# Second hand reliable low cost running family car ?



## telco (21 Jan 2014)

We need to replace the 2nd family car we have , on a budget of €8-€9K, low running costs , hoping to get a trade in of approx. €800-€1K for our old sante fee.

We have looked at 2 so far in garages and did checks on them ( one was clocked and the other one was bought and sold within a short period of time , currently for sale without NCT though its due) and so didn't proceed with either

How difficult is it to source a good second hand car ? we are now leaning towards a 2L Ford Mondeo through a friend of a friend ( owns a garage and would appear to be reputable) list price €9950 ,2008 2L engine and 100K miles. Would appear to be at the higher end of the scale considering mileage and year, however as clocking seems to be rampant are we best to pay higher odds for a reputable dealer
any advice is appreciated


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## vandriver (21 Jan 2014)

10k seems punchy.Is it a good spec?
You specify low running costs,but this car is 750 a year in car tax,and will probably return low to mid 20s mpg.
Edit:the above assumes the 2 litre petrol


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## AlbacoreA (21 Jan 2014)

Depends on how many people how big a boot, how often used and what length of journey. Etc.


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## delgirl (21 Jan 2014)

telco said:


> How difficult is it to source a good second hand car ?


We were in the same position with a Qashqai and also looked at the 2nd hand car market - found cars with huge mileage, clocked cars, cars with no warranty etc. etc.

Saw a new Dacia Duster SUV displayed at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre for €99 per month on finance and went to the dealership for a test drive.  It has a 1.5ltr Renault / Nissan diesel engine (same one as is in the Qashqai) and comes with a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty.

Did a lot of homework on it as I had only seen these cars in France and turns out it scored well in [broken link removed].

I've had it now since the 4th January and I have to say it's great to drive.  I got it from [broken link removed] - they have another Dacia model that I also looked at - the Stepway which is also a crossover / SUV type and I think the price started from €12,000 for this one, but there's more room in the Duster.

IMHO, why buy used when you can buy new with a 5 year unlimited warranty!


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## dub_nerd (21 Jan 2014)

Probably a stupid question -- how do you figure out that a car is clocked? (Presumably if it was trivial to uncover, nobody would try it on). How common is it for dealers' cars to be clocked, as the OP mentions? Also, how do you get its sales history? Is there any other information that can generally be found out.


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## fraggle (21 Jan 2014)

10k for the engine and mileage is crazy! (to me)


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## Leo (21 Jan 2014)

fraggle said:


> 10k for the engine and mileage is crazy! (to me)



OP hasn't said whether it's diesel or petrol yet....so hard to say. But there are quite a few 2008 2.0l diesel Mondeos listed in dealers for up to 14.5/15k. 10k seems to be on the money for higher spec, high mileage models.

OP, we'd need to know exact model/spec level to tell.


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## telco (21 Jan 2014)

thanks for feedback , its diesel , not sure about spec need to check with hubby, @ dub nerd , the car had same mileage 2.5 years ago in the UK ( it was imported) can uncover on car tell
 @delgirl thanks for the info ! @ €99 per month , over how many years ? the warranty looks great 
 will come back with more info later on , thanks all so far


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## vandriver (21 Jan 2014)

Dacia's current offer for the duster is €159 a month for 36 months.As this is PCP finance,there is a deposit of €4971 and an optional final payment of €7004.(Apr 6.9%)


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## kbie (21 Jan 2014)

Michael Sheridan Motoring correspondent review of Duster from RTE.ie website

http://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/reviews/2013/0624/458545-duster/


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## Eithneangela (21 Jan 2014)

Hi Delgirl - very interested in your Dacia Duster post. Any more details - I'd heard you have to pay extra for the warranty? Also, did you trade in a car against the Duster? I've also heard that dealers won't take a trade-in against a Dacia (either Duster or Sandero Stepway). Concerned at posts which suggest that a buyer from a dealer is open to 'clocked' cars - or am I being naive?


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## Boyd (21 Jan 2014)

Eithneangela said:


> Concerned at posts which suggest that a buyer from a dealer is open to 'clocked' cars - or am I being naive?



Yep, you are! You should be just as wary with dealers as you would be with private sellers. Also, IMO, a dealer displaying a SIMI sign means nothing except they are a member of an organisation acting on their behalf.

