Well we are back, with the estate
Oh and a rather nifty tourch i got from a service centre on the way down ... it was getting a bit dark to have a good look at the car you see. So not an ideal time to buy a car, but never the less .....
Its pretty much as described, the front wing and door on the drivers side are a darker shade, but i couldnt see any other signs of repair. There are scratches on the bonnet so the wing, bonnet and door will need to be repainted at some point. They could of course be left but we want it looking good but they are not urgent.
The crack in the screen is right at the very edge, infact its only in the black surround at the bottom of the screen and can not be seen from inside the car, however the screen is going white around the edges so it needs a replacement at some point, but its not urgent.
Despite its FSH I cant find anywhere in the service history which says the cambelt has been changed! Now i cant imagine it getting to this stage without a replacement belt but i guess it has done. So thats one of the first things on the list of to dos. I asume the 2.1 is an interference engine and will be knackered should it go ... Might leave it parked until its done!
He said its had new spheres and it looks like it might have had, but only 5 by the sounds of it and it rides very firm, the back is softer than the front but not by a huge deal. So we will have a look at the spheres at the weekend and see about what to do with them. The height leaver is very very stiff so that needs looking at too.
One thing i thought was odd is that on the SX cars when i press the sport button it puts up an orange light on the dash in the shape of a spring. However the estate doesnt do this, it says sports suspenion or something in the little display when the button is in sports but there is no orange light. Do VSX cars not have this orange light or is it just not working?
Ok, enough with the bad bits already! Here are some good bits:
The strut tops look pretty much like new, both look perfect under the wheel arch and under the bonnet. Apart from the colour change and scratches on the bonnet the rest of the body is really very good, very straight with only one small trolley dink. Its missing one headlamp washer cover, but both work (i didnt know they popped up!) and it has both of its towing eye covers too.
The engine pulls really well, im impressed, i was thinking it might be a little slow but it certainly isnt, very good engine. Its hardly used any fuel either, which is nice! The gearbox is slick and the clutch works nicely, with the bite slightly lower than mid way. Brakes are good, steering feels good and it handles very well.
The interior looks great, no signs of wear and tear, steering wheel is not worn, neither are the seats, as you would excpect for this mileage. So the interior is good apart from there is a chunk missing from the gearknob (anyone have a spare?). The boot is very clean, doesnt even look used, parcel chelf is there and undamaged. I was surprised to see it doesnt have a key/pin code, just another pocket, which is no bad thing!
Im going to have a better look at it tomorrow, as ive not seen it in full day light yet. Have a good look around the car, but it seems a good one, just needs a bit of TLC on the suspension and a bit of tidying to the paintwork. Over all, so far i think its a good buy
The drive, well it was quite a nice drive over to get it once off the motorway, so i had the Xm hatch in sport and enjoying myself on the nice twisting roads. On the way back i drove the estate the same way, with my dad following in the hatch. I didnt need the estate in sports mode as its firm anyway, but felt really good to drive on such roads, but a bit too jittery. The engine pulled very well up the steep inclines, sounds very sweet and revs nicely, though i was carefull not to over stress it, didnt want to risk that belt! After that we swapped over cars and i did the rest of the journey back in the hatch following my dad in the estate. Certainly looks good on the road, slight smoke on full acceleration but nothing you wondnt expect from a diesel, really has quite a bit off pull on the motorway too. As we came off the motorway onto the small country road which leads to our town it was difficult keeping up with the estate, so it must be quite nippy.
One thing which is odd is the speedo is reading out by quite a bit. Not sure if its normal for a 2.1 but doing 70mph on the speedo of the hatch is 68mph on the satnat. However in the estate the dials are saying 74mph when the satnav is saying 68. Any reasons for that?
Its certainly a genuine car, if not an especially well pampered one. It still has its original rear tyres so that alone justifies the mileage, it does have full service history with stamps right up until 54K miles, but no mention of the cambelt. Though it might have been done, its better to get it checked and replaced as there is no proof.
Will post up some pictures tomorrow, once ive had a better look.
Im tired now, been a busy day, so sorry if the above doesnt make sense! Chris.
