r/CarsEU • u/CommentDifferent4148 • 27d ago

Question Advice on buying a used car

Hey everyone, need a bit of advice as I am looking at some used cars. We have a bit of a tight budget and know very little about cars in general.

Some context: - The car is primarily going to be used by 1-2 people; we are going to have cages for 2 dogs in the back. We also think we’ll probably add a single bed and some storage for dog equipment (we do search and rescue volunteer work with dogs).

  • We drive about 10K km per year.

  • we live in Norway, so cold winter and lots of snow.

The cars: We are looking at these two used cars in our price range

1) Ford Transit connect L2 2021, 1,5L diesel, 100 horsepower, 130k km mileage, a bit smaller. Pros I see: - Is newer - Has a new car warranty for one more year Cons: - has a pretty bad bump that has been patched and painted over - the timing belt hasn’t been changed - I have heard that Ford cars break down a lot but idk 🤷

2) Mercedes Vito 2017, 1,6L diesel, 114 horsepower, 146k km, a bit bigger (including higher clearance), seems to be in overall better shape cosmetically. Pros: - has a timing chain instead of a timing belt - has a remote activated heating thingy (which is good when winter temps are in then -20 range and below) Cons: - is older - a bit suspicious why it’s so cheap but don’t have more than a hunch

Any advice would be appreciated

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u/Aleikumselam 25d ago

buy Peugeot Jumper electric.In Norway people do not buy petrol or diesel cars anymore.From those two above I would chose Vito since the engine is Renault and it is great VAN for dogs. My friend bought in Danmark for dogs Opel Combo diesel 2005 for 14000 DKK. The car was in good shape with 380000Km.Still drives dogs.

1

u/Aleikumselam 25d ago

Most important ALWAYS buy NEWER car especially in Norway or Sweden.Cars older than 5 years are huge money pit.

1

u/Cautious-Concept457 22d ago

The Connect has timing chain issues, you should only buy it if that has been converted to the newer type (yes they have both, not just a belt - if you’d consider a slightly older one, the earlier examples had no chain)