Little bit of advice please

[gavin1977]

Hi folks,

I am new to the forums but they seem to be very friendly and very informative.

Am hoping to buy a LCR here in Northern Ireland but as we are a small place the choice of cars is quite limited. However, there is one that has taken my interest. It can be found on Pistonheads and I have copied the details below for ease of reference

Oct 2004 Leon Cupra R 225bhp
55k miles, recent service
Platinum silver with black Recaro seats
mot Sept 11 & tax to 02/11
Good clean car, very fast and a great driving motor.
hpi clear, e/w, aircon, t/c, cd player, recently refurbished wheels.

Car is located in Co Down, Northern Ireland
£5895 ono

The car is also advertised on a local used car webiste, but it is described as 'trade' rather than a private sale, while the pistonheads advert does not mention anything about a trade sale. I had spoken to the seller last week briefly but he wasn't interested in taking my car as a trade in and said the car was his own and wanted to release some money from it so would only trade in up to 4k (my car is worth nearly 5k)

Since then I have managed to sell my own car more quickly than expected so can go back with a cash offer.

The main questions I have before I do are:

If the car has been recently serviced as he says, should the cambelt have been done (i understand it should be done around 60k miles)?

If it hasn't been done, what is the likely cost of this?

If one advert says trade and the other appears to be private, where does the price put it? Glass's Guide says private is 5,350 while retail is 6,500. Assuming he knows he will be bargained down a bit on price, it looks like a private sale price?

Can a trader sell their own car as trade? Presumably if he is going to do this I could expect a receipt for the sale and to be covered by normal consumer protection?

He mentions a recent service but no other history - if the recent service was at a VAG dealer, would the lack of other history still be a concern?

If after answering the above the seller doesn't fill me full of confidence, would an AA/RAC inspection be worthy? The reason I ask is that there aren't too many LCRs of this age / mileage / colour coming up for sale here so I would rather not walk away unless the car seemed very dodgy.

I have read the sticky in the FAQ on what to look for in buying a LCR second hand, very helpful and will keep in mind if I do go for a test drive.

Thanks for your help.

G

 

[supra]

As Gac says above but without Service history that price seems a bit high.

As reference I recently purchased my Black LCR on a 54 plate, 55k miles, with full Seat SH for £5500 privately.

I feel I paid a little bit over the odds as it was due a service and needed front tyres soon. It also has a few marks on the body which will probably cost me £200 pounds or so to sort out (why do you only ever find them when you wash the car the first time?). All in all i'm happy but wish I'd stuck my neck out with a lower bid.

Good luck!

 

[Pyro]

Gac can you post a Linky please mate

When I buy a car I'll be honest I go on my gut in fairly mechanically minded and can spot tge bad bits etc I bout my cupra on gut and so far it's been pretty mugs sound a few bit gone wrong but that's exdpected on 100K+ mikes car so lol

I would personally hagke down the price best you can and just do the cam belt and service straight away for pice of mind unless he can prove it's been done of late

In regards to seats as gac has said make sure he's aware they are not recaros And knoc the price down again ask him first and see what he says see if he try's to persuade you that they are lol

I looked at corsa ban for a mate a few years back witch was a pearl black and when I checked the vow it stated tge colour was navy blue??? So I questions tge seller on y it had a paint job and denied it and tried telling me it's was blue. w@ker so I told home the sky was yellow and fooked off lol any way back on topic get a receipt either hand written or printed and both sing and print hope that helps fella and welcome to Scn

 

[mikebrennan]

Hi fella's.I was in this situation when I bought my LCR.
Got it off a trader.totally standard.with very little history and quite high mileage.it was nice clean and tidy.but abit pricey ,just over 5k..
However,when I saw the car I just had to have it! And took the gamble.
Got it for 5k in the end 2yrs ago.
Since the then the only costly repair was a new clutch.
Touch wood!.they are quite expensive to maintain on rare occasions.
In all I think if your happy with it, and all is in order,just go with your instinct.
That's what I did.and have loved every minute of it..
Hope you find what your looking for mate.
And you know it has to be FLASH RED..