Hi
Im new here hoping this is the best place if ever i need advice / guidance

Im hoping to buy (depending on the once over in the morning) a croma 1.9 diesel eleganza from a dealer. costing me £4400 on a 55 plate with 44000 miles FSH. i have been looking for a few weeks now and think the price is good but hope its not sh*te when i see it in the morning. The dealer said its nice so fingers crossed.

Any advice would be good on what to check but im not that great with cars !!

cheers guys

I'm not trying to be rude, but if you search the 'Croma' section of the forum you'll find you're not the first person to have asked this question, there is also a lot of information in the forum about the common Croma weak spots...have fun

ive been looking over the past few weeks too and i reckon you could get them to knock atleast the 400 off that price

really.
most ive seen seem to be about £5000 so i thought £4400 was a decent price. youve got me intrigued now dave

its also over 5 years old now so make sure the fsh has a receipt for cambelt and other things that should be changed by age

going to call ahead in the morning as its an hours train journey away.
a main dealer has a 2006 one on too at 4999 but no belts or water pump done either and that one has 56000 miles on. do you reckon im being realistic in asking them to do them before making them an offer? whats a realistic price for one with fsh, 56000 miles on a 2006 plate eleganza ?

sorry for another uestion dave but have you any idea of cost of belt, tensioners and water pump replacement so i can ask for that off in pound notes?

cheers

there are very few of us that actually want them so is a buyers market, most dealers ive contacted say they don't even try to sell them just send them straight to auction if they get one as a px, so don't be afraid to make silly offers like 1500 under ticket price, they probably did when they bought them in

one i have my eye on is down to 2300 atm on a 55 plate with 74k miles on it, its the 1.9 150. just wish my insurance cheque would hurry up and arrive then i will go with cash and offer even less as its been sitting a while so could do with new discs and pads as well as a cambelt kit

Fiatcromahull said:

sorry for another uestion dave but have you any idea of cost of belt, tensioners and water pump replacement so i can ask for that off in pound notes?

cheers

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retail price of the kit is £114.80 +vat so i reckon add 2-3 hours labout to that too and that should give you a rough price

cheers dave thats a great help. never had a fiat so heres hoping its ok...once i get one.
only want one for the size and price. replacing a 200 passat and theres nothing else in the 5000 and under bracket i fancy...not with 40000 miles on it anyway !

2003 passat, sorry

Croma are good cars, lots of parts are the same as vaxhauls so easy to get hold of, but dont tell anyone or they will all want one and put the prices up

i'll keep it quiet!
thanks for all your help this evening. i will see what happens in the morning. im a little desperate though as ive no car so i cant hold out too long. contacting Corts garage in bury to see if theyll put the belt and pump on the car on auto trader tomorrow. im gonna be cheeky and say do it or its a no go. i was initially looking at one in huddersfield but its a small independent so dont reckon he'll go for it.

the one in bury isnt a 150bhp though so not so sure now ugh !!!!

don't let them know you are desperate

The first rule when trying a car is..... DO NOT SMILE.... on or after the demonstration.


Best of luck.

Have your name, address and mobile number on a sheet of paper. Make a silly offer and walk. They'll ring you before you get home.

Get a valuation from webuyanycar.com. Print it out and take it with you. Also print glass's guide prices and any other guides.

They'll tell you they bought it for more than that, etc, etc.

Remember you can always tell when a car salesman is lying - it's when his mouth is open.

brilliant

cheers all

Not sure if you have bought the thing but do not offer anything like £4400 for it. I would be aiming for £3500 tops. They will find it a bugger to sell, you will find it even worse once you want to get rid of it. Regardless of how good we all think they are (and they are in the main), they are not wanted by 99.99% of the used car market. Do not spend a lot of money on one unless you intend to keep it forever!

I bought my 2005 Eleganza 1.9 almost a year ago for £2100 in a private sale, and I doubt it is worth that now. It now has 116k miles on it and apart from springs (ho ho) it has been very reliable. I did almost get carried away at one point and buy a 2.4 but sense (the other half) kicked in.

lanciaman said:

I bought my 2005 Eleganza 1.9 almost a year ago for £2100 in a private sale, and I doubt it is worth that now. It now has 116k miles on it and apart from springs (ho ho) it has been very reliable. I did almost get carried away at one point and buy a 2.4 but sense (the other half) kicked in.

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them 2.4's are tempting though but hardly ever see one forsale, with a remap you could be looking at 250 bhp and no clutch to burn out because its an auto:devil: