Help me decipher....

[The Negotiator]

OK, well I found a car on ebay (My parents and Grandpa want me to get a Megane 1.4 or 1.9D (N/A)):

It has a shockingly bad description and poor photos but hey, the price is VERY low for the car so I thought it was worth an email:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4525710116

I sent the following:

Hi, Could you give me more information please? Any service history? Mileage? General condition in/out? (rust? scratches, dents,tears, wear etc.) How long is the MOT? Any reciepts for work/past MOTs? Any known problems? Regards and thanks. Paul

And got back:

hi i will check service history.the car is in a compound two from my house.the m.o.t got on it 74752 it,s done 400/500 mile sin,s then. it,s had alterater water pump. has for body work it,s got a scuff on the n/s rear croner which can easy be sorted can send pic,s if you wish hope this help,s cheers dave


which is quite difficult to understand.

The mileage is good (if genuine) as I thought it would be 150k like most of these, they are seriously slow cars but economical and don't go wrong much, we also have owned the same engine in the past.

I work out:

HI, i will check service history. The car is in a compound next to my house. (?) The MOT has got on it 74752 and it has done 400/500 since then (in 9 months? Why?). It has had an alternator and water pump. The body work has a scruff on the N/S rear corner which can easily be sorted can send pics if you wish. Hope this helps, Dave (not our Dave though )

My reply was:

Yes please, would be much appreciated. Photos say a thousand words and all that. Not as bad mileage as I expected but the service history is most important on these cars in my experience so if you could let me know about that please.

So is there any rust?
What's the interior like?
Known problems?
Any idea if it will pass its next MOT?

Sorry for all the questions just if anybody came to look at it they would be coming from Nottingham on my behalf which is a fair distance obviously!

Regards and thanks for the prompt reply.
Paul

AM I asking the wrong things?


BTW: I am under no illusion that this is a car I have to have, it's cheap but so far I am not liking what I see/hear but still think it's worth investigating? It's in Stu's neck of the woods so I doubt my parents would be liking the drive down there much unless I can prove to them it's well worth a look which right now it's not.

 

[The Negotiator]

BTW: my insurance quote for the car is £602 (NU). Bargain. They quoted me £760 on my mum's 1.8 laguna which she is selling next week but I don't think we can come to an arrangement in terms of me buying it.

 

[arc]

can't help too, much but i run the reg through the RAC thing for you:

Manufacturer Renault 
Model MEGANE RN 1.9 D 
Body type 5 door hatchback 
Colour Blue 
Fuel type Heavy oil 
Date manufactured 30 December 1996 
Number of previous owners 5 
Last owner change 22 September 2004

 

[The Negotiator]

Cheers Arc, 5 owners makes it sound even worse.....ah well, was worth an email or two just to find out. My parents will come up with every excuse in the book before going to N'hampton to look at a car for me, trust me!

 

[arc]

it does all checkout with what the auction description said tho

 

[The Negotiator]

Yep it does but it's odd that it's on it's 6th owner! That sort of car isn't like say a clio/fiesta/cinq/punto which is bought by young people who get a new one pretty often/as they move up in the world, the 1.9D was often a reps car and you generally wouldn't expect there to be so many owners on it.

 

[dave]

scuff on the n/s rear croner could be a big dent, water pump went hmm i wonder how long it was gone for did it over heat when it was gone and cause more damage, on 500 miles in 9 months, does that mean its been sitting in that field all that time? cars dont like sitting on grass too damp whitch meand more rust on brake pipe conectors and bleed nipples, not a problem straight away but be a bugger when they need fixing one day.

 

[The Negotiator]

I agree, we once had a car that had been sat on dodgy ground (only for spares though) and the rust compared to a normal ren 21 was unbelivable. The engine was good though.....!

No point me following it up really, far too many unknowns, if it was in Nottm I would get them to go and see for themselves and see if it was worth it or not but no way is there any point going all that way as it is.

 

[dave]

its also te same engine that they put on pugs, they are well known for head problems, there are 5 sizes of head gasket. to get the right one you are supposed to measure piston prertrusion (sp) but people dont they just stick in the same gasket that come out, thats bad and only lasts aprox 1k miles also cambelt on them engines should be done every 40k miles so thats due soon.

 

[The Negotiator]

You sure that they are the same engine? We have had the 1.9 before and it was definitely badged on the engine (I mean properly badged) Renault. As I said, we have run one of them before, painfully slow but just keep on going without a problem.

Assuming you mean pug 205? They were 1.8, so maybe 106, 1.5, 306 I know had a 1.9 non turbo, but checked, pug is 1905CC and ren is 1870. 309? 1905cc again. (all from parkers anyway). So am I wrong or did you mean citroen or something else?

My first choice is the 1.4, about £40 less insurance, lower tax too BUT my grandpa and parents like diesel so if i found one it would make them more likely to help me

 

[The Negotiator]

Xsara is 1868cc and for the record is a more refined engine over the 1.9D in the megane (which is an old engine!) ZX is 1905 so assuming the Peug engine.

IME, Renault don't do much engine sharing and swapping, Ford were bad for that in the late 80s/90s but then again, most marques used the 2.5TD (peugeot?) engine if they had something to build from the granada to the transit to the LDV/Leyland 400.

 

[dave]

ah yeah sorry, its citroen that has same as pug,

 

[The Negotiator]

I will forgive you

I was just surprised because in my (not so) photographic memory the engine had Renault stamped in large metal letters actually on the block, something which would be a bad idea if you were sharing the engine (much easier to add stickers etc.).

My Grandpa wants me to look for a xsara too (he currently drives a V-reg) because they are similar to the megane.

It's so fustrating to be in Manc and not at home because if I want a car I have to get my parents to go and see it without me and they don't seem willing. Roll on Easter!

 

[dave]

if the xsara has the up and down suspension forget it.

 

[Steven]

What a sh*tter. Meganes are two-a-penny. Why even consider buying this one?

 

[The Negotiator]

No xsara has traditional susp. Dave.

Steve, it's cheap.