Trying to buy high mileage...need help identifying red flags before visiting

[fsa]

I'm considering the above: it's listed for 1.6k, which matches with what HonestJohn estimates at that mileage. 1.9PDI, Elegance trim, Bolero, FL. Has had clutch+flywheel done 20k ago and timing belt 40k ago. It doesn't have a turbo, no DPF to worry about...should be bomb-proof so long as it has a full FSH, right?

 

I know it won't be as gutsy as my previous VRS, but having been out of the country for two years, I've lost my NCB so need to start lower on the insurance group anyway.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[fsa]

ETA: I had a bout of stupid when I wrote the above and now can't find the edit to save face. Obviously it has a turbo, its a bleeding TDI engine!

[gav_is_con]

Will have had a hard life as a cab.  At that money can’t you pick up something with a lot less miles ?

[chrisund123]

What's the interior like? I'd be expecting the drivers seat to have seen some serious wear and tear after 250K.

[J.R.]

Seems expensive, I picked up a very low mileage lady owner FSH 2006 Elegance Estate 1.9TDi needing a couple of minor repairs (less than £100) for £750 and when I was searching I had a budget of £1500 and found loads of 2009 vehicles with far lower mileage than your ex taxi.

 

However in terms of your question of bulletproofness I would agree with you, if the general condition of the vehicle is sound and you are happy with the price then why not especially if you intend keeping it many years.

 

MY MK1 1.9tdi I got at 3 years old from a chauffeur friend with 188K miles and took it to 325000 miles over a subsequent 13 years with absolutely zero problems just oil, filters and brake pads, the DMF did however fail immediately so it looks like yours has had the important work done.

 

look around at what else is out ther though, search on autotrader, gumtree and e-bay.

[grldtnr]

I think you can find better!

[StevesTruck]

Mileage doesn't matter, it's how it's been treated. If it's been owned by the driver and he's looked after it as his means of making a living, it's a different story to it being on a bigger firm's fleet, with a different driver every day and zero F's given by them. Look it over well and buy on condition. 

[fsa]

7 hours ago, gav_is_con said:

Will have had a hard life as a cab.  At that money can’t you pick up something with a lot less miles ?

Thanks. I am looking at 100k+ ones to keep costs down and this was the only one so far where the owner confirmed a clutch and timing belt change less than 20k ago. I will keep looking though.

4 hours ago, chrisund123 said:

What's the interior like? I'd be expecting the drivers seat to have seen some serious wear and tear after 250K.

At first glance the interior looks great, although I didn't think to look closely at the driver's seat. You are right, the bolsters are heavily worn. I didn't think about this, thanks for pointing it out!

4 hours ago, J.R. said:

Seems expensive, I picked up a very low mileage lady owner FSH 2006 Elegance Estate 1.9TDi needing a couple of minor repairs (less than £100) for £750 and when I was searching I had a budget of £1500 and found loads of 2009 vehicles with far lower mileage than your ex taxi.

 

However in terms of your question of bulletproofness I would agree with you, if the general condition of the vehicle is sound and you are happy with the price then why not especially if you intend keeping it many years.

 

MY MK1 1.9tdi I got at 3 years old from a chauffeur friend with 188K miles and took it to 325000 miles over a subsequent 13 years with absolutely zero problems just oil, filters and brake pads, the DMF did however fail immediately so it looks like yours has had the important work done.

 

look around at what else is out ther though, search on autotrader, gumtree and e-bay.

Thank you for your thoughts. I am scouring all three sites. It had MOTs every 6 months for 5 years and the only advisory was on tyres a few years ago...that's what made me think it was taken care of. I also gave it more importance since the important work is done as the last time I got a DMF done it took £400 and timing belt was £300. I will look for lower mileage ones though based on what you said.

4 hours ago, grldtnr said:

I think you can find better!

I'll keep looking.

3 hours ago, StevesTruck said:

Mileage doesn't matter, it's how it's been treated. If it's been owned by the driver and he's looked after it as his means of making a living, it's a different story to it being on a bigger firm's fleet, with a different driver every day and zero F's given by them. Look it over well and buy on condition. 

It's two hours away, so I really wanted to be sure before taking the trip to check it out. I will keep looking though after the consensus I've gotten here.

 

 

I think I gave this taxi too much importance since the important work was done and it had a Bolero. The last time I looked for Bolero units to swap they were £500, which was a few years ago. I had no idea they are so much cheaper now on ebay, so I won't give it any importance.

 

As ever, thank you everyone!

[J.R.]

Interior on my MK1 was still in great shape after 325000 miles but the drivers seat cover wore from getting in and out, the MK2 is better in that respect as there is now a hard edge were the coin pocket is that you slide over when entering adn exitting.

 

Some taxi drivers are ver large though

[fsa]

1 minute ago, J.R. said:

Interior on my MK1 was still in great shape after 325000 miles but the drivers seat cover wore from getting in and out, the MK2 is better in that respect as there is now a hard edge were the coin pocket is that you slide over when entering adn exitting.

