New car dilemma, please help

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 09:55

I bought a 1998 Toyota Avensis in February last year after excellent advice from this forum.

The car has been excellent overall and passed its MOT without needing anything and a few minor advisories. It does have its fair share of niggles but this is to be expected of a car that has covered 165 000.

I have been wanting a newer version of the Avensis as I have enjoyed this one so much. Last week I went to see a 2003 model with 154 000 on the clock, I test drove it and it was great, much nicer than my current one. The seller seemed genuine but there were some issues that I found, two new front tyres needed, no oil on dipstick, only one key and the fact he went down to £500 from £600 without any bargaining. He is getting a new 7 seater car delivered on Tuesday and said he just wants rid of it.

Now the dilemma is I want a newer car but I'm not sure I should be getting rid of my current one as its very reliable and has MOT till December.

Any thoughts?

bradUK · 5 Apr 2015 at 10:59

timmothy said:
no oil on dipstick

Walk away.

He's selling a car and can't be arsed to check the most basic of maintenance tasks?

xs2man · 5 Apr 2015 at 11:02

No oil on the dipstick would be the end of my interest in a car.

hawker1986 · 5 Apr 2015 at 11:15

xs2man said:
No oil on the dipstick would be the end of my interest in a car.

This, find another one, I can smell the imminent failure from here

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 15:46

thanks for the advice. this is what I initially thought but what made me think it wasn't such a big deal is that he bought the car at the end of October last year. so at worst it may have only been without oil for a short period?

I thought 500 was cheap so thought it would be worth the risk?

Redgie · 5 Apr 2015 at 15:47

timmothy said:
thanks for the advice. this is what I initially thought but what made me think it wasn't such a big deal is that he bought the car at the end of October last year. so at worst it may have only been without oil for a short period?

I thought 500 was cheap so thought it would be worth the risk?

It having not been topped up isn't really the issue, it's the fact it's probably leaking/losing/burning oil.

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 15:48

also I have heard that the newer avensis might not show much on the dipstick even if it had oil?

Redgie · 5 Apr 2015 at 15:55

If it didn't show oil on the dipstick I'm not sure why they'd put a dipstick in

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:01

hmm I guess this is just a case of too good to be true?

with the vvti engines they do use a lot of oil which seems to be a wide spread issue. so my thought was this person didn't realise it would have used so much. some people say a pint every 1000 miles. he has done about 10000 or so since he bought it.

miniyazz · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:24

What engine? The 1.8L petrol will use oil.

Should still avoid mind, my old one died when the new owner allowed the oil to run too low.

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:31

yes its the 1.8 petrol

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:34

were there any warning signs miniyazz? also shouldn't the oil light be on if there is no oil?

slick rick · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:47

It sounds like you really want the car despite the advice given. Put it this way, can you afford to lose £500 and take a punt? The car could last a long time and be great or it could die in a few weeks/months, and if it did you would likely just get scrap value for it.

If it were me and I really liked the car as much as you seem too and it drove OK then I would probably take the risk and if it breaks it breaks. I mean its £500, if we were talking a few grand then my opinion would be different.

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 16:55

I do really want it but I need to be realistic which is why I came on here.

realistically I can lose 500 but that means not going on holiday. such a hard decision. really want it but the careful side of me says not to

slick rick · 5 Apr 2015 at 17:00

timmothy said:
I do really want it but I need to be realistic which is why I came on here.

realistically I can lose 500 but that means not going on holiday. such a hard decision. really want it but the careful side of me says not to

If it money that you can use elsewhere, it would be the safest bet to walk away to be honest. and if your gut is telling you its iffy, its probably best to avoid.

Defy Belief · 5 Apr 2015 at 17:03

Personally I'd walk away, there can't be anything that special about an Avensis with 154k on the clock that you couldn't find another soon?

If it had no oil I can't imagine it's last 10k miles of ownership have been too great. If I had a car which was known for chugging oil it would be very, very regularly checked.

rodenal · 5 Apr 2015 at 17:30

Why on earth would you "want" to buy a car that is quite obviously failing?

Don't be daft - don't buy a 1.8 (1zz) Toyota engined car from anything earlier than 2004 either

ADT · 5 Apr 2015 at 17:40

If this guy couldn't do a simple thing like checking the amount of oil in the engine then imagine what else he may have skimped during his ownership. Walk away

timmothy · 5 Apr 2015 at 17:59

hi all. really appreciate you talking some sense in to me. I am going to leave it, you have probably saved me a small fortune

miniyazz · 5 Apr 2015 at 18:54

timmothy said:
were there any warning signs miniyazz? also shouldn't the oil light be on if there is no oil?

I believe the warning light came on a couple of times and it was topped up, then it died one day on the motorway.