Car Question - is it worth it?

[Vince]

Furthering on my quest to find a cheap reliable car (that works!) I have been given the opportunity to buy this one, an ex-company car. I trust the owner - he is my ex-brother in law and am close to the family and my nephews/neice. Description goes:
Vauxhall Astra 1.7 TDI Club Estate
5 years old reg 2004.
Full Service History
One owner from new
Recent MOT and Service, Taxed.
4 new tyres, factory fitted towbar.
Very good condition throughout.
The biggie is 160K on the clock (I know this is majority motorway driving), so offered at £2.5k (possible mark down)
Good for the price?

[Al Fowler]

Yeah go for it!

These days, cars tend to be better build and last longer so dont let the milage bother you.

[IanDarkpeak]

Furthering on my quest to find a cheap reliable car (that works!) I have been given the opportunity to buy this one, an ex-company car. I trust the owner - he is my ex-brother in law and am close to the family and my nephews/neice. Description goes:
Vauxhall Astra 1.7 TDI Club Estate
5 years old reg 2004.
Full Service History
One owner from new
Recent MOT and Service, Taxed.
4 new tyres, factory fitted towbar.
Very good condition throughout.
The biggie is 160K on the clock (I know this is majority motorway driving), so offered at £2.5k (possible mark down)
Good for the price?

If it's got a full service history then why not but you should look around as there are some good deals going at the moment.

One word of caution is buying from Family-friends, if something does go wrong it can mess the friendships up.

[Hanneke]

It is a diesel, but still, that is a lot of miles... I got mine (Peugeot 307 2lt HDI hatchback) for £3,000 and it had only done 46.500 miles... mind you, it is 7 years old... but one careful, elderly owner who did not put as much as a single scartch on it... I changed that rapidly

So, not sure, my old car died more or less, or rather, the gearbox did, at 104.000...

[Vince]

I have to say I haven't had contact with him for years (probably 5 times in the last 10 years),as being loyal to my sister, who the kids live with. One of them was designing the posters for the sale which is why I had a mosey at it. But fully understand the whole buying from Family-friends thing, my dad warned me of it.

[dominion]

Vauxhalls diesels aren't as good as pugs or VW's...

[Pilgrim]

If it was some random stranger, would you touch it?

[marty mcfly]

160k is half-way to the moon.

If everything has been replaced it might be worthwhile. Be very careful and make sre it's got a vast wad of receipts for work done!

[Marvin]

I got round the friends/family thing when I bought our car from a friend by buying a year's warranty. The warranty cost about £500, but I claimed over £1,000 on it. Not sure you'd get a warranty on a car of that age or with that mileage though.

[Datt]

Why don’t you try going on to http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ and in the search section enter all the details of the car you are planning on buying, make, model, mileage etc.

See what it brings up and compare the prices to the one your brother in law is selling

If you do a national search it will give you a good indication if the price he is asking for his car is in line with other cars of the same description

I wouldn’t worry unduly about the mileage, I have had, and know other people who have had cars with 250K + miles on the clock before they have packed in………although I did have a van that needed a new engine at 65K miles, and it was a Vauxhall!