Advice Needed!

[Spacewagon52]

My daughter’s car (SEAT 1.2 Ibiza 02 reg) is very poorly. Have had it X-Rayed at the car doctor and the diagnosis is terminal (very nasty sound from the engine and it stalls).

 So ………. Did my fatherly thing and went on Auto Trader to source a car at the cheaper end of the market - circa £3000 - £3500. Found THREE potentially good cars with low mileage ……..BUT ……….. she does not like them!

 “Granny Cars!” was her reply when I showed her a lovely Corolla!

 She wants to buy a 1.4 Polo, but that vintage suffers from bore wear and is from the same stable as SEAT.

 I found a couple of good Honda Jazz cars ………. “No! Don’t like them!”

 She is 31 with her own house and very sensible ……….BUT ………. How do you persuade someone, who is not flush with money (though the bank of Mum and Dad will be helping!) to buy something reliable?

 Have you guys had a similar experience with your offspring?

 Did you manage to persuade them to buy the “right” car?

 Does anyone have any suggestions? Persuasive arguments or possible cars she might like?

 Trying hard to steer her towards Japanese derived cars.

 My concern is that it will be a case of STYLE over SUBSTANCE!

 Help please, from a frustrated father!

 

 

[Zotto]

Let her make her own mistakes, possibly with her money 

[bobmc]

Turn it around. Tell your daughter to find a couple of cars she likes within budget and then reject any that don't meet your criteria of reliabilty and value. 

[Spacewagon52]

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

Turn it around. Tell your daughter to find a couple of cars she likes within budget and then reject any that don't meet your criteria of reliabilty and value. 

Good idea but the one she chose was the Polo with the dodgy engine. I will do just that but in the end it must be her decision I suppose. Style of Substance I am afraid to say!

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

My daughter’s car (SEAT 1.2 Ibiza 02 reg) is very poorly. Have had it X-Rayed at the car doctor and the diagnosis is terminal (very nasty sound from the engine and it stalls).

 So ………. Did my fatherly thing and went on Auto Trader to source a car at the cheaper end of the market - circa £3000 - £3500. Found THREE potentially good cars with low mileage ……..BUT ……….. she does not like them!

 “Granny Cars!” was her reply when I showed her a lovely Corolla!

 She wants to buy a 1.4 Polo, but that vintage suffers from bore wear and is from the same stable as SEAT.

 I found a couple of good Honda Jazz cars ………. “No! Don’t like them!”

 She is 31 with her own house and very sensible ……….BUT ………. How do you persuade someone, who is not flush with money (though the bank of Mum and Dad will be helping!) to buy something reliable?

 Have you guys had a similar experience with your offspring?

 Did you manage to persuade them to buy the “right” car?

 Does anyone have any suggestions? Persuasive arguments or possible cars she might like?

 Trying hard to steer her towards Japanese derived cars.

 My concern is that it will be a case of STYLE over SUBSTANCE!

 Help please, from a frustrated father!

 

 

Nothing wrong with a 1.4 Polo. Bought one with 46k miles for £2.5k from an auction as my sons first car - went OK, pretty nippy and had no issues apart from a large rock flicking up and going through the front grill and radiator. Sold it for £2.3k a few months ago with 54k miles on it :). 

The thing is, its a 1.4 Naturally aspirated engine, very little to go wrong with it and very simple to fix. Doesn't look too bad for a 12 year old car either.

 

And I got its replacement for £3.4k with 64k miles on it - A Golf 1.4 TSI, again, has no issues. TBH the refinement in the Golf at high speed is pretty remarkable for a car of this size (its honestly better than a Lexus CT hands down in every department)

 

He tells me he's keeping the Golf for 2 years until he graduates! Somehow I dont think so!

[Spacewagon52]

Apparently there have been problems with bore wear on a number of cars. Did it use much oil? She had a Golf before - very refined car but I wonder how reliable they actually are. Auris / Yaris / Corolla is a no no for her me thinks. Yes, boring cars but they get you to work without drama.

[rayaans]

29 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Apparently there have been problems with bore wear on a number of cars. Did it use much oil? She had a Golf before - very refined car but I wonder how reliable they actually are. Auris / Yaris / Corolla is a no no for her me thinks. Yes, boring cars but they get you to work without drama.

Nope, the Naturally aspirated ones wont use much oil. The biggest issue on them seems to be ignition coils but its a very simple job. The 1.4 engines with poor reliability are the 168hp turbo and supercharged ones, the 140hp ones as well. The problems that these suffer with aren't common on the 1.4 TSI single turbo with 122hp (very rare car in MK5 Golf form) and the 1.4 NA engine

VAG 1.2 are a no go, they have poor reliability in general - chain issues mostly

 

[Spacewagon52]

4 minutes ago, rayaans said:

 

VAG 1.2 are a no go, they have poor reliability in general - chain issues mostly

 

Yes, I think the problem may be timing chain related. Her's is the 1.2 three cylinder engine. Thanks for the advice on the 1.4, I thought it was all those engines.

[Vince Donald]

Don't go for a car if you think it has issues with the chain.

 

My wife had a Nissan Micra which had a new chain at 40k ish miles before she bought it but the problem came back.

It caused so much problems that the car was eventually scrapped as it needed doing again at £1k+.

She went back to a Ford (Fiesta) which has had some issues but nothing as bad as the engine not working.

She now has now been considering a new car and I suggest a Nissan Leaf, but her view on Nissan is now tarnished.

