Buying a 2019 Fabia Estate...

[SkodaCJ]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently looking at purchasing a 2019 Fabia Estate. It has about 38k mileage so far.

MOT check, 1st MOT failed for seat belt damage (was retested and passed the next day) and it's passed the most recent one but there was an advisory about a EPC warning light. 

Now the car seemed fine in a test drive and also looks like it hasn't been used in a long time - road tax expired earlier this year, so I reckon it's been sitting in this dealership for a while.

It's the 110bhp version fwiw. 

Should i be concerned about the EPC warning light? The salesperson said it was a sensor tripping from the car not really being used - but I'm not sure how much I buy that tbh. 

Any advice welcomed - is this a normal thing if a car hasn't been used much and battery is low etc? Or should I run for the hills? 

TIA

[nta16]

Seat belt damage on a 4-year old car doesn't sound good.

 

A car that's been sitting in a Dealership and/or not used for a long time could have a low car battery that might charge up fine but I'd not trust a Dealership to do that proper so would insist on a new CORRECT battery if I was to buy the car then you know you have a new (hopefully correct) battery in good condition and only you can be responsible if it doesn't last long or goes flat.

 

A low car battery can throw up all sorts of warnings before the lights and warnings actually spell it out to the driver that the car battery is low and lack of proper use of the car can also contribute to possibly warning lights and messages but so can other issues and problems.

 

Plugging in a VW appropriate scan (diagnostics) tool may give you more information towards the why the EPC light was on if the Dealership has been too lazy to clear all codes (never under estimate how lazy or careless Dealerships/garage/mechanics/"technicians" can be.

 

If I seem cynical it's because of decades of dealing with English Dealerships/garage/mechanics/"technicians", even if you buy a decent Japanese car like a Honda or Toyota you still deal with English Dealerships, well in Ingerlund at least.

 

There's no telling on a site how good or bad a car is to buy, look at the condition of the car ,look at any servicing history (is is full or bits missing) look at the mileage, when was it done, higher mileage can be better than low mileage and lack of use.

 

It used to be that the Dealerships only kept the car for two months before moving it on if it didn't sell but I've no idea in the times of Covid, parts shortages and recent times.

 

A 2019 VW car is more (over) VW complex than even (over) complex earlier VW cars so I'd suggest you approach it with even more care, the car's lack of use may be easily overcome if it has previously been well used and well looked after and maintained and fully serviced on time.  The failed seatbelt may, or may not be a sign of something, or nothing.  If you want a more carefree purchase you may consider looking elsewhere.

 

[Ootohere]

The EPC coming on could be from as simple as a misfire, maybe because the spark plugs need replacing.

 

So what Service History is there? 

[SkodaCJ]

On 23/10/2023 at 17:51, nta16 said:

Seat belt damage on a 4-year old car doesn't sound good.

 

A car that's been sitting in a Dealership and/or not used for a long time could have a low car battery that might charge up fine but I'd not trust a Dealership to do that proper so would insist on a new CORRECT battery if I was to buy the car then you know you have a new (hopefully correct) battery in good condition and only you can be responsible if it doesn't last long or goes flat.

 

A low car battery can throw up all sorts of warnings before the lights and warnings actually spell it out to the driver that the car battery is low and lack of proper use of the car can also contribute to possibly warning lights and messages but so can other issues and problems.

 

Plugging in a VW appropriate scan (diagnostics) tool may give you more information towards the why the EPC light was on if the Dealership has been too lazy to clear all codes (never under estimate how lazy or careless Dealerships/garage/mechanics/"technicians" can be.

 

If I seem cynical it's because of decades of dealing with English Dealerships/garage/mechanics/"technicians", even if you buy a decent Japanese car like a Honda or Toyota you still deal with English Dealerships, well in Ingerlund at least.

 

There's no telling on a site how good or bad a car is to buy, look at the condition of the car ,look at any servicing history (is is full or bits missing) look at the mileage, when was it done, higher mileage can be better than low mileage and lack of use.

 

It used to be that the Dealerships only kept the car for two months before moving it on if it didn't sell but I've no idea in the times of Covid, parts shortages and recent times.

 

A 2019 VW car is more (over) VW complex than even (over) complex earlier VW cars so I'd suggest you approach it with even more care, the car's lack of use may be easily overcome if it has previously been well used and well looked after and maintained and fully serviced on time.  The failed seatbelt may, or may not be a sign of something, or nothing.  If you want a more carefree purchase you may consider looking elsewhere.

 

This is all being said with me being quite a noob about cars so if anything i ask/say sounds confused...it's because I probably am - but hey there's only one way to learn right?

The first MOT says: 

Offside Rear Seat belt damaged (7.1.2 (b) (i)) 

Tested the next day and passed.

I did a car history check with TotalCarCheck and it hasn't come up with anything classed as an issue?

And please don't worry about being cynical, I literally am assuming the worse when it comes to anything car related to do with dealerships. 

