Yes, buy one, but not that one. By the sounds of it, the clutch needs replacing - I bet the owner knows it > has had a quote to replace > decided to sell and cut their losses. Or knock them down on the price. Never buy the first car you look at.
They may not be up to the legendary 'German standards of build quality' but they are a very clever design. To be fair, if you read online reviews about most MPVs you will see complaints about build quality - I think that is because the very nature of the uses to which they are put (taking seats out, loading them with all manner of horrible things, including kids). If they
were built to 'German' standards, they would be so heavy that they wouldn't be able to move.
They are great if you've got 3 young kids (all in kiddy seats). It's one of the few cars with enough interior width to cope with this - most other cars will punch holes in the rear door trims as you slam the door shut :bang: after you've finally contorted your hands sufficiently to get at the seat buckles or ISO mounts
. You can even stagger the rear seats to make it easier to get at the buckles, which also moves the widest parts of the kids seats out of line with each other.
Most of the things to look out for have already been mentioned here. Check the clutch operation - it should pick up around two inches from the floor (new clutch supply and fit is around £400; add another £300 if the DMF needs replacing). Check for suspension knocks with a good test drive over poor roads (mostly cheap to fix). If the car has sunroofs (mine has and I love 'em), pop the little grey plastic cover out of the roof lining just in front of the rear sunroof and have a good rub around on the inside of the lining with your fingers - if they come out damp or with lots of black mildewy stuff on them, walk away (one of the sunroof trays has detached from the roof panel and is leaking). Check that the seats fold up and remove easily (cables can break or jam). Check that the handbrake holds the car safely on a hill (if it doesn't, it's usually just the cables that need replacing - around £100 at a garage). Stand well back form the rear of the car, crouch down and see if the rear wheels are leaning inwards a lot (trailing arm bearings shot - about £150-200 a side to fix). Check everything electric works. If the car has climate control, press the snowflake button on the dash while the engine is ticking over; you should hear a faint 'clunk' and a dip in the engine revs as the compressor clutch engages - if you don't, the aircon isn't working and it either needs a regas or a new compressor (£40 or £350). The seat fabric on the later round nose (late 2003-on) and all square nose Multis is easier to keep clean than the early ones.
Once you've done all that, go back and check the clutch again, because it might have packed up while you've been doing the other checks
.
This might sound dire, but they are insanely cheap compared to most other MPVs. Just check their prices against a same age, same mileage Touran. And I've yet to find anything that a Touran does better than a Mutipla (in most cases they're worse, unless you
must have 7 seats). You can get more luggage in a 6-up Multi than a 6-up pretty-much-anything-else.
