330dcoupe Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 A black, 04 plate, SEAT Ibiza Cupra TDI. The car had a spotless exterior and a pretty much unmarked interior - test drove it, it seemed fine - Clutch, brakes and gear change seemed fine. There was one problems though. The current owner is it's 3rd and has covered, roughly, 5k miles in 6 months. It's been serviced twice by SEAT and once by an independent garage. That's the iffy bit for me. The owner, honestly admitted that they weren't prepared to pay the SEAT asking price for the service - so had it done by someone else. I've noted the garages details from the stamp - If i called them, would they be able to confirm the service and at what mileage it was done at? It's just that I've bought a clocked car once before in the past, even though a court order asked the seller to pay me £5k back, I never got it. It was clocked by 60k miles!!!! The car was M.O.T'd and taxed when they bought it last August - so coupling them, with V5 form information and service stamp(s) match everything up in place. Would you touch it with a barge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustynuts Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 My local independent notes the mileage on every invoice I get for any work done, even tires. I don't know if they keep records or not but certainly I could provide you with the mileage as should the owner of the Seat you viewed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 How many miles has it done now? (or recorded on it now) Why is the new owner selling it so soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
330dcoupe Posted February 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 The car was showing mid-27k miles - it was serviced c22k miles They're selling due to a new house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 Ring Seat customer services in the morning with the reg and ask them when it was last seen, you may find that it has been into main dealers more than a few times since the last stamp and it has loads more miles on it than 27k. Be very careful, I really don't get this mentality on a nearly new car, save £50-100 on a service to loose maybe £500-1000 come sale time, always makes me suspicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
962C Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 330d - walk away. There are plenty of cars out there. If you are buying something only four years old, take no risk. Leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D1MAC Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 I would say check things out more carefully (and if you still feel nervous then walk away) but don't dismiss it out of hand. No of owners isn't a problem, given the mileage overall. Things have changed quite a bit from the days of someone buying new and keeping for a set time or years & years. As for someone doing a low mileage - it happens. Was there a van in the driveway or did you ask whether they worked close to home? Just as there are people who do 40k a year or 20k ish a year just on a commute and a few trips here & there (like me), there are also people who work 3 miles from home or/and have a van for day to day and just use the car at the weekends. The only slightly funny one is the servicing but I could (in theory) place perfectly decent people in front of you who don't like/want to take their cars to a main dealer for a service. In some respects they couldn't 'afford' it either but does that make them bad owners or dodgy - no, just makes them non petrol heads with a slightly different attitude to things. I could also plonk serious petrol heads of 2/4 wheel variety who aren't short of cash but wouldn't go near a main dealer if it wasn't for the lease they were tied into - they would suggest (with some degree of accuracy) that std services get done by the YTS (or whatever) boy and that in reality you might actually get a better service from an indy. Overall, no right or wrong, just get as much additional info as you can and make a call with open eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 If you're ever in doubt about a car, just walk away from it. Another one will be along soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
330dcoupe Posted February 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Cheers chaps. I think I will walk away from this one. I called the 3rd party garage she had the service done from, and they said that they didn't keep records of cars serviced. So heres the equation: 04 Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI + 1 non SEAT stamp + from bradford + guy at garage had that dodgy asian/Yorkshire accent = too risky!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
962C Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Cheers chaps. I think I will walk away from this one. [/ QUOTE ] wise decision, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Cheers chaps. I think I will walk away from this one. I called the 3rd party garage she had the service done from, and they said that they didn't keep records of cars serviced. So heres the equation: 04 Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI + 1 non SEAT stamp + from bradford + guy at garage had that dodgy asian/Yorkshire accent = too risky!!!!!! [/ QUOTE ] I would also walk away, there's plenty about, for me the killer is the non-dealer service for a car only just out of warranty. 10+ years old, yes, but something that new ? Walk away. Out of curiosity, if you're considering a seat, have you looked at Skoda ? I have mates with a new Octavia VRS and his missus has a Fabia vrs (c.2 years old*), both really impressive cars. *The car, not his missus, that would be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galballyj Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 whats this "MUST be serviced by a main dealer" mentality all about? have you seen the state of some of these main dealers!!!!! especially the non-prestige marques, ford, vaux etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Cheers chaps. I think I will walk away from this one. I called the 3rd party garage she had the service done from, and they said that they didn't keep records of cars serviced. So heres the equation: 04 Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI + 1 non SEAT stamp + from bradford + guy at garage had that dodgy asian/Yorkshire accent = too risky!!!!!! [/ QUOTE ] Ha ha, what are you trying to say about Bratford & populace!!! A wise move to walk away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 [ QUOTE ] have you seen the state of some of these main dealers!!!!! especially the prestige marques [/ QUOTE ] Corrected your post, there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 [ QUOTE ] whats this "MUST be serviced by a main dealer" mentality all about? have you seen the state of some of these main dealers!!!!! especially the non-prestige marques, ford, vaux etc. [/ QUOTE ] I think the problem is you also loose any guarantee of milage, having main dealer stamps is also a good mileage keeper as they are stored on the companies main system, once it is out of the network all sorts goes on with some cars, and you can't tell the genuine ones from the clocked ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] whats this "MUST be serviced by a main dealer" mentality all about? have you seen the state of some of these main dealers!!!!! especially the non-prestige marques, ford, vaux etc. [/ QUOTE ] I think the problem is you also loose any guarantee of milage, having main dealer stamps is also a good mileage keeper as they are stored on the companies main system, once it is out of the network all sorts goes on with some cars, and you can't tell the genuine ones from the clocked ones. [/ QUOTE ] Thats my point. I don't bother with main dealers on my older cars, but when I had decent stuff with real resale value, I went to main dealers, knowing it would support its value. No whay I'd take any of my current rusty sh1tters though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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