Getting back in

Smick

Member
Hi all.

I'm formerly of these boards, I used to have a TDi 75 SE when I lived in Dublin and absolutely loved it.

I've been on a lease recently, used to drive to work but have been working from home due to Covid, and have been told not to expect to go to the office for the rest of the year. The lease runs out next week with the option of extension, but I don't see the reasons to keep paying £250 per month for my weekly trip to Lidl.

I've seen the following car.

Autotrader A2

The dealer is in the neighborhood, has told me I can have it for £1k in cash.

On closer inspection, the alloys are in bad nick and where the OSS meets the back door, there's tape.

Any opinions?
 
It's an absolute base model with no redeeming features in the spec, and £1k is simply too much unless it has low previous owners and a stellar service history, which I'd doubt. As such it could be difficult to justify spending the money on it to refurbish it. As well as the OSS which you can assume doesn't work and probably leaks - hence the tape - it obviously needs a headlight replacing, and there's probably more that isn't visible.

If I badly needed a runabout and could only look very locally, I'd pay £500 for it with no questions asked. I imagine that would still make the guy a profit. As a cash sale from a back street trader, it's not like there would be any effective warranty with this car. I'm sure you could find a lot better in a private sale for your £1k with no greater risk.
 
It’s advertised as ULEZ compliant but checking the reg states:

ULEZ charge applies to this vehicle
Daily charge: £12.50

Which is the same as my TDI


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Sorry, I really don't like this story.

As I've said elsewhere, in general buying cheap cars from traders is bad news. They won't have paid more than £300 for it, possibly £400 max. You get all the disadvantages of a private sale (no useable warranty, no comeback in real terms, whatever the law might say). Plus all the disadvantages of buying from a trader: maximum profit being made from you, minimal work carried out on the car and that ready excuse when it's just overheated (etc), 'we never drove it, what do you expect, it's twenty years old' etc.

Also, look at the pictures: horrible, horrible location, filthy door card with oily handprints all over it: a sure sign a grubby mechanic has been working on it. Look at the mats: all mismatched, driver's one ruined: what's that say? Either the carpets are so poor these mats are better, or more likely, the seller is of such low quality they don't see anything wrong with them. If that's the case for the mats, what about their attitudes to correct oil change, timing belts or that funny noise on start up?

It's a no vote from me on this one. Sorry to be so brutal, but I have a massive problem with traders that simply don't want to put the work in to provide a decent product. If they can't even present them well, they certainly won't have gone through it to make sure it's safe and ready to be used.

On a positive, if we're saying you have a budget of £1k for a 1.4MPi then happy days! Put a Want Ad up here and scan all the usual places. Buying privately you'll definitely find a genuinely decent one for that. Allow £500 in your calculations for a new timing belt kit and service (or whatever). Bare in mind, A2's are creeping up in value, so looked after, your £1000 is quite safe, your only 'rental costs' are servicing and maintenance in general.

Good luck with your search! If you find anything hopeful, pop up a link and we'll take a look :)
 
Last edited:
Just seen where you are: don't buy locally (as in, a London car) if you can avoid it. If you can get out well away from the city you'll get far better value and more importantly a car that's not done all of its miles in stop-start traffic.

Being a country bumkin, I was absolutely amazed when I drove a little way into London in my Forester a couple of years ago. Fifty miles up to the outskirts, and didn't stop once, probably fifty gear changes in total. After that it was stop start, up the gears, down the gears, start stop, stop start for several miles. That car worked harder in those, what, ten miles, than probably a month of driving down here in the Sussex countryside.

Therefore, well, well worth the cost of a train ticket to travel out a bit for a car, esp if it's coming from a fellow club member. Also, you can pretty much ignore mileage: I'd much rather have a 150k mile motorway cruiser than a 80k mile city car.

Again, good luck!
 
Thanks guys, you have saved me a bullet. I am confusing nostalgia with a good car.

As I said, I want something cheap which will see me through until my working day gets settled.

I agree with you re country cars being in better condition than city cars, but I think going out to see a car in the country puts a bit of pressure on in terms of feeling able to walk away. And I don't even know if I am supposed to take the train at present!

The search continues.
 
It’s advertised as ULEZ compliant but checking the reg states:

ULEZ charge applies to this vehicle
Daily charge: £12.50

Which is the same as my TDI


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow, thanks for that. I do a lot of driving inside the coming ULEZ so that's definitely a no-no for me.

Interesting, the 1.4 seems to go from not being ULEZ compliant with X reg to being compliant with Y reg.
 
Wow, thanks for that. I do a lot of driving inside the coming ULEZ so that's definitely a no-no for me.

Interesting, the 1.4 seems to go from not being ULEZ compliant with X reg to being compliant with Y reg.

The pre Y reg are on the old tax system also I think


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The pre Y reg are on the old tax system also I think

hi, my A2 is being charged the ULEZ tax despite various other non official blogs saying it is exempt...

any advice? My reg starts with Y411

on the tfl website there was a link to contact them if disagreed with their decision... I could potentially dispute it?

argh...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
yes, 1.4 diesel... is it just the petrol ones that are exempt?

I recall someone selling a 1.4 diesel on here and mentioning it was exempt...

Is it just random?

It is indeed just the petrol ones, unless the DVLC has mis-designated your car.

You can check whether or not any vehicle is liable to pay the ULEZ charge here:

However that site is closed for maintenance until Monday.
 
My reg starts with Y411
yes, 1.4 diesel... is it just the petrol ones that are exempt?
Living in the north of England, I am no expert on ULEZ matters, but I am sure that your A2 will be charged.

The current ULEZ standards require diesel vehicles to conform to the Euro6 emissions standard. Early A2 TDIs, like your Y-reg model with engine code AMF, will only be Euro3. Later A2 TDIs (with engine codes ATL or BHC) are Euro4, so are also charged.
The current ULEZ standards require petrol vehicles to conform to the Euro4 emissions standard. I believe that all petrol A2s are Euro4.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Back
Top