Is it worth it?

[Snails]

I went to look at a 01 Ph2 172 yesterday and I am considering buying it this afternoon, however it has 54000 miles on the clock and was last serviced at 40000, which means it is due a service sometime soon or is in fact overdue. The guy wants 3k for it, It looks in good nick and is clean and tidy and didn't seem to have any obvious problems, however i'm not a mechanic. It was completely standard in every way.

What is likely to have gone wrong on a car 172 of this mileage since it's last service?

Cheers,

 

[cat171]

Has it had both belts done ?? Not having it serviced for 14k miles is very excessive imo. Has it had an oil change etc in that time ?

 

[koi]

Service is overdue, should be every 12k. Any reason why it was missed?

 

[Snails]

I just found a Ph1 with 90,000 miles on the clock and it has a FSH, however at no point in the service history are the belts being done mentioned. Surely a problem would have arisen by now if the belts hadn't been done in the last 9 years?

On a related note, are there many reports of the belts failing after 5 years at all?

 

[Poopensharten]

If its not had the belts done thats atleast £500 straight away.

14k isnt the worst ive heard for a service lapse but it should be atleast once a year/12k with intermitted oil changes if your sensible.

There must be others around for the same money with more religious maintenance surley?

 

[Poopensharten]

On a related note, are there many reports of the belts failing after 5 years at all?

Its your donald duck.

They could snap straight after they have been done or could last 10 years.

Think of it as leaving an elastic band wrapped round a glass year round through the 4 seasons...

Not advisable to leave it to chance!

 

[Lewb]

Maybe thats why it is cheap? if nothing else is wrong with the car - that price is quite fair for the mileage it has.

 

[Brett]

I wouldn't touch one that had never had a belt change. Even if you had the intention of getting them done straight away they could even snap on the way to the garage.

Lack of servicing does no car any good, but a car like a 172 which are usually driven hard need good regular services to keep them healthy and reliable.

 

[Snails]

If its not had the belts done thats atleast £500 straight away.

14k isnt the worst ive heard for a service lapse but it should be atleast once a year/12k with intermitted oil changes if your sensible.

There must be others around for the same money with more religious maintenance surley?

Not in the area, searching 60 miles from my house throws up just 9 cars under £4000, of those 1 has 154,000 miles on the clock, 2 so far haven't had the belts done, 1 is Cat D and looks like it was owned by a massive tit. 1 looks like it has been abused horribly. 1 is massively overpriced. Leaving 3 cars

One of the others is £3000, 77k, Ph1.

One of those is £3200 with 89k on the clock, FSH, Belts done, Ph2, "No expense spared on servicing regardless of the cost", private sale.

If i'm going to get one it has to be in the next 2 weeks before i start my new job. The wonders of living in Suffolk

 

[cat171]

A budget of 4k should get you a very nice car imo, anything under that budget is likely to be high miles or not the best out there (imo)