 

Some taxi drivers are ver large though

It's that exact edge that's worn out on this one!! I'll post the listing here so you can see. The seller said he's willing to negotiate on the price...which is something I intend to do without being disrespectful on any listing I visit.

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/skoda/skoda-octavia/1323962272

[J.R.]

I think that its far too much for a saloon not an Estate in that condition with that mileage.

 

On other vehicles if the DMF has been replaced with a SMF then it does not really matter if it was many miles before.

[fsa]

1 minute ago, J.R. said:

I think that its far too much for a saloon not an Estate in that condition with that mileage.

 

On other vehicles if the DMF has been replaced with a SMF then it does not really matter if it was many miles before.

Thank you, that's sorted then...ruling this out!

 

Oh, I read the sticky about switching DMF to SMF....is that recommended for all non-VRS models or just the 1.9TDIs?

 

Out of interest, what should the one in that example cost? I won't rely too heavily on the HonestJohn figures then (that said £1.6k for this at that mileage).

[fsa]

This is the last new thread I am going to start, promise.

 

I am trying to secure an Octy in the next two weeks for under £1.5k and am scouring eBay, autotrader and gumtree. Since I can't take much time off to use the train and visit these, I would like to do as many checks as possible before shortlisting ones to visit. Naturally, there are some sellers who plea ignorance and can't answer anything, so I am ruling them out. Others are more forthcoming and giving more info, so I'm calling them. I was hoping if it would be okay for me to post any short listed listing here together with everything I've found out and see if there's anything else you suggest I look out for before visiting?

 

(I'll be going through all the checks as described in the ChrisFix 'Buying a used car' youtube video and taking my OBD scanner with me).

 

Requirements

• Of course, MKII Octys
• Hatchback
• <£1.5
• non-DPF 1.9 or 2.0 TDI
• 6 speed is a bonus
• Evidence of MOT history advisories being addressed and general TLC

 

I started another thread about an ex-taxi I saw...if the mods are able to merge that with this, that'll be great.

 

For now, there's just another one: https://www.gumtree.com/p/skoda/skoda-octavia-2.0tdi/1323350645

I have gathered the following so far:

• 2004, 153k, BKD engine (without DPF and has 6-speed), asking £1.5k.
• Ambiente, so doesn't seem to have the full MaxiDot...but I don't suppose that should be a big deal? I liked it in my previous VRS, but I can't be too picky now.
• It's being sold privately, although the seller is claiming it was a part exchange from his work which he bought to spruce up and sell on. He has put new brake pads all round and replaced the alternator belt and pulleys.
• MOTed till Nov and last advisory says all the brake discs are worn but not weakened (1.1.14 a ii) (How much should I factor for that? I don't understand why the seller put new pads and not addressed the discs since it'll need new pads when the discs are changed anyway).
• Failed on rear coil spring in 2017 and advisories for both suspension arm bushes (I assume they were repaired as there are no further mentions of it).
• 2015 advisory on surface corrosion on the exhaust and underside, but no subsequent mention (does this mean it was just a picky tester?)
• Timing belt at 135k in 2015. No evidence of clutch work.
• Says it drives fine without any rattles and pulls great, but obviously I will check this out for myself.
• HonestJohn says to expect to pay £1k, so I will have to see how much they're willing to negotiate. It's been posted for nearly a month now and not sold yet...so it could mean there's something wrong or people aren't showing interest because of the asking price.

 

As ever, thank you for your guidance!

 

Edited 3 January, 2019 by fsa

[StevesTruck]

I think you're probably doing the right thing. For me, that's too expensive for a car that's always going to be a bit of a gamble.

 

My rule of buying a vehicle is spend half of your budget, and then keep the other half for putting things right. We bought a cheap Caddy with higher miles than that (straight up, it's got about as many miles on as the Chang'e 4 moon lander), and a lot of big receipts in it's service history. Much as I've been happy with it, I have changed the turbo, the ic, the front wings and pretty much all the front suspension and brakes. I've not got a problem with that as all it's cost me is parts and time, but if we'd had to pay a garage, it would never have been worthwhile. 

[fsa]

5 minutes ago, StevesTruck said:

My rule of buying a vehicle is spend half of your budget, and then keep the other half for putting things right

Thanks so much, that is sage advice...I'll keep that in mind!

[xman]

Surely most taxi drivers usually only get rid if a car no longer meets local taxi regulations (age, emissions,new rules etc) or something expensive to fix was going wrong.

 

Especially the coveted holy grail 1.9pd engine.

 

There probably will be significantly more than the average level of sick, bodily fluids, nicotine, take away food, grime etc in the carpets and upholstery in a taxi of that mileage.

[J.R.]

My discs looked fine but the backplatese were rusty, it had been regularly serviced and had new pads, my vehicle had lived by the sea and got an advisory for surface corrosion but its limited to the rear suspension cross member, wishbones and the brake backplates, all the fastenings undo and are free of corrosion on the threads so I would not be concerned about that.

