General Marea 1.9 JTD ELX available - should I buy?

[Kroy]

Hi - hope someone can help - gratitude if you can...

A local dealer has a Fiat Marea 1.9 JTD ELX (diesel). X/2000 reg. 130,000 miles. Full service history. Ex company car. 12 months MOT. 3 months warranty. £1650.

The car is in good condition. I'm not sure about the cam belt situation - I have to find out about this.

At first he wanted £2000 - but has agreed on £1650.

Glass's say price should be £2080 for retail, £1615 for private.
Parker's say a lot less! Dealer insists Parkers don't live in the real world (!)

Does it seem like a resonable deal? Is the car going to be reliable? I'll be replacing a Toyota Corolla 1.6, petrol, L Reg with 81k.

 

[toad101]

company cars tend to be serviced and repaired regaurd less of the cost and probably did mainly motorway milage, it should be good for atleast another 70k

 

[Hellcat]

When you drive it don't be afraid to give it a bit of a throw about. If it feels tired then it probably is. My weekend when I sold it still felt tight and that was with over 100k on the clock.

As toad says, ex company cars are usually motorway miles and serviced regular.

The dealer is right too - Parkers are buying and selling cars on Mars for sure.

 

[Kroy]

I decided not to buy it. I'm going to keep the Corolla. It only cost £700. It's older but only has 81k. The Marea is newer and costs £1000 more with 130k. The Corolla does 32mpg and the Marea does nearer 50mpg, but with the cost difference of the cars it'll take me at least two years to make that up.
The Marea is an unknown quantity to me. This is my second Corolla and the last one was really reliable. Corrollas are a real nice drive, too. I'm also not sure if I can tolerate the diesel noise, or reduced power.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Venters]

With a remap you would be looking at a power gain.
1.9 JTD is good for 150 BHP

But if your happy then I guess thats all that matters!