General Buying without Service History?

[Cap'n]

Hi..I've seen a 1996 2.0 16V local to me on eBay. The 'buy it now' price is £1200 (no bids yet) - seems cheap! However, buyer states:

"there is no service history (the oil and filter have been changed recently); there is a crack on the windscreen high up and proceeding down towards the middle on the passenger side (NOT an MOT issue!); there are scratches, dings, and the beginning of oxidation under the rear wheel arches - but: In its favour, the car comes with a brand new MOT ( two new wishbones); only has 1 previous owner;I have carried out an HPI check and printed out the information - it has not been crashed damaged, stolen or subject to finance. There is no record of mileage discrepancy, I believe it to be genuine."

From the pics it looks OK (some small 'scruffy' bits rather than anything major). Opinions?

Cheers.

 

[beau]

well its not a turbo so thats good, personally i would buy it, get cambelt and a full full service done, and it should be ok

 

[beau]

just had a look at it and it seems ok

noticed this one too, its a 'slightly worse' buy because more damage but the colour is 10x better but is a touch cheaper

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1996-FIAT-COU...42QQihZ012QQcategoryZ9843QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Cap'n]

Yeah, I'd probably prefer the blue too (although the silver is ok!). However it is far, far away - too far (& has an extra 50k on the clock)...

 

[beau]

yeah id buy the silver one, seems good with that mileage but id looks carefully as they have nothing to back it up.

 

[Cap'n]

OK. Anything obvious/basic to look for (for a complete non-expert)?

 

[beau]

OK. Anything obvious/basic to look for (for a complete non-expert)?

what for clocked mileage?

 

[symonh2000]

You have to take a non historised car as seen, I personally would not buy a 16V non turbo at that price, as it is the same as I paid for my Turbo, and my car has a full history.

 

[Cap'n]

what for clocked mileage?

Nah - in general. Geezer's not got back to me yet though - might be gone..

 

[cazz]

i wouldn't risk it mate

 

[symonh2000]

I did see the car on e-bay and it does look like it needs some money spending on it, especially the rust. There are plenty of better ones around for that money IMO. Take your time and find the right one.

 

[mad car man]

just bide your time save up and find one in good condition and at least some service history

if you can afford it get a tubby coz you will only be disapoited with a N/A
trust me

 

[hmallett]

Get the engine compression tested - it's a good indicator of engine wear/health. This one's starting to rust though - Coupe's don't rust, as a rule.
H

 

[sammiboo]

When people ask about what to look for in a coupe i always say make sure it have as much history as possible, loads of reciepts. If you are not looking for a fine example of a coupe and want to take the risk then go for it. But if its a crapper then you will need very deep pockets

 

[dave]

rust maybe because of a bad accident repair in its past, with a coop you dont want cheap, you want history, you want all old mots, you want hpi check