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AIBU?

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Original poster

Would you buy this car?

33 replies

Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 19:47

Peugeot 308 gt line hatch- 16 plate 1.2 puretech petrol with 57k miles.
At a large local 3 branch car dealer (200 odd cars per site) so they don't really know alot about each car tbh.
Part service history with 4 stamps, but has missed 2 years, at least one of which was 20k miles gap between services.
Found a misfire on test drive and they are now rectifying that (we have currently paid a refundable £100 deposit)
DH is concerned that the cambelt probably hasn't been done (the car sales have no proof either way) and might be due at a considerable cost to us if we brought it.
I'm on the fence....its a beautiful looking car, ran fine and was great to drive other than the misfire, no other major red flags/warning lights/noises/smoke etc.....WWYD

YABU- Forget it, walk away and do not buy it due to these issues.
YANBU- Go ahead with the purchase- The cambelt needing doing and gaps in service don't need to be deal breakers.

OP posts:
Sidking · 14/08/2023 19:53

I wouldn't buy a car with only half the service history, not if I could help it anyway, I did my last 2 cars and although nothing went catastrophically wrong with either of them they were money pits (both Peugeots, mostly suspension parts!)

I have also seen on the Peugeot Facebook groups that there are known issues with the 1.2l engines and people on the groups recommend to avoid them

WhyEye · 14/08/2023 19:55

DH is right be concerned about the cam belt. I wouldn't touch it but if you're tempted, get it checked out by an assessor like the RAC - not cheap but could save you a lot of grief and money.

Shade17 · 14/08/2023 20:24

It was a heap of shit when it was brand new, add in all the red flags this one has got and you need to run for the hills!

onefinemess · 14/08/2023 20:30

Walk away. Peugeots have a wet timing belt (ask me how I know) and are ultra sensitive to contaminated oil.

Basically there are two types of cam belt, wet and dry. Dry ones are the most common, they sit outside the engine in their own little housing. These rarely fail, the pulleys they are attached to tend to go first.

Wet belts sit inside the engine, soaked in engine oil. If the oil is contaminated by say a few missed services, the impurities in the oil act like sand paper and the belt sort of "melts" away. The debris from the belt then blocks the oil pump and writes off the engine (again, ask me how I know).

Stay away from anything that has a wet cam belt. This includes all Ford Ecoboost engines, so pretty much any Ford car.

CalistoNoSolo · 14/08/2023 20:49

Buy it but insist on a full service with 1yr mot and get them to change the cam belt. If they quibble about any of that walk away.

Original poster
Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 22:11

Thanks everyone...

@onefinemess interesting you say that, as that is what DH found out and was telling me about, and what I also found someone saying on a car forum too.

I think we might bow out of the deal to be honest....there seems too many unknowns and risks....I'm gutted as it seemed such a lovely car in many ways, but it's a nearly 10 grand vehicle and we don't have money to burn.

OP posts:
onefinemess · 14/08/2023 22:12

CalistoNoSolo · 14/08/2023 20:49

Buy it but insist on a full service with 1yr mot and get them to change the cam belt. If they quibble about any of that walk away.

Wet belt change is a £1000 minimum. They won't do it. It basically involves taking the engine out. Stupid design.

Original poster
Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 22:12

Don't think they would do the cambelt....they would have already done the repair and wouldn't budge on the measly part ex offer for our current car (we would have sold that privately) or knock any money off the Peugeot either.
Last service and MOT are recent.

OP posts:
thesandwich · 14/08/2023 22:17

@onefinemess please tell me how you know?

Meredusoleil · 14/08/2023 22:20
  1. I wouldn't buy any French car (Peugeot, Renault or Citroën). 2. I wouldn't buy any car that had a cam belt.
FlamingYam · 14/08/2023 22:20

They may well do the cambelt. I've had many garages do it upon request at time of purchase.

I wouldn't buy a car without full service history really if I was spending a fair sum. There are plenty with full.

Check the seating position with Peugeot. They have this stupid thing where the steering wheel blocks the speedometer if you have it high so you have to have it low which, for me, feels like shit. Cricks my back and my fat thighs aren't keen either. No matter how I adjust the seat and steering wheel nothing feels natural. I've had this with a 208 and 308.

FlamingYam · 14/08/2023 22:21

Meredusoleil · 14/08/2023 22:20

  1. I wouldn't buy any French car (Peugeot, Renault or Citroën). 2. I wouldn't buy any car that had a cam belt.

They now own Vauxhall too.

Original poster
Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 22:23

We have a Renault captur which we have had a year or so now...have had the odd issue, but generally has been a good car and is a 2013 model so not new.Doesn't have the build quality as our Kia though admittedly and things are abit more unreliable/glitchy.

OP posts:
FlamingYam · 14/08/2023 22:25

Sorry to keep coming back.

What are the actual service intervals? How far out was the 20k? A lot of cars are now 24 months / 20k.

When is the cambelt actually required to be changed? I'd only request it if it's close or overdue.

I'd step away because it's a Peugeot and the garage can't know what they're doing if you found a misfire on the test drive.

Meredusoleil · 14/08/2023 22:27

FlamingYam · 14/08/2023 22:21

They now own Vauxhall too.

Show quote history

Who? The French? Which make?

WhereTheSuburbsMeetUttoxeter · 14/08/2023 22:29

I'd never buy a French car again after having a Renault. It was all bells and whistles when it was running, but the electrics would constantly die. Too many bells and whistles. Parts don't come cheap as unlike a Ford, where there's plenty of spares, they need to be ordered specially and all the dash, digital everything taken out first.

Don't make the mistake I did! Car looked lovely. I was stupid!!

I'd either stick with Ford or I did have a Hyundai many years ago that was real work horse. It took some getting used to - indicate - windscreen wipers come on! Wipe windows - indicators come on 🤣.

Don't do it, you're in doubt already and of course the garage want to shift it off on to you. Mine saw me coming!

billyt · 14/08/2023 22:29

I wouldn't trust them.

How would you know/prove they have changed the cam belt if they said they had?

All they are interested in is a sale.

Walk(run) away and look for a different car

£10k is a lot to risk on a car where you already have doubts.

ntmdino · 14/08/2023 22:30

onefinemess · 14/08/2023 22:12

Wet belt change is a £1000 minimum. They won't do it. It basically involves taking the engine out. Stupid design.

Show quote history

Is it really that much on one of these? Doing both cam belts on my MG ZS V6 is only about £800, and that's a 2.5l engine in a bay designed for a 1.8l 4-pot.

@Ilovechocolate87 - I would suggest avoiding this car. Not because of the belt, but because I've had a couple of cars develop misfires due to an oil leak into the plug well(s). That means it's trivial to temporarily solve the problem by draining the oil into the cylinder, cleaning the plug and HT lead boot, and reassembling. Then, a few hundred miles later, the oil's filled the plug well again and the misfire's back.

My ZS has exactly this problem (the cam carrier seal's degraded), and I'm currently draining it monthly because it's not getting worse, and it's an engine teardown to fix it...which is going to be at least £1500.

Point is, you can't necessarily trust them to tell you what's actually causing the misfire. If it is an oil leak, you won't find out until it's too late to take it back.

QueenofLouisiana · 14/08/2023 22:30

Trying to get a small engined car with less than 80k miles on the clock is currently a fucking nightmare (at least it is round here).

Prices are ridiculous, I’d have laughed at them a few years ago but apparently this is now how it is. As fast as I found cars online and rang to arrange a test drive, they were sold. Missed out on 4 in the last week.

No real advice, but I’ve finally bought DS a car and it’s been much harder than it should have been. (A Kia, for at least £1000 more than I’d planned.)

Copperoliverbear · 14/08/2023 22:30

I'd rather do pcp. Xl

FlamingYam · 14/08/2023 22:35

@Meredusoleil yes Citroen and Peugeot are together (along with DS) known as mpsa and they purchased Vauxhall a few years back now.

Renault, Nissan and Dacia are one. Kia and Hyundai are also together but I think everyone knows that.

Even when they aren't together they share stuff. For the last few years, any merc under 2.0l has a Renault engine.

.

WonderingWanda · 14/08/2023 22:55

Nope. I've had 2 small Peugeots in the past including one from new and both plagued with problems and both blew their head gaskets at around 90k miles. The one from new a 206 had 3 new exhausts while still under warrenty. They look nice but are cheap and handle really badly on wet roads.

Original poster
Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 23:00

15k, 24k, 41k, 53k so main one is the 24-41 one which is actually 17 not 20 sorry

OP posts:
Original poster
Ilovechocolate87 · 14/08/2023 23:01

@FlamingYam sorry forgot to tag you in previous post

OP posts:
HennyPenny1234 · 14/08/2023 23:02

The build quality on French cars is awful

Close the door on a Peugeot or Citroen and then do the same on a VW or Audi

Listen to the difference