About to purchase 206cc 2.0

[carh74]

Hi, new member here and have just test driven a black 2003 2.0l cc this morning. Great fun and had me smiling from the moment I left the driveway. Gave it a good thrashing through the country roads and nothing jumping out as a warning not to buy.

Just wanted to see your thoughts on buying this car with 67,000 miles at £850, having been advertised at £1,000.

Roof and windows all work perfectly. Few scratches and scrapes but overall fairly clean for the age.

3 things are bothering me though, 1st issue is no service history at all, 2nd issue is a tapping sound and 3rd is a snappy clutch when going from 1st to 2nd gear. (3rd point could be that I've driven an automatic for last 10 years!)

Should I walk away or take a chance? Any help appreciated.

Cheers

CH

[IanL]

Can't see any reason to walk away. The tapping is probably sticky hydraulic tappets. Probably fixable by changing the oil to a good fully-synthetic 10W30, and performing an Italian tune-up (warm engine, then drive at 3,500 to 4,500 rpm for about five minutes. It may take a week or so if the gumming-up is bad). If still no joy, there are oil additives available specifically for the problem.

[Artermis]

Agree with Ian here. Any car will give you something to think about eventually so just buy with your head, you've given it a good test drive so don't be overly afraid of it.

Realistically you're buying a convertible car at exactly the wrong time to buy one - buying one in spring when the sun comes it is when convertibles are most attractive. For the price you're looking at some history would have been preferred, even if partial, rather than nothing at all but I wouldn't have called that a deal breaker entirely.

Personally I've had cars pass through my hands with full service history and more bills and bits of paper than you can shake a stick at which have been complete dogs of a vehicle and I've had others that have come with barely enough MOT to drive them home and a receipt for my purchase which have been stunning motor vehicles. As much as it's nice to have a big wad of paper to go with the car I always tell my friends buy with your eyes, ears and a$$. If it looks good, sounds good, feels good - it probably is. At that point the history is purely a bargaining tool to work with.

Ian is right regarding tapping - particularly if you've got no history the oil could just be old and useless. Some decent oil in it should help remarkably. Oil flushes can be a bit controversial but one of them may help too.

The clutch it's hard to understand what you're meaning, to be honest. Clutches are hydraulic and should have plenty of life left in it at 67k miles. It will perform exactly the same in each gear, so it's probably your perception between 1 and 2. It wouldn't surprise me if you've got a worn engine mount making it feel slightly odd.

Good luck with it.

[carh74]

Thanks for the replys, I'll look at giving it an oil and filter change once purchased.
Cheers

[Ben jp4]

Gearbox main bearings like go go aroud 90k. Sounds like driving a giant pepper mill. Cost around £350 to replace.

[gazza82]

Change the gearbox oil regularly ...

[IanL]

Just to add about the tapping sound:

My 1.6 has just had it's annual service, and my garagiste mentioned he heard a ticking (which I had not heard, but his ears are younger than mine) which he traced to the aircon compressor clutch - his advice is to ignore it.