Opinions Or Info On Potential Purschases?

[Grantecosse 1]

Hi I am currently looking for a 1.9 205 Gti and I was wondering if anyone on here know's anything about a few of the cars that are currently advertised on some popular sites at the moment.

 

I cannot paste links but the first car is a Miami Blue G plate on Pistonheads with 34,000 miles which has had thousands spent on mechanicals but after close inspection it will need a respray as the paint wasn't great. Price is £4500.

 

The second car is on Autotrader for £5000 at a dealer called AP Autocare. It has had a full restoration and looks lovely but after a call to the dealer he confirmed it was a Cat C write off back in 2002. Seems like a stunning car but surely hugely overpriced?

 

My budget is £3000-£4000 which I think isn't bad or am I expecting too much?

 

Any help/opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

Grant

 

 

 

[nveeate 78]

Hi Grant, can't help with any specific on those, but I'd steer away from the cat c to be honest. By the way, we were emailing last week about an A3..!

[stain 13]

The pistonheads one seems a bit iffy to me. They can't substantiate the mileage, it has had an engine rebuild and needs repainting. The gearknob and pedal rubbers are easily replaced to give the impression of lower mileage. To my mind if this car was a genuine example it would be at least twice the price.

[Grantecosse 1]

I have viewed the Pistonheads car and the carpets, seats etc look like they are from a 34,000 mile car. The story goes that is was laid up for years and had 17,000 miles up until 2005 which is when the vosa mileage database started.

 

The vendor is selling on behalf of the owner and I saw receipts for £10,500. One invoice was from L.A.D Motorsport in Morecambe which came to £8500 for a blueprinted engine rebuild, clutch, quaiffe diff etc etc. The owner supposedly wanted it perfect. With a proper respray it would be one of the best around.

 

Been looking for 2 months now and really struggling to find a good car.

[nveeate 78]

How many owners on the blue one? Would it be easy enough to trace its history? I'd raised similar doubts to those above when we were emailing last week.....to have done approx 700 miles a year 1990-2005 yet to have lost all history and 'seen paint' would obviously be very rare! The carpets can hold up surprisingly well, and there seems to be a massive difference in condition of seats etc which doesn't necessarily correlate with miles - I would guess it's more to do with how they've been stored, e.g. things like stitching splits more likely on cars that have been damp inside causing threads to weaken/rot over time, with good condition still possible on higher miles cars. Interiors easy to swap too! However, I suppose if the car is mechanically perfect with receipts for all the later work, and you don't mind spending a bit on the bodywork, it could still be a good buy.

[stain 13]

I guess it comes down to this - are you paying for the car itself or the provenance? The blue one could end up to be a lovely example BUT with an unusual history.

[jeremy 70]

In general car seat wear can be a good indicator to true mileage of a car, however when I bought my 1.6 it had one careful lady owner with only 23k on the clock yet the seat was shot to pieces. The reason being all her trips lasted about two miles in any one direction, this I knew to be correct as I knew the lady selling it. I guess the point is sometimes looks can be deceiving. Also the paintwork was awful due to Peugeot lacquer problems compounded by a poor respray. With that said it drove like new and wish id never sold it. Btw the car was a 1991 model, and I bought it in about 2002ish sold approximately three years later.

[welshpug 1,657]

It doesnt take much to cat c a 205, my own car was declared a cat c by the insurance company two years ago, so far all i have done is yanked the wing back out by hand and replaced the indicator.

 

As soon as i address the corrosion in the inner wing and find a good bumper you would never tell.

[nveeate 78]

It doesnt take much to cat c a 205, my own car was declared a cat c by the insurance company two years ago, so far all i have done is yanked the wing back out by hand and replaced the indicator.

 

As soon as i address the corrosion in the inner wing and find a good bumper you would never tell.

 

I think it comes down more to the reason for buying it, as Stain suggested above. If you 'just' want a good 205, then one a well repaired cat c could be fine - but it's always going to have that marker, so if an untainted/uncertain history is important to you then it's not such a good option.

 

With the value of receipts/work done on the blue one, I think that would be a better buy even though I'm sceptical of exceptionally low mileage with nothing to back it up. As Grant says, it could make a nice car.

[Grantecosse 1]

The blue 34k car has had 10 owners. I am after a good car to ideally keep for a long long time and enjoy (i've sold 2 very good examples in the last 9 years which I now regret) This is maybe why I am drawn towards the blue car which is mechanically perfect and has a very nice interior. The paint seems to have moisture in it as it has micro bubbles appearing in the lacquer on most panels which may indicate poor storage. It is very presentable but would need a proper respray to make it mint.

[nveeate 78]

To my mind 10 owners makes the 34k miles even less likely, but perhaps it doesn't matter if you're just after a good condition car to enjoy. If you're planning to keep for a long time then don't feel hurried - what's a few months of looking....if not one of these, the right one will come along!

[welshpug 1,657]

My car had 130k miles on it when I bought it 8 years ago, a mere 5 owners and a MASSIVE folder of receipts, I think I would be happier with a higher mileage car with more evidence of it being looked after, than something completely unknown which by the sounds of it needs a respray, bonus of mine being white it doesn't suffer from Lacquer peel and buffs up quite well still!

[Kane 34]

I'd agree with Nveeate 10 owners seems a lot for a car that has only done the quoted 34000 miles and that has been off the road for that length of time. Looks to me like a bit of an overhaul although unfortunately a poor attempt at a respray.

 

I think if you're not too bothered about the history of the vehicle then the blue one could be a good investment. If I was in your shoes I'd try and get them down in price closer what you are wanting to spend due to no proof on mileage then start saving for a respray. A good overhaul of the paint and it definitely could be one of the better examples out there.

[Grantecosse 1]

What do you reckon it is worth?

[stain 13]

A couple of grand - tops.

[Grantecosse 1]

Even with receipts for £10,500 on mechanicals in the past 2 years? It hasa Quaife diff which is worth a fair bit on its own. I was thinking around £3000-£3500

[welshpug 1,657]

Doesn't matter how much they have spent on it, you never get that back, especially if most of it is in expensive labour charges.

 

You need to avoid dealers, and to a certain extent most well known advertising sites.

Edited January 12, 2014 by welshpug

[Grantecosse 1]

I know that but surely a freshly rebuilt blueprinted engine, new clutch, new gearbox, suspension, quaife diff, new beam etc etc counts for something?? Surely a couple of grand would only get you a high mileage tired example?

[stain 13]

With 10 owners and a swiss cheese history it depends how many brave pills you want to take. How much is all that worth to you? It is worth absolutely zero to me as that isn't what I look for. Conversely not many would pay what I paid for my car but I wanted a straight good history car. Value is always a piece of string argument and there is no right or wrong answer. If you are happy to pay 3500 then try it.

Edited January 12, 2014 by stain

[Kane 34]

Unfortunately the money you put in to it doesn't really count too much when considering the resale price. A good example of this is Maxi's 205 that is currently for sale. Although not standard, the car is in excellent condition with the spec to match which would cost close to 20k to replicate and he is only asking for £5600. That's why you regularly come across people breaking perfectly good motors to try and recoup the cost of their build.

[Grantecosse 1]

Back to the drawing board. As soon as the right car comes up i'll be having it.