bit of advice needed please

[stevewales2003]

Hi,

I'm going to see this car tomorrow afternoon an was wondering what kind of things i should be looking for taking in to account the mileage and age?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...page/2&anchor=advert200948346774361&logcode=p

I've spoken to the guy whos selling it and he has told me it has some issues:

- He isnt sure if the cam belt has ever been changed (£250 at birchwood)
- One of the wheel bearings is on its way out (£100 at most?)
-Scratch on the rear bumper and a few other little marks
- Steering wheel gone funny (know this is a common problem)

I've semi sorted out a deal with him taking them in to account and was wondering what your opinions would be on it and how much you would offer, if you would at all.

Thanks for looking.

Steve.

 

[Fred@BTM]

£250 for belt change is cheap, get a quote from renault and then renegotiate the price with him

 

[stevewales2003]

well in all honesty he told me it was £500 at renault, but i had a search on google and found birchwood and there only half an hour away from me aswel.

 

[Fred@BTM]

you should of stuck to the £500!

 

[stevewales2003]

lol i'm not daft i didnt tell him i found it for that much.

how much would you have offered him?

 

[DannoTheGreat]

offer him a cheeky 3k an go from there

 

[Fred@BTM]

are the wheels mint?
same tyres all round?
does it have the cup spliter (£150!)


52 plate cup that isn't spot on? £2.750, but then i'm a f**ker

 

[Peperami]

I wouldnt pay more then £3k.

 

[maz172cup]

sounds like a geniune car and looks clean

 

[p@blo]

Fred & Pep know their stuff steve & id tend to agree with 3k or thereabouts if its on 80k, needs a few things doing and apparently doesnt have full service history (seeing as he doesn't know if the belts been done or not etc).

Whats left on the tyres & pads? Are the turinis curbd/bubbled? Clutch got plenty of bite? Fingers crossed you end up with a minter mate

 

[Henry]

ideally would want to have driven others to be able to compare but, just thinking quickly, going to suggest things like the gearbox (need to give it a hard time to see how it copes - significant crunching when changing from 2nd to 3rd at high revs is a common problem for example), check what you can see of the suspension springs (they can snap at the bottom), and check the dampers are OK (no leaks, car handles well)

 

[stevewales2003]

I asked about the history he said it says no where about the belts being changed but it is fully stamped at the correct intervals??

He said the wheels could do with a re-furb but its just had 2 new front tyres, was thinking of getting them done black anyways.

from the pictures it looks like the splitters there i think??

What should the bite on the clutch be like? is it high or low thats bad? would the method of putting it in 4th and trying to pull away show if its slipping?

any advice for the test drive?

thanks for your replys.

 

[Henry]

is it a Renault s/history?
clutch bite's typically quite high i think
hill in high gear/low revs should highlight clutch slip - although he's said it's mainly m/way miles, so you'd hope it's OK
test drive mainly depends upon what you both feel comfortable with imo - it's a bit awkward testing private sales, as you don't want to take the p*ss but, at the same time, you want to see how the car behaves as you might drive it yourself if you were its owner

 

[stevewales2003]

is it a Renault s/history?
clutch bite's typically quite high i think
hill in high gear/low revs should highlight clutch slip - although he's said it's mainly m/way miles, so you'd hope it's OK
test drive mainly depends upon what you both feel comfortable with imo - it's a bit awkward testing private sales, as you don't want to take the p*ss but, at the same time, you want to see how the car behaves as you might drive it yourself if you were its owner

He said full renault.

The Dci that i'm using at the moment has a strange clutch on it bite is right at the top but doesnt slip at all.

 

[Henry]

He said full renault.

was wondering if it might be possible to check with Renault to see if they've changed the belt. guess you'd need the service book to see where its been looked after. bargaining point if he's unsure himself, anyway. defo safest to assume it hasn't been done if you can't find proof

 

[Poopensharten]

£250 for belt change is cheap, get a quote from renault and then renegotiate the price with him

I wish you were standing near the design team of the F4R when they were building it.... lol

<3

 

[renno]

walk away mate and buy a good one.save a bit more.

 

[Luke20]

I was contemplating having a look at this too,do report back when youve seen it as id be interested to know what nick its in!

 

[stevewales2003]

Unless everything else is fine i'll either haggle the price down more or walk away seen a few other ones for 3.5 - 4k.

Is there a way to check the belts or are they concealed?

 

[jaysjetski]

the belt is covered by the top engine mount and bracket(the top mount acts as a cover)
you could inspect the aux belt if that looks good it should be ok. but you can never tell.

£250 for a belt kit is super cheap(check ebay for the kit it about £100 for the cambelt kit and £150 for the aux belt kit) and most traders cant get it less than £300-£350.

remember its a 6 hour job to replace.... do the math for labour charges.

if i were you i would say leave the price at say £3300_£3500 and let him get the cambelt done. then you get a minter with no worries....