Buying advice and Hi!

[awattam]

*racks brains - doesn't take long...* Broken springs, duff electrics, pulsing or U/S cooling fans, collapsed seat frames, dripping overhead consoles, stuck rear wash/wipe, warped disks (f&r), corroded rear disks, leaking coolant hoses, erratic gauges, sticking speedos (2.1 speciality), leaking ps pumps, rusty sills..............

But apart from that they're completely reliable? A lot of that stuff is common among all cars, all worth looking at though

[steve_earwig]

According to some, it's a miracle if a 406 makes it 100 yards down the road without exploding That's everything I could think of that I know goes wrong that either I've had or I've seen on here.

A lot of that stuff is common among all cars

Hey, I could have said check for bald tyres and worn out windscreen wipers

[awattam]

According to some, it's a miracle if a 406 makes it 100 yards down the road without exploding That's everything I could think of that I know goes wrong that either I've had or I've seen on here.

A lot of that stuff is common among all cars

Hey, I could have said check for bald tyres and worn out windscreen wipers

I think all cars look unreliable when you start to list the things that CAN go wrong. Chances are you'll only get problems with a small proportion of these in any one car but it's obviously worth looking for all of them. I just need the car to make it 4000miles with no repairs, and none of the problems listed would leave me stranded - you can still keep going with a worn suspension bush or leaky console, in fact it just adds to the character of the car if you have to wear a coat to drive it in the rain

[steve_earwig]

I was once attracted to an Alfa Romeo 156 SW, until I read I'd need to wear welly boots to drive it

[Welly]

If it was me buying an older D8 I would be inclined to drive it for at least 30 miles (always offer to put a gallon in for the seller) and when I get back I would be looking (and sniffing) seriously hard for fuel leaks, coolant leaks and oil leaks.

I would also leave the thing running until I heard the fans cut in and out and I'd be checking the coolant hoses for signs of over-pressure (how much are those expansion tank sniffer things?).

I'd also be looking at the rear discs (these should run nice and clean). TBH if you get one that knocks a bit (just a bit) I wouldn't worry about it - in fact I would be taking a trolley jack with me and giving each wheel a good workout off the ground.

The great thing about 406's is that they will keep going with all kinds of horrible injuries to get you to your destination

Welters

[awattam]

Thanks for that, I'll definitely have a good long test drive and have a damn good look underneath. I'm kind of betting on being able to make it home even if little things fail, it's only stuff like headgaskets which would leave us properly stranded.

[Longintooth]

Red diesel or gas oil as it is known is exactly the same as road derv except they put a red marker in it and they can detect xxxxxxxxparts per million of it with their test gear - Customs and excise do regular roadside tests on trucks and cars and I gather recently they have stepped up the car testing - they are also gathering details from forecourt sales of people buying the stuff in containers ( some innocently for plant use or greenhouse heaters) All plant, tractors and boats use the stuff quite legally and it is adjusted for winterisation the same as road derv.