[F1ngerprint]

Hello everyone, newbie and potential new owner here

So I saw this red 3dr Up! online and it looks like a great first car for me. I came to study in the UK(Motorsport MSc, dream course!) just two months ago and need a car to get around, it'll be not only my first car in the country but also the first car I own.

After a call to the seller it turned out he's selling it for his brother's girlfriend, who has moved to Australia. As a result he has basically no idea of the car's service&maintainance history...things he does know are:

1. The last VW service stamp is from [email protected] miles.
2. The car went into limp mode once on the road, was taken to VW and got "inlet manifold or something" changed. No major problems since then.
3. It was used for daily commute and it's done mostly motorway miles.

He doesn't know if anything else has been changed on the car, or if/how it has been maintaned after the 24k service.

The seller's located 100miles from where I live so I need to decide if it's even worth it to go see the car. My guess is it might have got serviced in a local garage or something, because can it really run 47k miles without any maintainance even an oil change? But I'm really not sure what to expect and would love any input from you kind owners! Like what to check if I do see the car, how to tell if it has been taken care of, etc. apart from this nice list by @plancast in the "Advice on buying a second hand up! please" thread.

Many thanks in advance!
Li

 

[plancast]

Hi there, welcome to the forum! From what you've said, it did about 12k/year the first 2 years and has done more like 16k/year the last 3 years. That's not unreasonable, especially if the commute was mostly motorway based.
There is some very good advice on buying a car in the UK here:

Buying a used car

What checks to make when buying a used car, how to negotiate a deal, different payment options.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Specifically in your case, in the UK it is most common to have maintenance done by dealer garages, but there are many highly skilled independent garages (and owners) who take great care in their work (as with any other technical device). If it has been to any garage, they should have stamped its service book. Ask to see copies of this book. If it's missing, or there are no entries beyond the last VW one you mentioned, the owner may have done the work themselves (or not done it). Since the seller knows the owner, he should be willing/able to get that information from the owner. As with any private sale, if the seller can't/won't provide info, that is a big red flag. The other easy point to check is that any car older than 3 years old must have an annual MOT inspection. It won't tell you the state of the oil, etc., but it will tell you if the car is considered in a legal condition (and when it was last inspected). You can check the car's MOT history here:

Check the MOT history of a vehicle

Check the MOT history of a vehicle from 2005 onwards, including if it passed or failed, its mileage and why it failed

www.gov.uk

It's also important that you get some form of legal history check on the car, as I mentioned in the post you quoted.
If you are happy with the information you've learnt from those checks, I would strongly advise you get it inspected by either a garage you trust or the AA/RAC. Even if you think you have the technical knowledge to spot any problems, should you need to make a claim under the 'lemon law' it will help your case to have made every reasonable attempt to spot the problem before purchase.
If it passes all of those checks, then it's time for a test drive. As you don't currently have insurance, you will need to find temporary cover through an insurance company. This is not something I've needed to do myself, but there are many options out there. One guide is here:

Temporary car insurance

Temporary van insurance

www.confused.com

but you will need to research the options based on your specific situation. If you need help here, I would suggest visiting either your local Citizens Advice centre or the International Student office at your university. Depending on how long you've been driving, you may want to take someone you trust with you to test drive it as well for a second opinion.
Finally, I would do some checks online for current prices of similar cars to check yours is appropriate for the age/mileage/condition. Then it's down to you to decide if you like it enough to buy!
Hope this helps, and look forward to hearing the verdict.

 

[911ts3]

Assume it has not been serviced in all those miles and forget it. There are plenty more Up's available countrywide.
The "I'm selling it for my brother's girlfriend" is very dodgy., and an old trick . Could well be one he's bought from an auction, and is trying to flip.
Move on, and find one with a good service history, it's not worth the stress.

 

[ThatUp!GTI]

It could have (like i did) been serviced by a good independent garage and have all the receipts to prove it. Tbh most of the time the local independent will do a better job than the main dealers who just tend to charge for not actually doing anything.

Personally speaking if it was cheap enough and had all the receipts to go with it, the seller sounds genuine and the car looks honest then i'd have a look. Then i'd check out the garage where it had been serviced and see what they're like, even think about ringing them with a hoax enquiry to see how they handle it.

When it comes to servicing to me a fully stamped up book means nothing, it just means someone dropped a car in at a dealer when told to and had the minimum done.

 

[Bobupndown]

If it seems legit, try a cheeky low offer leaving you some funds to spend if an unexpected issue or bill crops up?

 

[jimv50]

Do not bother, no real history means it's not worth the hassle. there are plenty of small cheap cars around with their full service history, Up, Yaris, i10, Jazz, lots of choice.
Good luck with the course as well.