Aygo sub frame

[ne14nee]

Looking at a 2008 Aygo as a first car for my grandson noticed on Motorscan that it failed the mot on corroded sub frame although dealer has promised new mot and six month warranty. Can you Aygo lovers give me some advice please ?

[Parts-King]

The subframe is best part of £1K, if it is that rusty, buy a different one, you don't want to be buying a new subframe at next MOT 

[Puglet]

As above, sounds iffy, these cheaply made little cars can take a fair amount of fair wear n tear, but corroded subframes signal an unloved, flood damage? car. In a years time you will have no MOT, no warranty and maybe a big repair bill. Well done for doing a MOT check which as you found can tell you a lot about a car's history. Plenty of these little cars about just need to find a cared for example.

[flash22]

Loads of aygo's about, what is your budget you may want to consider the Yaris - i assume he has/will have a full manual licence

if in doubt, get it inspected by a 3rd party

[Eddie G]

2 hours ago, ne14nee said:

Looking at a 2008 Aygo as a first car for my grandson noticed on Motorscan that it failed the mot on corroded sub frame although dealer has promised new mot and six month warranty. Can you Aygo lovers give me some advice please ?

Would personally give it a wide birth especially since there is lot of Aygo's around for sale, why risk it.

[TonyHSD]

Rust its the worst to any car. Once started no way can be stopped. Better look for another car and don’t bite on seller’s promise. , car traders and estate agents are known to bent the truth. 

[haelewyn]

For the right price, everything is ok.
The car is a 2008 you say. That's 15 years old and not a disgrace to be rusting on some parts on the bottom.

Knowing you will not own it for several years, try paying 1000 - 1500 £ (MOT included) and check if you want to have it repaired after a year, if the rest of the car holds up.

Smutter a pot of rust converter everywhere you can along the bottom, only if the rust is still not too much present.
If opposite, the rust has eaten the car for a part and it could be a dangerous thing to drive, just let it be.

If after one year, you are not repairing the thing and you can't add an extra year, you still get scrap value.. So it was a low cost thing to drive.

If you want a no worries - long time driver (which there are plenty), let it be and find an other one, as people said here.

[Bernard Foy]

4 hours ago, ne14nee said:

Looking at a 2008 Aygo as a first car for my grandson noticed on Motorscan that it failed the mot on corroded sub frame although dealer has promised new mot and six month warranty. Can you Aygo lovers give me some advice please ?

Don’t touch it with a barge pole, despite the promises of the seller. You are definitely asking for trouble on the next MOT. Previous failure of MOT could mean that the same trick has been pulled before and you will have a higher possibility of ending up with repair costs far exceeding the value of the car, or having a lump of scrap.

[flash22]

2 hours ago, haelewyn said:

For the right price, everything is ok.
The car is a 2008 you say. That's 15 years old and not a disgrace to be rusting on some parts on the bottom.

Knowing you will not own it for several years, try paying 1000 - 1500 £ (MOT included) and check if you want to have it repaired after a year, if the rest of the car holds up.

 

You be lucky £2k doesn't buy you much in the last 3 years, in the south of the uk, these cars have their own price bubble, with the expansion of ulez that kills off most car older than 2005 (euro 4)

if it failed, a MOT for rust it must have been holed, if the sub frame is holed you know the rest of the car isn't far behind

the problem is a dealer will know where to get a bendy MOT or cover it up with underseal

one of the worst Aygos posted on the forum (57 plate)

 

[Cyker]

I agree; The Aygo isn't a super rare car so there's no point settling for a suspect one when there are so many better ones out there.

Unless you want to fix it yourself as a project, I'd pass...

 

[haelewyn]

Hiya Flash.
I think you are very realistic about it ... I tried to be realistic too but it all depends on if that is the way the TS want to go or do things... And on if the fish (seller) will bite or not.

I have known a few friends who usually buy a car of someone who has a breakdown (they are working in the business) and is fed up with the car + wants to get rid of it.
1000 pounds would be a probable no to them but they are really cheapskates.
Usually they manage to get an MOT and every once in a while, one of them still drives a car around for 3 more years.

This way you can drive a car real cheap.

I was thinking it was an MOT advisory for rust on the sub frame (didn't check it any more now) and then it's perhaps still ok.
To give to a grandson, it should not be a risky thing to drive the next year and a professional eye would best try to judge that.

Of course if flakes of rust are falling off or if you can make holes with a screwdriver, it's just too late. If just surface .... the pot of rust converter could be a good idea and the car could be an ever cheap runner for a first car.
Scrap value ... I didn't hear any quotes the last years but i think they would give less than 1.000 pounds here. Then the seller can maybe get a good deal too if he can get rid of the car fast, is interested in passing it on (has a weak heart for the car and doesn't want to scrap) and most of all is realistic about the price he can get.

Why not pass : IF it's safe AND cheap... why not. You would not get a decent Aygo with nothing mechanically bad on it here for less than 3 - 5.000 euro I think.