How many times is too many??

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by blackf6

It is a used car mate. I bought a used car 14 days ago. It has been in the workshop 5 out of the 14 days. Every used car has problems. Dealers get quick roadworthy's and try to pass repairs onto unsuspecting consumers. In an atempt to collect more profit. Just as consumers trade cars with problems they don't want to fix. But expect top dollar trade prices. Buy enough used cars. You factor this in. Warranty is useless 90 percent of the time.

Steady on mate. I've bought used cars and none of them have had issues like this. Cars my family buy are usually around a decade old and cost 2-5k NZD. Never had major issues with any of them.

But yea, used cars and dealers are usually a bad combination. We always get our used cars checked over by our mechanic before purchasing them. That said all cars will break, new or old doesn't make much difference. If anything old is better cause you can just chuck in some aftermarket part, not the genuine factory stuff that costs 3 times as much.

Originally Posted by TUF_302

When i got the missus her new car (04 Magna), to replace her VT it had a dead battery the very next day, went straight to the dealer we got it from and that happily gave me a brand new battery and were very apologetic, just shows even though we only brought a cheap 4g car the little dealer was more than happy to help, not all car yards are bad, the bad ones just make it harder to trust any of them

Exactly. The car dealer we go to is probably the only honest dealer in the entire auckland region. Some are terrible but every now and then you find a good yard. Just in case anyone in the auckland area needs a cheepo car, go to Pearce Brothers in Otahuhu. They have 5 (or something like that) different yards each dealing with different niche's and price ranges.

[Sabantien]

That's why you get those short warranties when you buy a second hand car, so when these problems crop up you can get them fixed.

I kind of expect there's going to be issues with any car someone has traded in. They would have known things needed fixing, or would soon need fixing, and traded it in before they had to spend the cash.

If they're taking care of the problems for you, I reckon you're doing pretty well.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Sabantien

That's why you get those short warranties when you buy a second hand car, so when these problems crop up you can get them fixed.

I kind of expect there's going to be issues with any car someone has traded in. They would have known things needed fixing, or would soon need fixing, and traded it in before they had to spend the cash.

If they're taking care of the problems for you, I reckon you're doing pretty well.

True trade in cars almost always have something wrong with them, hence why they've been traded in. That said some yards (like the one I mentioned) actually fix up the trade in cars and sell them on. The one I buy from gets all the trade in cars from their higher market yards, fixes them up and then sells them on. They purely deal in selling trade in cars.

Ultimately with second hand cars, trust nobody. Check it yourself or get someone you trust to check it over. Any duds you end up buying are purely your fault for not checking properly.

[last fairlane]

Hi all
we bought a 2004 Territory Ghia 4 years ago I paid $13k
since then Ive had the ball joints done under recall
and all the bushes done out of my own pocket
and new tyres after four years also had it put on LPG
which cost $2500 and i got $1000 back from the govt
all in all I cant complain we are both in our sixties
and it suits us its very easy to get in and out of
thanks John

[TerriBerk]

Thanks again everyone for your advice, opinions and suggestions.

Car is still at the dealer they can't work out why it wasn't starting. They have said they went over it, etc etc, tightened **** etc etc. Hasn't skipped a beat and starts everytime when they are testing it.

I have purchased a number of cars in my lifetime and the most I have paid for a car is $7,000. Never had this many problems. Guess I was living in fairy land thinking a big dealer and higher price tag and lower k's might have given us a pretty good car. Of course I realize stuff happens.

My mechanic did say he can't put his finger on it, but something doesn't look quite right with the underside of the car. He says the way it looks underneath he would have expected many more k's on it. Not 60,000.

From the bits and pieces I am almost certain the car has towed a boat and hence probably been reversed into salt water too. Coastal area.

[blackf6]

Next time, get an independent inspection done.

[XRtowcar]

I'd be looking at the ignition switch in it first.

