Hi Everyone

We have a growing family and need a 7 seater with enough space for luggage and a small dog (Beagle). Between us, we have four boys aged 12-16 and have another on the way early summer. Both my other half and I have 5 seaters through work, but for the rare occasions we do all travel as a family of 7 (or 5 with dog and large amounts of baby gear) I had though of an old Galaxy. I see on Autotrader models from around 2010 for the £3K mark with anywhere from 80k - 200k miles on the clock, what are the dangers in these? I know many will have been used as taxis or private hire, what parts are prone to failure? Most seem to be the 2.0TDCi engine, but a couple are a 2.2, I think at this age and mileage a diesel is the most reliable, manual if we can find one, am I correct? I’ve checked many out through the various MOT history apps which are available and most seem to have a fair bill of health, though I’m never sure if I believe them, having brought a 24 year old Toyota Celica with a 100% MOT pass rate some years back to drive to Spain in, only to find when I returned, it would fail its next MOT needing £2,500 of welding (which had not just appeared over 12 months if you catch my drift). 

I realise anything of 12 years old and more is a risk, but given the fact we both have reliable 5 seaters, a failure, though disappointing, would not be tragic. 
 

Any advice on what to look at greatly appreciated.

 

Best Wishes

 

Simon

I don't know too much on the Galaxy but it's a Mondeo underneath. So common things on the diesels are probably

• DPF regen issues (blocked fuel vaporiser or faulty pressure sensor or perished rubber pipe going to it, failure to fix will eventually lead to a blocked DPF) 
• Rear trailing arm bushes, handling gets a bit weird when cornering (I suspect they would have been changed at least once if you're looking at 2010 models), get understeer then oversteer feeling and rear tyres may wear unevenly.
• Squeaking front top strut bearings/mounts, need to dismantle the whole strut assembly to change.
• Not sure if the Galaxy's suffered from noisy steering racks caused by filter in the power steering bottle blocking and restricting flow, but if it did then I'd imagine it would have been resolved by now (either just the bottle replaced or the rack as well).
• Timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump and Aux belt on the 2.0 and 2.2 were due to be changed at 125000 miles or 10 years whichever came first, so check for proof of a change, otherwise factor in the replacement cost (cost me £600 last year) vs price of car.
• Similarly, anti freeze is due at 10 years too which should be carried out with the above.
• On the high mileage cars they may have had a clutch replacement which might be a good thing, but check for vibrations when test driving.
• Obviously you get more toys on the higher spec models like Titanium and Titanium X

Some info HERE ... get a facelift model if you can.

Can't think of anything else. Hopefully an owner will comment here too.

 

23 hours ago, Frembrit said:

I don't know too much on the Galaxy but it's a Mondeo underneath. So common things on the diesels are probably

• DPF regen issues (blocked fuel vaporiser or faulty pressure sensor or perished rubber pipe going to it, failure to fix will eventually lead to a blocked DPF) 
• Rear trailing arm bushes, handling gets a bit weird when cornering (I suspect they would have been changed at least once if you're looking at 2010 models), get understeer then oversteer feeling and rear tyres may wear unevenly.
• Squeaking front top strut bearings/mounts, need to dismantle the whole strut assembly to change.
• Not sure if the Galaxy's suffered from noisy steering racks caused by filter in the power steering bottle blocking and restricting flow, but if it did then I'd imagine it would have been resolved by now (either just the bottle replaced or the rack as well).
• Timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump and Aux belt on the 2.0 and 2.2 were due to be changed at 125000 miles or 10 years whichever came first, so check for proof of a change, otherwise factor in the replacement cost (cost me £600 last year) vs price of car.
• Similarly, anti freeze is due at 10 years too which should be carried out with the above.
• On the high mileage cars they may have had a clutch replacement which might be a good thing, but check for vibrations when test driving.
• Obviously you get more toys on the higher spec models like Titanium and Titanium X

Some info HERE ... get a facelift model if you can.

Can't think of anything else. Hopefully an owner will comment here too.

 

Thanks Frembrit. Good info on Parker’s, as always.