See various reports of dealer clocking online:
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/dealer-who-sold-clocked-car-must-pay-3500-29440066.html

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/car-dealers-face-charges-in-clocking-crackdown-28948386.html


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## telco (22 Jan 2014)

*Second hand reliabel low cost running car*

just to complete the information its a Ford Mondeo Ghia tdci


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## Leo (22 Jan 2014)

telco said:


> just to complete the information its a Ford Mondeo Ghia tdci



So that seems to be in line with what a number of other dealers have on offer at the moment also.

You can do a Car Tell check to make sure the history matches what the dealer is telling you. Take a look through this Key Post for some further advice.

If you're concerned about potential clocking, go see a few other models with similar mileage from the major dealers and look for the levels of wear and tear around the cabin, the driver's seat, pedals, etc.. If the one you're looking at then shows significantly more signs of wear, then chances are it was clocked or badly treated.


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## fraggle (22 Jan 2014)

Sorry I was thinking of an 06 plated car when I made my comments above.

My only comment to anybody buying a car is to reduce the budget by 1-2k so that you can just fix any unforseen issue without having to stress.


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## delgirl (22 Jan 2014)

Eithneangela said:


> Hi Delgirl - very interested in your Dacia Duster post. Any more details - I'd heard you have to pay extra for the warranty? Also, did you trade in a car against the Duster? I've also heard that dealers won't take a trade-in against a Dacia (either Duster or Sandero Stepway).


The deal you get on any of the Dacia cars will depend on the value of your trade-in and the term of the finance.

I traded in an 08 Qashqai against the 2014 Duster, so there's no problem with a trade-in at the dealership I went to anyway.  There's not much room for negotiating the price of the Dacia as they told me the mark-up is so low it leaves no wriggle room - the 5 year unlimited mileage warranty was included in the price.

I was very happy with my deal - [broken link removed].  If you're interested, probably best thing to do is go see the range, take a test drive and ask for the price to trade up. 

I don't live in Dublin, but just happened to be in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre when were doing a demo of some of the Dacia range, that's how I ended up at their dealership.

They also had a Dacia Logan there on the demo day and, if you like/need an estate/family car, it's really good value and has a huge boot.  Can't remember the exact price, but it was something like €12,000 for the car with the 5 year warranty.  It also has a Renault / Nissan engine.

Renault owns Dacia so I think maybe all the Renault dealerships will have the Dacia range on display?


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## Eithneangela (22 Jan 2014)

Many thanks, Delgirl. We probably wouldn't go for a Finance package (I'll get hubby to delve deep!) so unlikely to be offered the same kind of deal as you. Also, we'd be trading in an 04 Mercedes jeep (ML500). I'll go to some Renault garages in the vicinity (we're in County Wexford) and see what the story is. I've seen at least 7 or 8 Dacia Dusters (131, 132 and 141) in Gorey in the past couple of weeks alone, so it's obviously a good car, appealing to many.


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## roker (22 Jan 2014)

Motor reporters can tell you how it handles etc, but they cannot tell you if it reliable. Time will tell with the Dacia.


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## Leo (23 Jan 2014)

roker said:


> Motor reporters can tell you how it handles etc, but they cannot tell you if it reliable. Time will tell with the Dacia.



Sites like Honest John and Warranty Direct will give a decent indicator. Owner reviews on Honest John don't make for good reading.


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## DaveD (24 Jan 2014)

If as you say you want a "Second hand reliable low cost running family car" then you really should buy a Toyota Prius. I've had one for a year or so as the main family transport, mostly short school runs and suburban trips, plus the odd motorway journey, and its averaged 53MPG. They're extremely reliable, very cheap to run, much more spacious than you'd imagine, and perfectly pleasant to drive. 

As you've learned from experience buy one from a Toyota main dealer to try and avoid clocked ones, but do a car check anyway.


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## delgirl (27 Jan 2014)

This company in the north had an ad in one of the weekend papers stating that you can save up to €4,000 by buying a used car from them and re-registering in the south and paying VRT.

Their website show the sales prices in Euro and you can click on 'Check the VRT' button which re-directs you to the Revenue's VRT calculator.


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