So on my quest for a new car I've been looking at pretty much everything. There is a garage near me that has loads of cars. I doubt they ever sell any as they don't have a website and dont advertise. Plus all their cars are literally parked side by side, across each other..its impossible to get round.

Some of this stock I know for a fact hasn't moved for at least 2 years. I'm not sure if they have even been turned over!

I'm thinking things like essential fluids and stuff won't take too kindly to that so the question is, if you knew that the car hadn't moved for such a long time would you even consider it?

Am I correct in my assumption that leaving a car standing for 2 years could damage things?

If the dealer was in anyway reasonable or gave even the smallest carp about cars they would be shuffled around abit, started up and given a little spin. If that isnt being done then i would walkaway as god knows what other problems the cars could have that the dealer in question doesnt care about...

All is not as it looks with car traders and some are less interested in selling cars as having business that look legitimate.

But obviously there are more Legit than not.

 

But where a car does sit for 2 years, & may not have moved much or even had a MOT in the past year or 2,

and i bought one like that recently.

Factor in the Major Service,  All Fluids & Filters changing, Brake Discs & Pads, A/C Service, Wiper Blades etc,

& Suspension Components maybe.

Then anything you find does not need doing is a Bonus.

 

I have just had to get a Steering Barrel for a Low Mileage Car, and that was £180 from Holland,

& a total PITA to change, Security Bolts etc, Coding etc etc.

Luckily an expert did it for me, and an Ignition Switch issue has been reduced in the Cost a Main Dealer would have charged 

which would have been £800.

 

So buyer beware with cars that sit, or cars that are driven daily, it is all much of a muchness,

& are not serviced or have the wrong fluids used,

so do your research, price parts, and DIY or main dealer, 

& Much Cheapness is Available.

I was given a Corolla in 1999 by a work colleague.  It had been sat, handbrake on, for three years.  It was given on the pretext that if I could move it, I could have it, as at the time, breakers were going to charge £70 to take it away.  I took a whole load of tools over.  It started first time with jump leads, I rocked it back and forth on the clutch, the brakes came free, and I drove it home.  Brakes were hot and smelly when I got home, so I cleaned up the calliper carrier, guide pins etc and all was well.  It passed three further MOT's before we sold it and apart from service items, the only thing I changed was a (yes, one) rear shock absorber.  I think the biggest issue I tackled was mould on the rear seat belts and a musty smell which gradually cleared.

 

I certainly wouldn't dismiss a standing car out of hand.  It's as George said, be prepared, expect it to need some TLC and you could end up with a right bargain.

 

My Del Sol had been standing.   So far it's cost me £24.98 to get it through two MOT's.  Weird smell was tracked down to a mouse nest (nobody home) in the toolkit.

 

Gaz

It's not just second hand cars that sit there for years.

New cars too.

It was around the late 70's early 80's our company bought two Austin Maxis, brand new...

But after a year, on both cars the front wings rotted through.

On further investigation, the rubber mounts that support the rear bumper had actually perished.

A serious investigation followed and it was found that the cars had actually been built over 2 years before, and were left standing in a muddy field all this time.

These days most parts, especially plastic parts, even tyres, have date stamps on.

If the car company is really using "just in time" manufacture, then some of these parts might be less than a month old when you buy your car.

British Leyland, Rover or what ever they were called at the time practiced just too late manufacturing techniques, in that due to industrial action, many parts were unavailable, cars were placed outside in the elements until the part came back in.

We had a new Austin Ambassador at the time, it was poor, don't give a damn workmanship that spoilt the brand.

After a year, the clutch slave cylinder failed, still had sand from the casting process in it.

Clutch failed, fell apart, clutch cover fixing bolts loose.

Oil pressure failure ... pump fell apart on remmoval, all screws loose.

Alternator failed.. stray screw had dropped into the field coils and shorted out the field to earth

Front wheel bearings appeared to fail, spring band not fitted correctly and came off causing a whine at speed.

Quality control... what quality control...?

Skoda fired up the production line for the all new Fabia after the summer break, the dealer launch is next weekend, so plenty of 6 month and slightly newer new demonstrators will be getting punted late spring, these first registered 2015 cars will be 9 months old in many cases.

Edited 24 January, 201511 yr by goneoffSKi

There are thousands of brand new cars at ports, air fields and dealer compounds across the country. If you want brand new then you need to place a factory order. 

 

If you are picking off a list then chances are it'll already be sat somewhere.

 

Luckily Skoda's limited manufacturing capacity means that most of the time you end up at the opposite end of the scale, waiting longer than normal for the car to be built, shipped and delivered.

 

See this thread from a few years ago. A brand new five year old vRS turned up on eBay from a Skoda main dealer...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/243436-5-year-old-vrs-with-only-2500-miles/?hl=%2Bhedge#entry2858652

http://www.britcon.co.uk/projects/80/vehicle-import-terminal/

 

in the good old salty sea air

It's not just second hand cars that sit there for years.

New cars too.

It was around the late 70's early 80's our company bought two Austin Maxis, brand new...

But after a year, on both cars the front wings rotted through.

On further investigation, the rubber mounts that support the rear bumper had actually perished.

A serious investigation followed and it was found that the cars had actually been built over 2 years before, and were left standing in a muddy field all this time.

These days most parts, especially plastic parts, even tyres, have date stamps on.

If the car company is really using "just in time" manufacture, then some of these parts might be less than a month old when you buy your car.

British Leyland, Rover or what ever they were called at the time practiced just too late manufacturing techniques, in that due to industrial action, many parts were unavailable, cars were placed outside in the elements until the part came back in.

We had a new Austin Ambassador at the time, it was poor, don't give a damn workmanship that spoilt the brand.

After a year, the clutch slave cylinder failed, still had sand from the casting process in it.

Clutch failed, fell apart, clutch cover fixing bolts loose.

Oil pressure failure ... pump fell apart on remmoval, all screws loose.

Alternator failed.. stray screw had dropped into the field coils and shorted out the field to earth

Front wheel bearings appeared to fail, spring band not fitted correctly and came off causing a whine at speed.

Quality control... what quality control...?

there's a couple of MkI Fabia vRS SE's knocking about. A 2007 car with 09 plates on as they'd been sat at the dealers unsold.

Mine was manufactured April 2004 and I bought it in June. Not so bad

Have a look on Google Earth around some of the ports. Thousands of new cars sitting there.

Plenty of car dealers like that around here, there's a 97 Jag 5 miles away that's been for sale for 3 years iirc and hasn't moved once from the back of that lot since, why? It's £3000 and shabby. Seen it with new cars and some ex dealer motors that sit for ages. If it's a main dealer they normally have to repeat the sales multi point inspection every 90 days it sits

There's been an RS4 Avant for sale in a garage near me for the last three years. The price has not changed, £8500 for the '53 plate.

I blame the horrible green colour!

I've just done a tax check on one of the cars at the garage. MOT expiry was Jan 2011! Yikes.