Verge of buying a DS3 - stay away or proceed?

[Youngey]

Hi, I went to view a DS3 earlier this week, which was put on sale for £5200 61plate and 68k on the clock. The seller said the car was in perfect condition
inside and out and said the least she would take when I asked her would be £5000. Also a company car is the reason for sale.

When I viewed the car in person I noticed there were quite a few stone chips on the front bumper, which in my eyes defeated the purpose of saying in perfect condition.
I was willing to give the seller the benefit of a doubt considering the price she was asking.
I than asked could I take it for a test drive and the girls dad said the car has no insurance so the only thing i could do is take it around the corner which was
pointless cause I could not even get into 3rd gear given the space and main roads nearby.

The interior was fine but on inspection of under the bonnet, i noticed the coolant liquid seemed really dark and I wish i took the cap off to actually see
if it was just dark over mixed aniti-freeze or something more serious. The oil dipstick and oil cap was clear with no milky fluid.

Good Points

Car has been serviced every year - seen the stamps in the book
Recently mot'd, so has a full years mot
She swears the car works perfect and welcome to get a mechanic to inspect it, but i dont know if thats just calling a bluff or being genuine but i took it
as genuine, so i gave her a £200 deposit and said i will be back this weekend with the cash.

I have been messaging her on and off and stumbled on the tax for the car, on how I would need the 12 digit reference number on the little green slip to tax
car online and i said i dont mind doing it there on the day of collection but she said okay that's fine if you want to do that, or i could give
you the 12 digit ref number tomorrow when she finishes work. I told her the choice is hers and that i don't want her to feel uncomfortable with given
that sort of information before actually get the full money, but she was fine with it. I have now retaxed the already taxed car, which was free anyway and it didn't even
ask for any of my details online to do it.

I am going to get a 1 day insurance obviously to drive it back, but now I am a bit suspicious on the low price and that I could be setting myself a car that could potentially
have a head gasket problem. She seems genuine but its 5k of my money which I should not take for granted.

So would I be in my right to insure the car for 1 day and before parting with my 5k, say I want to actually test drive the car properly considering I could
not earlier this week. Plus its best to do it now than being on the way back on the motorway with problems occurring.

I broke every rule in what not to do when purchasing a car, I guess the 95mile journey and natural light not on my side had driven me to go against all my rules and
of course I love the DS3.

I like to mention that i did a gold hpi check before viewing and everything was fine, no cat c or d no finance etc

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to get as much detail as possible. Where do
I stand on this current situation. I want the car but I can't be spending £800+
On a head gasket and skim.

Any help much appreciated.

Edit - okay I have looked at a few under the bonnet coolants on ds3 and it seems some photos
Show the liquid as that dark colour like this for instance

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/att...ds3coolant.jpg
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenge...3/uk/g/009.jpg

Are yours the same?

[BeefMasta]

Welcome to the club

First things first, what model / engine is it? This will give us a basis of advice for things to look out for.

Secondly, if the seller is genuine and you can prove you put the 1-day insurance in place, there's no reason you shouldn't get a test drive in it before purchasing.

[Youngey]

DS3 1.6 E-HDI
£0 TAX for the year

Due to already using the 12 digit new owner reference number on the logbook to retax the car where do I stand with this if the
car is indeed not as described?

[TomTom]

DS3 1.6 E-HDI
£0 TAX for the year

Due to already using the 12 digit new owner reference number on the logbook to retax the car where do I stand with this if the
car is indeed not as described?

Stand where you like.

If you decide not to buy it what happens with the slip isn't your problem


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Bigfeet]

Sounds like you are getting yourself worked up.

First off the coolant colour is not usual and is nothing to worry about as all new DS and Citroen's come like this (see pic of new DS4). Second it's up to the buyer to sort insurance for a test drive and you should have thought about that before you set off, still if you are keen on the car the seller is not going to say no to you having an insured test drive.

You have already covered the other basics with an HPI check but another thing to do is note the number of the dealer(s) who have been servicing the car, most agents are happy to give details about servicing as long as there is no breach of personal data. You could also ask for a warranty background check as well.

But at the end of the day no matter how much help or advice we can offer it all comes down to you and what your gut tells you.

[Youngey]

Sounds like you are getting yourself worked up.

First off the coolant colour is not usual and is nothing to worry about as all new DS and Citroen's come like this (see pic of new DS4). Second it's up to the buyer to sort insurance for a test drive and you should have thought about that before you set off, still if you are keen on the car the seller is not going to say no to you having an insured test drive.

You have already covered the other basics with an HPI check but another thing to do is note the number of the dealer(s) who have been servicing the car, most agents are happy to give details about servicing as long as there is no breach of personal data. You could also ask for a warranty background check as well.

But at the end of the day no matter how much help or advice we can off it all comes down to you and what your gut tells you.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13443[/ATTACH]

I always thought dark - black coolant is asking for problems. With the new tax rules, to insure any car the car has to be retaxed with the new keeper,
otherwise the tax will be invalid on the temporary insurance?

[DaveB]

At that age & mileage any car is bound to have a few stone chips - I wouldn't worry too much about that. However, I will NEVER buy a car I haven't test driven.

[Funky]

Did you buy it?

[Youngey]

Did you buy it?

I am going tomorrow at 12pm and have notified the seller that I want to actually fully test drive the car before I part with my cash with the car being legal to drive on the roads
and she was fine with that. She seems very confident that the car is fine, but you always have to be careful when spending so much money on one item. I just hope the car
don't overheat or squirts water out the exhaust etc

[Youngey]

Okay I am a bit worried now. I have just checked my mates DS3 and the coolant on his car is like a diluted dark colour, the one in her car was a very deep dark colour :|

[Funky]

Okay I am a bit worried now. I have just checked my mates DS3 and the coolant on his car is like a diluted dark colour, the one in her car was a very deep dark colour :|

Ok - I think you have answered your own question. If you aren't sure, which clearly you aren't - don't buy it!! If you are worried about any aspect and the experienced chaps on here can't allay your fears, I would look elsewhere. If you have already bought it, my advice would be to get it to a garage or mechanic you trust and get them to give it a thorough once over.

[JEZDS3]

If in doubt,check it out!

[Youngey]

Okay if the coolant is very very dark and I drive the car and the temperature seems fine and there's no cloud of smoke coming from the exhaust. Could I rule out a hgf and
maybe down to lack of tlc?