Hi all, my beloved 1.9sdi just died at 180k, and while it was a bit agricultural, its given me 110k of mostly hassle free mileage. So rather than wade into the minefield that it is looking for another make/model which will be as reliable and offer as good mpg on the motorway, I thought I'd be boring and get something similar. So I've been looking at some relatively low mileage 1.9tdi's as a potential replacement. I know there's been plenty of requests from people looking for advice on buying, and I have been scoring the forum for them. However I've got a slightly more specific question I couldn't find an answer for (though apologies if there is and I just didn't find it).

 

I'm looking at a car later this week, its a 55 plate with about 65k on the clock, and has service stamps/history for the first 10 of it's 13 odd year life. But nothing for the past couple. From the photos it looks in really good condition, so doesn't look like its been hard used.

 

To get to the point, does anyone have any advice on whether I should be particularly concerned about this lack of info? I know I've got to make the decision myself at the end of the day, but the advice of those more mechanically minded than me would help inform it.  It's only covered about 14k since its last known service, so not a ton of miles, considering most people seem to change their oil every 10k. Say for example it hasn't been serviced in 14k/2-3 years, would this be enough to result in engine wear which could prematurely kill the car?

 

Cheers

No, it'll be fine.

Cheers mate

But budget for servicing when you get it and things are checked, so fluids and filters, wiper blades, tyres maybe.

Check what you can when going to see it. 

Have you checked the MOT history online to see if any advisories at the last MOT?

It's from a garage, so they'll service it and giving it a fresh MOT. There's nothing of particular concern on past MOT's, though as it's older, I'm going to be as thorough as I can be. Fortunately my mate is a mechanic so if I do buy he said he'd give it a once over, plug it into VCDS etc, when he does belts and water pump, which unless they've just been done, I'll get done again, as I do so much driving both commute and with work.

 

Thanks for your advice it really is appreciated, don't know why I'm finding car buying so stressful this time round.