The reason I think it's been sitting for a while is because the road tax expired in March this year...

In regards to service history I have the following attachments and @Rooted this may answer help your previous questions re:servicing+mileage. 

Due to the mileage irregularity increase I'm wondering if this was ex lease vehicle...

Thank in advance for your help! 

[nta16]

That TotalCarCheck has sent me cross-eyed and made my head hurt, IF it's accurate the figures don't add up, I'd not put too much faith in any of these types of report even the much more expensive ones, not all accidents and repairs are reported and recorded and all databases have errors and omissions.

 

You can check MoT (and "road tax") and MoT history with the gov for yourself for free and verify some of the TotalCarCheck figures. -  Check the MOT history of a vehicle - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history (and if you have the V5C reference number the station(s) that done the tests).

 

Check if a vehicle is taxed - https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax (see if the road tax was as tardy as the MoTs appear to be).

 

What was the advisory about EPC warning light?

 

You can ask a Skoda Dealer for the full service history of the car to see if other servicing work was done in addition to oil changes and inspection, such as brake fluid / engine air filter / spark plugs / etc..

 

Offside Rear Seat belt damaged (7.1.2 (b) (i)) - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/7-other-equipment#section-7-1-2

 

First MoT wasn't done until 7/11/22 according to TotalCarCheck so doesn't tie in with March "road tax".

 

I think you need more information about this car and the mileages verified, and more info on what, if any, additional servicing, maintenance and repairs have been done.  You can ask the Dealership for and about these things and if the car was leased, if they don't want to help then walk away from them.

 

Even those experienced at driving cars may miss or not detect issues with a car on a test drive, the computer programs and all the driver aids on a 2019 car can give a false feel plus a 2019 car makes the driver so remote from the mechanics and feel of the car - so if quite experienced or quite a noob a car might seem fine on a test drive.

 

Don't worry about asking any questions, none will be silly (although some answers, especially some of mine sometimes, can be confused or wrong).

 

Anything on the GPF? 

What are all the tyres like, same make/model, condition and tread? 

What are the brakes like, wear, (the braking system, which includes the tyres, is the most important thing on the car, followed by steering and suspension)?

General condition of exterior and interior?

 

This might be a good or even very good example but if not there are plenty of other cars for sale.

 

Edited 25 October, 2023 by nta16

[SkodaCJ]

On 25/10/2023 at 01:51, nta16 said:

That TotalCarCheck has sent me cross-eyed and made my head hurt, IF it's accurate the figures don't add up, I'd not put too much faith in any of these types of report even the much more expensive ones, not all accidents and repairs are reported and recorded and all databases have errors and omissions.

 

You can check MoT (and "road tax") and MoT history with the gov for yourself for free and verify some of the TotalCarCheck figures. -  Check the MOT history of a vehicle - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history (and if you have the V5C reference number the station(s) that done the tests).

 

Check if a vehicle is taxed - https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax (see if the road tax was as tardy as the MoTs appear to be).

 

What was the advisory about EPC warning light?

 

You can ask a Skoda Dealer for the full service history of the car to see if other servicing work was done in addition to oil changes and inspection, such as brake fluid / engine air filter / spark plugs / etc..

 

Offside Rear Seat belt damaged (7.1.2 (b) (i)) - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/7-other-equipment#section-7-1-2

 

First MoT wasn't done until 7/11/22 according to TotalCarCheck so doesn't tie in with March "road tax".

 

I think you need more information about this car and the mileages verified, and more info on what, if any, additional servicing, maintenance and repairs have been done.  You can ask the Dealership for and about these things and if the car was leased, if they don't want to help then walk away from them.

 

Even those experienced at driving cars may miss or not detect issues with a car on a test drive, the computer programs and all the driver aids on a 2019 car can give a false feel plus a 2019 car makes the driver so remote from the mechanics and feel of the car - so if quite experienced or quite a noob a car might seem fine on a test drive.

 

Don't worry about asking any questions, none will be silly (although some answers, especially some of mine sometimes, can be confused or wrong).

 

Anything on the GPF? 

What are all the tyres like, same make/model, condition and tread? 

What are the brakes like, wear, (the braking system, which includes the tyres, is the most important thing on the car, followed by steering and suspension)?

General condition of exterior and interior?

 

This might be a good or even very good example but if not there are plenty of other cars for sale.

 

Thank you very much for replying and apologies for taking so long to come back to you. In the end I didn't move forward with purchasing this car, the dealership were a PITA in regards to moving forwards with the purchase/questions asked etc. I looked around and managed to come across a 2019 Fabia Estate Monte Carlo at a pretty good price so went with that instead. Full service history, and was from an approved dealership so 12 month warranty etc vs the 3 months the other dealership were offering. So now to trawl this website and find out as much as I can about everything.

Thank you again for your advice, it definitely helped with my next steps regarding this car!