Help! Should I buy this car? Need to let the dealer know tomorrow

[Paperholder]

Mazda Mazda2 1.5 Skyactiv-G Sport Hatchback 5dr Petrol Auto Euro 6 (s/S) (90 Ps)

The link is to an automatic Mazda 2 at £7765

I have put a deposit down of £200. There is a small crack on the infotainment screen and googling tells me that this is a common problem with Mazdas and it could spread.

Pros: I have found it hard to find an automatic car in my budget (around £8k)
This car has had one owner and a full service history with all the receipts

Cons: I am likely to have to budget for a replacement screen which from what I can see will be £4-500.

I spoke to the dealer today and he won't budge on either replacing the screen or on reducing the price.

Does this still look like a good deal? What would you do?

It's a 10 year old car so there will be the odd issue, it's inevitable.
Does the crack or potential crack matter?
Given you have put a deposit down, you're pretty committed now really, the time to doubt was before you did that!
It looks like a nice car at a fairly typical price. Mazdas tend to last well so hope it's good for you.

Quick scan on AT says it’s about right price wise. Guessing you have to have an auto.

Unfortunately yes, my left knee is getting slightly arthritic.

My sis has a Hyundai and her infotainment got smashed when a phone hit it during an emergency stop! She got a screen from a breakers yard for £75 and got our mechanic to replace it. I’d go with the car and ask local breakers to keep an eye out for you

Looks like a nice car. mot history is pretty clean too. Ask them to put a fresh mot on it when you buy. The windscreen flagged up as an advisory in 2024 and 2025 but it isn’t an MOT failure.

I always see Mazdas as a pretty good bet. I wouldn’t let a minor issue like that put you off. As a pp said, it’s probably pretty cheap to sort

This is so helpful. Thank you. I am considering getting a pre-purchase check on it tomorrow - I am not sure that I need to given that it has a full main dealer service history. Any thoughts?

I have a 65 plate Mazda CX3 petrol auto and I love it! I have had it 4years and it has now done 52k miles. When I bought it, it had only done 20k. Which is why I bought it - I felt the better buy would be to get an older car from a reliable brand but with lower mileage. It’s had new tyres, front brake pads and a new battery (well, the original was ten years old) but apart from these wear and tear items it has had no mechanical issues, so I am happy with its reliability for its age. Not planning on changing it any time soon. It is so fun to drive.

When you say a crack, do you mean what looks like ‘peeling’ from the bottom two corners of the screen in the photos? Because my screen has exactly that on one of the corners. It’s not a problem and has not got worse. It’s just cosmetic as far as I’m concerned and the touch screen is not affected. Hope that helps!

Personally- no I wouldn’t bother.
The car has had one owner. Pp has said it’s got a good mot history. The dealer also has really good reviews it would seem and the car is priced about right- not too cheap and not too much. That’s my 2p worth anyway. I bought a similar value car some years ago from a respectable dealer without an eg AA check and it (touch wood) hasn’t missed a beat.

@Paperholder I’d ask them to fix the screen or knock off the cost for you to replace. Tell them that's a condition of you buying from them. It's unusual for a dealer not to replace before sale.

If it's only slightly arthritic then you can still use manual. Mine is worse than slightly arthritic and I manage fine in a manual. I'd never pay £8k for a 10 year old car.

OP didn’t ask you to assess her needs.

Unfortunately I have asked and he said no. I must admit I was quite surprised

The advice could save her thousands of pounds. She doesn't have to take it if she doesn't want to.

Thanks @northtea I'd actually prefer a manual, but unfortunately when my knee is in flare up driving my manual car definitely makes it worse

If it is a Mazda dealer that deposit is refundable

I am a motor trader, does the screen work? If it does then I agree with the dealer and wouldn't replace it to be honest, it's almost 10 years old. A replacement could be over £1000. I did our usual checks we would do an all cars we buy ant my company and it looks fine, the price is spot on. I would look at the dealer's reviews first and check out their warranty before buying. But to be honest small autos this price range and with good provenance are hard to find. As I'm sure you have found yourself. Also, December is a terrible month for car sales and this year is the toughest on record for all traders. So I think it's worth another ask for a bit of money off, even if it's £50 that's a fair bit of fuel in the car for you. But bear in mind they will likely put the price up in January when used stock gets more expensive to buy and sales pick up. So maybe don't push too hard. So to answer your question, in your position yes I would buy it.

Surely if it becomes necessary to replace the windscreen needs replacing you make a claim on your insurance? My windscreen excess is £115.

Regarding the deposit if you haven't seen the car yet then the deposit forms a distance sale contract so legally they have to refund it at your request.

And YES to the check, use Carvertical or Motorcheck. Having one owner and service history means nothing. The dealer could have bought it at a salvage auction, it could have been stolen and recovered and returned to the owner. Don't trust that dealers all do the same checks. Last week we were offered a part exchange from a main dealer (BMW) it was a 3 year old Polo GTI with full VW history. It wasn't a categorised insurance write off, HPI and Experian showed it as being fine. Motorcheck revealed it had been stolen and recovered and put through a salvage auction with photos of pretty bad damage that wasn't evident as it had been repaired well. The BMW dealer had no idea as they didn't check it like we do. There are lots of unscrupulous dealers buying uncategorised cars (not officially a write off due to a mistake but they should be), they buy them at salvage auctions and repair them and sell them at full retail money. The motor industry has a terrible reputation and I am very sad to say it's justified a lot of the time.

😂plenty of 10 year old cars will cost you WAY more than £8k!

You didn’t give advice. You told her what you decided she can do, and bizarrely backed it up with ‘I can do it and mine is worse’ such utter rudeness.

I've got a Mazda 2 and I love it. It's comfortable and economical. Mine is automatic as well as I've got a problem with my right foot. I can drive a manual but it's uncomfortable and I don't see the point of suffering when I could buy an automatic!

A 90bhp Mazda 2 auto is not really in the same category as a Polo Gti or a Beemer in terms of steal ability, and unlikely to be thrashed or crashed- just not the right type of car.

And the dealer has a pretty sound google review history.

@Lonelycrabwell I work in the trade and I wouldn't buy a car from anywhere and spend that amount of money without doing my own checks for peace of mind. That was just a real life example and the most recent one, the 2 previous cars we've seen it on have been a Fiat 500 and a Ford Mondeo. Any car would be stolen by a car thief if the opportunity arises, although some are more desirable for obvious reasons I agree and any car can be involved in an accident. Do only fast cars have accidents? Absolutely any car can be involved in an accident.

If you do get caught out the dealer holds no responsibility unless you want to go to court, and the car will be worth thousands of pounds less. Fair enough if you would be prepared to take that risk, I wouldn't be and was offering my opinion to the OP.