Looked at a car! Good deal?

jools · Post by **jools** » 23 Mar 2004, 14:55

Hi I have looked yesterday, 1.9 td, sx, 1995 N 75,000 miles full service history, milage cross referenced through out, two owners, mint, no rust, everything seemed to work ok, hydraulic fluid ok, no black smoke etc. It is a trade sale, 12mts mot and service, brakes etc, £2300, this seems a little high on parkers book price but it is mint, and relativly low milage. What do you think?
Many thanks
Jools

arry_b · Post by **arry_b** » 23 Mar 2004, 15:50

Seems VERY expensive to me. It may be a very good car, but there are lots of available for half of that. Offer him £1500 and see what he says.
Traders generally don't want to get stuck with a Xantia and he may just want if off of the forecourt.

David W · Post by **David W** » 23 Mar 2004, 16:06

Jools,
You need to get a much better feel for just how low Xantia proces are before you get the cash out.
That's no trade sale price, its almost £1000 more than I've seen them retail at that year.
Here are some actual auction (i.e. trade) prices realised for Xantia TD's (unless stated), all with MOT and not damaged repairable types.
1993L SX 125K £200
1995M LX 108K £200 (non-turbo)
1995N LX 59K £450
1996P LX 80K £650
1997R LX 82K £220 (non-turbo)
1997P LX 71K £875
2000W HDI 88K £2000
I also know someone who bought a 1998T TD Dimension with a genuine 28K and full history from Citroen with a 12mth Citroen Used Warranty for only a few hundred pounds more than you mention.
Sorry if that all sounds a bit hard/negative but that's where the Xantias are now.
David

jools · Post by **jools** » 23 Mar 2004, 17:23

Thanks for that, I had no real idea about what the prices were doing, so for about 2-2.5k I whould be looking for a P-R reg car with under 100k? I need to look around, there is no point in buying a car that is over priced already!
Thanks for the advice.
Jools

David W · Post by **David W** » 23 Mar 2004, 18:20

No Jools, set your sights much higher. As you were looking at a trade sale I assume you don't need warranty or trade-in. If so buying a car privately from its genuine private owner may be best. They are always about at decent prices when folks want to trade up and find out just how low the dealer offers.
Like this car for sale at the moment...
1999 CITROEN XANTIA 1.9 TD 5dr. Red, air conditioning, fsh, recent major service, tax, mot, good condition priced to sell. 76500 miles. £2595 Tel: 01223 ********
If you had the cash that'd come for under £2500.
David

davek-uk · Post by **davek-uk** » 23 Mar 2004, 19:11

I brought my estate 1.9TD Temptation 2 (ie LX plus a few bits) at 78K for £2160 in Oct last year. One garage still has a hatch up for sale that I looked at in September! The good ones may sell but the poor ones don't. Most of the garages I monitored had their estates in for a couple of months before they sold and they were one third more expensive than private sales. Hatch-backs are even cheaper than estates. If you're not interested in the warranty of a garage, buy private and aim for a good newer car as cheaply as possible - you're bound to find something that needs doing.

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 23 Mar 2004, 20:01

Hi Jools, please bear in mind that buying is very easy, its selling thats hard! You have everything in your favour.. i.e. you dont have a car for sale=no part ex to worry about. You are not desperate to buy one=no urgency involved, and you have money to spend. [:D] So take your time, and choose carefully. If you want HP you can take out a personal loan from your bank, and it will be cheaper. So ignore the dealers completely, you dont need them.. [:D]
No No's:- - - DONT ever buy from an add that only gives a mobile phone number, DONT arrange to meet anywhere other than at the owners home. (You might get mugged and your cash stolen!) Ask for a drink of water or something to make sure your seller actually does live at that address and has access to the house.. Why? because their are a lot of cowboy traders out there, selling real dogs, and pretending to be private owners. Buyer beware..[:0] if you have the slightest doubt about anything at all be it with the car or the seller, claim you have other cars to look at before you make a final decision and drive away.. [;)]
If you see a car you fancy, ignore the asking price, give it a good coat of looking at and decide what YOU think its worth to YOU, then offer a fair bit less than you are actually prepared to pay.. [:I] e.g. asking price £1995, you value it at say £1500 .. then open with an offer of around £1050 and make it obvious your are prepared to do either the 10 min or the half hour argueing bit.. [:D] If you can't agree on a price, go look for another car.. You WILL find one at the right price, just take your time, and be prepared to do a bit of traveling.. Good luck with your search. [:D]

jools · Post by **jools** » 23 Mar 2004, 20:55

Problem is I do not have time on my side. My car was written off and I only have the hire car for six days after they make me an offer. So I am expecting an offer tommorrow so only have a car till mid next week. I am off next week so have about four days to find a car. Bit of a bugger really!

David W · Post by **David W** » 23 Mar 2004, 21:18

Have you looked at Autotrader online, that's where I found the red one. I wonder where you are located?
David

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 23 Mar 2004, 21:19

4 days should be ample, if not, its worth hiring a car for the rest of the week, better than buying in haste and regretting it later.

jools · Post by **jools** » 23 Mar 2004, 21:39

I am not paying for the hire car, the other driver is, Costing about 250 a week, may be able to get is for a coupleof days more to cover the weekend.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 24 Mar 2004, 00:16

Spend a couple of minutes looking in the car section on www.upmystreet.com If you key in your post code and the car details, min/max price, etc. a list will come up of any available.

Post by **RichardW** » 24 Mar 2004, 19:35

Jools,
If you're near the south coast, this might be worth a look:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... gory=18174
Ends sat pm - currently at £870 (Weds 14.30) - and it's had a new clutch!

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 24 Mar 2004, 20:24

Bought my 97 td in october last year 64000 miles, good nick £2500 seemed like a decent deal but the prices dropped like a stone, I reckon I could have got the car for £1800-1900 if I had waited till christmas, still not to bothered its a good car, and I keep them till there worth nothing ( about 3 weeks[:D]).
The same place had a x reg 1.8 sx low miles for £2999 down to £2400 in january, was gonna hve it but needed a diesel.[V]

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 24 Mar 2004, 21:49

I paid 2150 for my '97 td SX in October with 56k iirc. It was a private seller and I paid cash and havent looked back since. By all accounts it has come down in value since I bought it, (inevitably) so your £2300 asking price is a little ambitious to say the least.
I think a car of that age won't be worth £1000, check what is available on auto trader before giving the car dealer £1500 profit.