 

My discs were all significantly rusted on the rear face which is hidden by the backplates, had i not changed them I would never have known, braked OK and passed the MOT/CT tests but up to 40% of the braking surface area was missing, cheap and easy enough to replace and gives peace of mind.

 

I would invest £225 in VCDS now, you will need it later anyway and it will repay itself instantly by steering you away from the wrong car and giving you all the faults to negotiate the price on a better one, an OBD reader always shows mine as no faults unless there is a warning light on the dash wheareas VCDS reveals loads of recorded faults which can initially seem overwhelming especially to the seller.

 

I found a lot of vehicles were removed from Gumtree and relisted frequently often with a different seller identity, changes to the description etc.

Edited 3 January, 2019 by J.R.

[fsa]

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

My discs looked fine but the backplatese were rusty, it had been regularly serviced and had new pads, my vehicle had lived by the sea and got an advisory for surface corrosion but its limited to the rear suspension cross member, wishbones and the brake backplates, all the fastenings undo and are free of corrosion on the threads so I would not be concerned about that.

Ah, so as long as the threads are okay, surface rust is just superficial.

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

My discs were all significantly rusted on the rear face which is hidden by the backplates, had i not changed them I would never have known, braked OK and passed the MOT/CT tests but up to 40% of the braking surface area was missing, cheap and easy enough to replace and gives peace of mind.

Does that mean the only way to check the rear face is to remove? I'll factor in the disc replacement costs to my budget for added peace of mind. Thanks for the pointer.

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

I would invest £225 in VCDS now, you will need it later anyway and it will repay itself instantly by steering you away from the wrong car and giving you all the faults to negotiate the price on a better one, an OBD reader always shows mine as no faults unless there is a warning light on the dash wheareas VCDS reveals loads of recorded faults which can initially seem overwhelming especially to the seller.

I didn't realise OBD readers don't always show past faults! I used to have the fully fledged VCDS, which I sold before going out of the country. Would the best place to buy one cheaply now still be eBay? I totally forgot about this and will get one asap.

 

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

I found a lot of vehicles were removed from Gumtree and relisted frequently often with a different seller identity, changes to the description etc.

Removed from Gumtree by Gumtree, or by the seller when they don't sell?

 

 

I don't think this one is worth the 4 hour train journey to inspect since I've learnt that it's still registered to the part ex dealer and the seller is getting rid of it as a side hustle. If it was decent enough, surely the trade would've sold it?

 

Back to searching.

[wiilydog]

I  won't pay more than £1k with it being base spec, as he probably bought it for £500 (trade part-ex price) 

 

Rear brake discs are to cheap to buy (£39 for a quality pair) but can be a pain the change due to the carrier bolts being very tight and restricted access.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-Rear-OE-OEM-Ultimax-Standard-Replacement-Brake-Discs-Pair-D1284/141444650897?hash=item20eec21791:g:k9EAAOSwVNxaIEPS:rk:1:pf:0

 

Also there is no pics of the condition of the drivers seat and door card as these can start to look tatty with high miles.

 

[fsa]

48 minutes ago, wiilydog said:

I  won't pay more than £1k with it being base spec, as he probably bought it for £500 (trade part-ex price)

That's super useful to know, thanks! I'll ask for more pics of the driver's seat and door card.

 

 

@J.R. I can now see it was stupid of me to have sold my Hex+CAN in 2016 before I left...now they've gone for a VIN-limited business model!!

[J.R.]

For the standard 280mm discs the carriers dont need to be removed.

 

FSA, its not a case of a generic OBD reader not showing a historic fault, although if it has reset itself then they may not, the real problem is that it will not interrogate any of the individual sub controllers where the vast majority of the non mission critical fault codes are stored, in my admittedly limited experience learning on the fly my generic reader will only read a fault code that will illuminate a warning light.

[john999boy]

5 hours ago, fsa said:

I started another thread about an ex-taxi I saw...if the mods are able to merge that with this, that'll be great.

 

[fsa]

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

FSA, its not a case of a generic OBD reader not showing a historic fault, although if it has reset itself then they may not, the real problem is that it will not interrogate any of the individual sub controllers where the vast majority of the non mission critical fault codes are stored, in my admittedly limited experience learning on the fly my generic reader will only read a fault code that will illuminate a warning light.

And that interrogation can only be done on VCDS by going through each one individually, right? Are there more sophisticated handheld ones which would interrogate each sub controller, or just laptop and HEX+CAN cable is the best way forward?

[Liger1956]

You could look at using an Android phone and either the Carista or OBDeleven apps and a bluetooth OBDII dongle.

These, in my opinion, are not as good as VCDS but are cheaper and are able to interrogate all of the modules on my car.

Whilst I have a genuine VCDS cable I also use Carista just to check for fault codes as it saves getting the laptop out to the car.

[pikpilot]

I use Carista (full version) on an iPad with a OBDII dongle with a built in WiFi. It shows all modules and history of problems which did not bring up a warning. Recent example is an intermittent door lock.