now I'm wanting to go back to the bloke who sold me the car and run the bastard over. But hey, SOLD AS SEEN, IT'S MY OWN FAULT. I checked Everything when I bought that car except, UNDER THE CARPET. 

Right so now I'm really pissed off, the whole carpets coming out, which means removing nearly all the trim, the two front seats the rear seat, the center console and I even had to remove the accelerater pedal. The carpet was finally out, under the carpet is a sponge soundproofing but it's actually bonded to the carpet it's not separate like underlay in your house. It's absolutely sopping wet, the sponge is up to 4 inches thick in places and it weighs a ton. I get it in the house and lay it in front of a radiator where it took over 3 weeks to dry it was that wet. I dried the floor of the car  which again had 3 to 4 inches of water all over. Now all I need is a downpour and I can find where this water is coming in. 3 WEEKS WE HAD NO BLOODY RAIN!! Finally it started pouring down, I went to the car and got in with a torch to what now is basically an empty shell, just bare metal and wires everywhere. Almost straight a way I can see water trickling along the floor, I got my torch and searched every crevice and FINALLY, I found the water trickling in through a faulty seam weld in the car and its right behind where the bracket is that the accelerater pedal sits on. The hole is about half the size of the head of a matchstick but I could see the water coming in like a tiny dribble. I just left it overnight and sure enough the next morning there was about 3 inches of water all over the car floor. I dried the floor again thoroughly and went to the merchants and bought an amazing product for sealing leaks called Acrypol, a small tin costs £32. I applied it with a brush and waited for the next downpour. I didn't have to wait long as it pissed down that afternoon and all night. So, next morning I'm out to the car, please please please be dry, I opened the door and there it was, dry as a granny's tit. It's Been raining on and off for days now and it's as dry as a bone. The carpet is completely dry and I cleaned it while it was out the car, also it weighs about a quarter of what it did when it was wet. 

Now I have to refit the carpet and put everything back together, all the seats and trim etc,. I estimate about 2 days work. Also I made videos of all the times the water came in but the files are too big to put up here, its a shame because you cannot imagine how much water got in the car overnight, but just imagine your kitchen tap is dripping slowly and you put the plug in the sink and go to bed and next morning the sink is full. But below is a picture of the tiny little hole and the water dribbling in that caused all the heartache. I had a big win on the slots and spent a nice few £k on buying this car and let me tell you its heartbreaking to think you've wasted all that money. Anyway, problem solved, because if I say so myself I'm a tenacious little fucker. If you took the time to read all this I take my hat off to you. 😜😜

[Partytimearena]

This must be the LONGEST post, ever.  I think it deserves an award for the effort!

[Mentholdan]

22 minutes ago, Partytimearena said:

This must be the LONGEST post, ever.  I think it deserves an award for the effort!

Thank you. I like to think we are all friends here and I believe that if you can help a friend then do so. I could have taken the car to a BMW dealer and they probably wouldn't have found the problem. A car that cost almost 65K new would have to be scrapped. The fact I won the money to buy it wouldn't have softened the blow. I hope my not so short story has helped people here realise that if you keep at it you'll find a solution, whatever the problem. Also, at the end of all the hassle you can have great satisfaction. 

[cazza6565]

Omg I started reading and though fuck tell me he hasn't found another parking issue where a bollard has appeared from nowhere. When i finished reading I have nothing but admiration for you.

Like yourself I persevere with things I think I can do myself. However I have sat most of the night trying to take the back off my watch to replace the battery with no success. Yes I could take it to jewellers but I'm too miserable to pay for someone to do it. Anyway will try again tomorrow.

Mark I take my hat off to you as that is definetely a job well done. Don't think us in Glasgow have ever had 3 days with no rain never mind 3 weeks

Edited February 18, 2022 by cazza6565
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[Mentholdan]

7 hours ago, cazza6565 said:

Omg I started reading and though fuck tell me he hasn't found another parking issue where a bollard has appeared from nowhere. When i finished reading I have nothing but admiration for you.

Like yourself I persevere with things I think I can do myself. However I have sat most of the night trying to take the back off my watch to replace the battery with no success. Yes I could take it to jewellers but I'm too miserable to pay for someone to do it. Anyway will try again tomorrow.

Mark I take my hat off to you as that is definetely a job well done. Don't think us in Glasgow have ever had 3 days with no rain never mind 3 weeks

Cheers Cazza, I can't tell you how frustrating it is to keep going on YouTube and finding solutions to the problem, only to find after you think you've fixed it and it's still just the same. You only have to go on YouTube and type in "BMW water coming in" and see the scores of videos covering the problem that you wouldn't expect from such a prestige make. I posted my progress on BMW forums and I've had lots of nice messages from car owners with a similar problem thanking me for highliting another problem area that's never been covered before. 

As for your watch, I too tried in vain to prize open a watch once, only to realise when I finally gave up and took it to the jewellers that it "unscrews off" 😭

[Mentholdan]

It took 2 days to put it all back together. 

[Robert198812345]

Avoid private sellers that don't have the V5 document. Can't tax the car otherwise. Avoid eBay and gumtree, always something wrong with the car, otherwise the owner would have part ex it. Also avoid auctions even if tempted on a nice car, will break down on way home usually.

I have a license but I use the train, also I live in the city centre anyway so can't park anywhere. Saving a fortune with the current fuel price rises.