[RANGEREST]

Originally Posted by XRtowcar

I'd be looking at the ignition switch in it first.

And the neutral/start inhibitor switch.

[mace]

Also, which key are the dealer mechanics using when you drop it off?
It's possible one of the keys has an issue. When I got spares cut and coded for my car only one works perfectly, the others are questionable and sometimes don't work at all, but work if inserted after the known good one.

ALSO

Check the battery positive cable (the negative too but less important) and if it has any cable rot, white/green powder, you can trim it and possibly replace the terminal, and it will conduct electricity properly again.
I've saved 5 vehicles with this method, they now charge from the alternator properly so the battery is always 100%, and Dads old Maverick ute starts first time every time. ;)

[TerriBerk]

Originally Posted by mace

Also, which key are the dealer mechanics using when you drop it off?
It's possible one of the keys has an issue. When I got spares cut and coded for my car only one works perfectly, the others are questionable and sometimes don't work at all, but work if inserted after the known good one.

ALSO

Check the battery positive cable (the negative too but less important) and if it has any cable rot, white/green powder, you can trim it and possibly replace the terminal, and it will conduct electricity properly again.
I've saved 5 vehicles with this method, they now charge from the alternator properly so the battery is always 100%, and Dads old Maverick ute starts first time every time. ;)

Tried both keys and the dealer has both of the sets of keys. Shall check the cables when we get the car back. Will be taking it to our mechanics as well to check over why it might have been having trouble starting. Dealer can't find a reason and it has started for them each time.

[fordomatic]

I don't get all you guys saying how bad used cars are. I have bought 8 used cars in my 13 years of driving and only had issues with one, but i knew about that before i bought it. If you check over the car thoroughly and take it for a decent test drive that should tell you everything.

My number 1 rule with used cars is to never buy off a dealer, ever, it's worked for me every time.

I spend around 2-3 months looking for my next cars and feel im pretty good at judging a character and his car before even opening a door. I looked at 16 FGXR6T's before i settled on mine, haven't had an issue with it in the 3 years i've owned it besides a few little things. Same for every other car i have bought.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

I don't get all you guys saying how bad used cars are. I have bought 8 used cars in my 13 years of driving and only had issues with one, but i knew about that before i bought it. If you check over the car thoroughly and take it for a decent test drive that should tell you everything.

My number 1 rule with used cars is to never buy off a dealer, ever, it's worked for me every time.

I spend around 2-3 months looking for my next cars and feel im pretty good at judging a character and his car before even opening a door. I looked at 16 FGXR6T's before i settled on mine, haven't had an issue with it in the 3 years i've owned it besides a few little things. Same for every other car i have bought.

You seem to be saying conflicting views.First you say you have only had 1 issue with cars youv'e bought then go on to say they all had things go wrong.

Originally Posted by Burnout

Good work, seems a fairly common problem for the Cable bush on the BTRs.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by xisled

Unfortunately buying a 6 year old car you may have problems.

I own a 34 year old car.
No problems.
Must be a complicated-computer-filled-new-car problem....

[jstanovic]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

My number 1 rule with used cars is to never buy off a dealer, ever, it's worked for me every time.

x 33274652374.

But I have never needed finance which must be a big reason people go to car yards.

I too have never had any major issues with used cars (never bought new). I reckon the "gut feeling" when you check out the car is 90% of getting a good one.

[fordomatic]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

You seem to be saying conflicting views.First you say you have only had 1 issue with cars youv'e bought then go on to say they all had things go wrong.

Actually i said that i bought one car that had an issue i knew about before i bought it. The others had zero issues when i bought them and while i owned them a couple had issues later on. The biggest issue i had to date was timing tensioners on my old BAXR8, a year after i bought it, cost $450 to fix. Not bad considering how many cars i have owned. Every car i have had has been reliable never let me down, never had to have a car towed, ever.

This idea that 6 year old cars "will" have issues is not true at all.