Prospective Purchase advice wanted

[Brett]

I would like to retire my 90 from daily use & have been looking at Td5 Discovery's. I've already got a 300Tdi Auto Discovery which the wife uses, do I'm pretty familiar with the Series I variants.

I've viewed two this week, one of which I've discounted, the second not sure hence the post

The one I looked at tonight is a 2000 MY on a W reg. 5 seat Auto GS, although it's got Aircon & Cruise Control which I guess was an option as the other one didn't have this.

It's done 87000 miles, the service book is stamped up to 50000 & no further history. It's pretty clean for the age, the only things I could pick up on was the coolant header tank was empty, a small ding on the front bumper & knackered aftermarket stereo. The guy who is selling it has bought a Golf GTi & has not bothered selling until now, he's just left it sitting on the drive for 3 months unused.

We took it over the road to the village garage & they topped up the coolant (pink stuff) & it took approx 1 litre to the level. It drove ok, obviously needs a complete service but I think I can use this as a lever on the price. He's asking £5995 for it. I reckon I could get him down to £5500 or less.

Do you reckon it's worth a risk? Still too much money? Best to walk away due to the lack of service history/coolant?

Any suggestions, gratefully received.

[plasticbadger]

In my mind this is the perfect spec. I have a 5 seat GS and I will retro-fit cruise soon. The 5 seat GS is the highest specced model that still has coil rear suspension - so less to worry about.

As for your question - Low coolant is a common fault for unobservant owners. This can lead to head gasket failure, but 1 litre to top up is not too bad. The service interval is 12K, so 37K means 3 services have been missed. If you budget for a FULL service (£600+ I think).

As a comparison I bought my 1999 'S' 5 seat GS last May for £6995. It had 111K, but full service history and was in near mint condition, from a dealer with warranty. Therefore i think £5995 sounds about right for a car with faults, but lower mileage and now about the same age, But I'd get a price for the full service and see if you can use that to get it for £5500.

Remember, any future buyers from you will want to see service history, so get the book stamped with details of the big service if you buy.

Good luck

[Brett]

Thanks for the answer.

I put an offer of £5200 in, but I haven't heard anything back. I'll keep looking I think.

[lynall]

If its got low coolant i would not buy it as head gasket prob on its way and if they cant be bothered to check the coolant level what else have they not done.

Head gasket failure on a TD5 can be terminal as the plastic dowels shear off and allow the head to move sideways allowing the valves to strike and scrap the cylinder bore writing the engine off.

Radiator failure is also common at the plastic end tanks.

After a test run if the hoses are rock hard walk away.

All TD5 have the pink coolant its called oats organic something! it justs lasts longer than the older stuff

Lynall

[BogMonster]

Organic acid technology.

And it smells like rotting fish too...

[JimAttrill]

Td5's generally have low coolant levels as it is so hard to check the level without a mirror and you can't see through the tank. And some owners never open the bonnet anyway until it goes bang.

Had a TD5 disco in the workshop the other day for a service. The owner said there is something wrong with the windscreen washers. I asked whether there was a noise when the lever was pushed. The owner said that it did make a whirring noise. I filled the tank with water and charged him 30mins labour for being an idiot