Vince

[scudney]

lol no surprise with the Nissan these days especially after their partnership with Renault 

[jido]

How about a Skoda Fabia or a recent Hyundai i20?

[rayaans]

On 10/07/2017 at 8:47 PM, jido said:

How about a Skoda Fabia or a recent Hyundai i20?

Well the Fabia will use the same engines as the VW range and some components are of poorer quality. 

Hyundai I20 general quite reliable but depends on whether a young women wants to be seen in one of those as its not a great looker.  

Ford Fiesta may be a good shout, the 1.25 engine is reliable enough. 

Young females tend to think the Toyota Yaris is cute as well 

[AdeIS200]

Fiat 500? Proper girly car and 'trendy' I believe! Could get an '08 - '10 plate within your budget.

[dougie175]

Bit of a Matmite car but you would get a mk8 Civic for that money. Not sure if she needs 5 doors? If not the Type S is a very "cool" but reliable car. 

Watch the wings on mk5 golfs if you go that week we replace around 2 pairs a week under warranty at work, due to the foam damper rubbing away inside the wing however this does happen a lot more on the diesels rather than the petrols due to the vibrations.

My wife had a 1.4 59 plate Ibiza for 4 years before we upgraded her to the new Leon and it never put a foot wrong it was superb. 

[Spacewagon52]

Don't mention SKODA! She is a REAL badge snob!

Well an update on the saga. She wanted and I found two good ones in her price range .... but they had been sold! Tried hard to sell her a Corolla and Honda Jazz - "Granny Cars!"

In frustration, and as a joke, I sent her VW Beetle I saw on AutoTrader - she liked that! It looked good one ....... sold!

Then saw another Beetle in Canterbury - 2005, 2.0 litre petrol, 71,000 full service history (independent VW garage) cambelt done - immaculate! Sold? NO!

She got it for £1,500 - I thought a really good buy. Not the car she wanted at first or the size of engine - WOMEN!

Not a car I would have chosen - style of substance - but she is thrilled with it and £2,250 cheaper than an 06 Polo she was going to look at!

Are men like that? 

Has anyone here set their minds on a particular car and ended up buying something completely different on the day?

Also managed to sell her Seat Ibiza to a Polish chap for £200, who was exporting it for parts. He buys 400 cars each month for parts. He says older cars are very cheap here in the UK.

 

[Spacewagon52]

2 hours ago, dougie175 said:

Bit of a Matmite car but you would get a mk8 Civic for that money. Not sure if she needs 5 doors? If not the Type S is a very "cool" but reliable car. 

 

My wife had a 1.4 59 plate Ibiza for 4 years before we upgraded her to the new Leon and it never put a foot wrong it was superb. 

To be fair the Seat 1.2 has been a fairly reliable car. One spring - coils(?) and usual servicing costs. An 03 plate with 97,000 miles is likely to have issues. If we had had time then we might have found the problem, but with the electric window broken and it needing a new seatbelt it was really not worth the hassle.

I am not a big fan of VW but we will see how well her Beetle fairs.

 

I like the Honda models .............. but you can lead a horse to water ........!

[dougie175]

1 hour ago, Spacewagon52 said:

To be fair the Seat 1.2 has been a fairly reliable car. One spring - coils(?) and usual servicing costs. An 03 plate with 97,000 miles is likely to have issues. If we had had time then we might have found the problem, but with the electric window broken and it needing a new seatbelt it was really not worth the hassle.

I am not a big fan of VW but we will see how well her Beetle fairs.

 

I like the Honda models .............. but you can lead a horse to water ........!

Yeah despite being a manager at a VW approved bodyshop I'm not a VW fan either. There's nothing wrong with VWs they just don't deserve this amazing build quality and great car image so many people and press give them. The Audi A4 or A6 avant would be an ideal next car for myself however!

Honda will always have a place in my heart but alongside Toyota they don't particularly have a "cool" model range

[paulrnx]

On 7/15/2017 at 9:16 AM, Spacewagon52 said:

Don't mention SKODA! She is a REAL badge snob!

Well an update on the saga. She wanted and I found two good ones in her price range .... but they had been sold! Tried hard to sell her a Corolla and Honda Jazz - "Granny Cars!"

In frustration, and as a joke, I sent her VW Beetle I saw on AutoTrader - she liked that! It looked good one ....... sold!

Then saw another Beetle in Canterbury - 2005, 2.0 litre petrol, 71,000 full service history (independent VW garage) cambelt done - immaculate! Sold? NO!

She got it for £1,500 - I thought a really good buy. Not the car she wanted at first or the size of engine - WOMEN!

Not a car I would have chosen - style of substance - but she is thrilled with it and £2,250 cheaper than an 06 Polo she was going to look at!

Are men like that? 

Has anyone here set their minds on a particular car and ended up buying something completely different on the day?

Also managed to sell her Seat Ibiza to a Polish chap for £200, who was exporting it for parts. He buys 400 cars each month for parts. He says older cars are very cheap here in the UK.

 

I once had my XF 3.0DS Premium Luxury in for a service and I walked out having bought a 5 litre V8 XF. I knew after 500 yards of driving it that I was going to buy it. So did the sales manager in the showroom when he was urging me to take it out, I suspect. I've always had a pretty good idea of what I'd buy next but this was the first time I ever bought another car when I had absolutely no plans to. Not quite what you were asking I know but thought I'd mention it.