Should I be worried if a car has been in stock at a trader for 13 months ?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Should I be worried if a car has been in stock at a trader for 13 months ?

boland

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#254463 13-Aug-2019 10:51

I'm interested in a car from a trader, but I've found out they bought the car 13 months ago. Their reply was that they buy & sell so many cars, and that it may happen that a car is not sold. Of course nothing is wrong with the car they said.

Haven't seen the car yet, going for a test drive today. Just wondering if this should worry me? Or is it common that a car doesn't sell for such a long time?

Also, don't think it's good for a car to be standing still such a long time?

Yogi02

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#2296410 13-Aug-2019 11:09

It doesn't happen all that often, but it really means nothing - Cars change in appeal, might of had the car too expensive and the market has shifted.

Possibly ask for the fluids to be changed?

What year and model is it?

wratterus

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#2296411 13-Aug-2019 11:09

What is the rough value of the car? An AA check is not a bad option, also if it's a dearer car, you should be able to get the dealer to give it a full service and possibly throw a new battery in as a sweetner if they really want to get rid of it.

That won't work if it's a 5k car though...

Bung

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#2296415 13-Aug-2019 11:15

Is this an LMVD or a backyard operator?

boland

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#2296430 13-Aug-2019 11:24

It's a 2013 Ford Fiesta. It's a big trader with 1100+ cars in stock.

Value is $11k. I'll raise my questions about a service.

Yep will consider an AA check!

wratterus

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#2296432 13-Aug-2019 11:27

Beware of the trans if it's an auto - personally I wouldn't touch an auto one of those. Have a google search around - lots of well documented issues. I think the manuals are fine though.

sbiddle

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#2296435 13-Aug-2019 11:30

Just be aware of the PowerShift clutch issue with these cars as the vast majority will suffer it eventually. I've had my 2nd clutch replacement in my Focus and will have my 3rd soon. Ford are technically only extending the warranty to 7 years, but I'm not sure they'll be able to actually reject warranty claims due to the scale of the problem.

If it has any jerkiness in the test drive tell them you want that replaced by Ford first before you buy the car and have the hassle of not having a vehicle for a few days.

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sbiddle

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#2296436 13-Aug-2019 11:32

wratterus:

Beware of the trans if it's an auto - personally I wouldn't touch an auto one of those. Have a google search around - lots of well documented issues. I think the manuals are fine though.

While it's a major issue I don't see it as a deal breaker, but it is an inconvenience. Ford just swap out the clutch for free every time it breaks and you take it back.

wratterus

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#2296438 13-Aug-2019 11:34

sbiddle:

While it's a major issue I don't see it as a deal breaker, but it is an inconvenience. Ford just swap out the clutch for free every time it breaks and you take it back.

Surely they can't keep doing that forever though. There must be some fundamental design fault for the issue to be this widespread. Do you know any more about what exactly causes it?

sbiddle

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#2296445 13-Aug-2019 11:47

wratterus:

sbiddle:

While it's a major issue I don't see it as a deal breaker, but it is an inconvenience. Ford just swap out the clutch for free every time it breaks and you take it back.

Surely they can't keep doing that forever though. There must be some fundamental design fault for the issue to be this widespread. Do you know any more about what exactly causes it?

https://www.freep.com/in-depth/money/cars/ford/2019/07/11/ford-focus-fiesta-transmission-defect/1671198001/

There are still the ongoing class actions in the US and Australia over the issue.

As of the 2017ish redesign Ford say the issue is resolved, but my current clutch is one of the redesigns and it's broken again. They don't really have a choice but to keep replacing it for free!

Bung

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#2296455 13-Aug-2019 11:52

I have seen some comment that the design was compromised because it had to avoid patents held by other manufacturers. AFAIK Ford have switched to more conventional autos so they couldn't have had much faith in solving the issue.

boland

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#2296484 13-Aug-2019 12:50

It is a manual, so don't think the problems raised above apply to me?

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shanes

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#2296542 13-Aug-2019 14:33

I brought a car that the history showed a car dealer had owned for 18 months.

Wouldn't have been too much of a worry, except the registration type was changed to Taxi when they brought it....

sbiddle

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#2296554 13-Aug-2019 15:00

boland:

It is a manual, so don't think the problems raised above apply to me?

Ahh no the dual clutch issue won't affect you in that case.. It's just normal to assume a car is an auto for something like that as manuals are very rare.

nakedmolerat

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#2299502 14-Aug-2019 22:44

boland:

It is a manual, so don't think the problems raised above apply to me?

If you can score a manual, Fiesta is a great little car.

But, if I were you, I will try to haggle for under $10k, in fact I will ask for $9k to start with (given that they cant move the stock that long).

It is a good car, we had the auto one (same year) bought new, had the clutch issue multiple times (ford fixed for FREE each time).

Other than that, it is really a good car.

boland

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#2299525 15-Aug-2019 07:46

Thanks all for the replies! In the end I've decided to buy a Corolla instead :)