Hi, I am 18 and buying my first car. I have just been to view a ford fiesta 2009 titanium 1.4. The drive was very smooth and there were no noticeable faults with the engine when I looked around with my father (who has knowledge of cars). It is currently sitting on 60,000 miles and is advertised at £3500.

The car has no record of being serviced since 2018 and the engine oil was looking fairly black. What kind of expenses am I expecting to run into for a car of this mileage and is it worth buying? For example I don't believe the cambelt has been changed....

Thanks for the help, Ben.

With cars of this age it is a good idea to check the MOT history where you can see what it has failed on, so what has been replaced and any advisories, which probably will need replaced fairly soon. Here is a link to the government website, you will need the registration number though. https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

I would expect that with a car of that age that a lot of the suspension parts will be well passed their best, unless they have been renewed.

I can't comment about the price other than to check online how much other similar cars are selling for.

As above, check MOT history, give your preferred local garage / ford dealer a call and ask how much for a major service, break fluid change, cambelt and auxiliary belt replacement then take this off the asking price. 

Hi Ben, I would say on the face of it that it's an ideal first car. The engine is likely to be a safer bet than a 1.0 ecoboost.

If you get a major service and belts changed you could be looking at £700. The car is a fair price so I wouldn't expect you to be able to get it for much less than £3200