theres a 1.6 zetec s mk6 for sale near me,its done 130k miles and i wonder if its near the end of its life at that sort of mileage?

There is no real way of telling to be honest, if it's been well maintained theres no reason it couldn't do another 130k, but either way it's getting to the point were expensive parts may start to fail, and it seems to happen one after another. The mileage alone would be enough to make me skip that ad and move onto the next.

That's half the problem,there's hardly any 1.6 fezzas within 50 miles of me at a sensible price.

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Just come back from south Devon and was amazed to see a Ford dealer with an 09 diesel at £8700 and 09 petrol at £8000 etc. Simply stupid prices.

Wayyyyyyyyy over the top prices they are lol.

The best you can do is go and have a look. If it rattles like a coin jar when you start it and runs lumpy then it's no good. But 130k isn't a lot for those engines. As long as it's been cared for it will serve you well. There is the potential for some bills though.

250k would be easy for a diesel, I go by the idea that the average petrol will do 150K, so thats what you have to think about. I would personally suggest you look more carefully into it and look for another motor, its better to travel an extra 20 miles and save yourself a whole load of agro, than to fork out now for it. If you have a limited budget stick to it tightly, but definately worth looking out elsewhere.

There's nothing within 50 miles that's at a realistic price or hasn't been written off

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What's the service history of the car? Could have been a rental in a previous life which I would avoid.

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If you plan on running the car into the ground, a catC or cat D isnt that big a deal, as long as the repairs are done well. I just sold a catC for a grand, and it could have had better repairs when I bought it, but the next owner is getting a motor in excellent condition (except the gearbox is likely to blow).

If you plan on selling it, then pass the writeoff's but if you plan on killing it, then it can be a good buy.

I though cat c and d cars cost more to insure so was the general reason I skipped them

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I've owned a Mk1 Mondeo on 132k and a Honda Accord Aerodeck on 146k miles and both drove sweet. Mileage isn't always everything

not at all.

A CAT C or D writeoff will be about 40% cheaper than the equivelant car on the market. It costs no more to insure than a standard car.

I had mine for over a year, and did quotes marking it as cat C and D and not at all, there was either pennies in it, or nothing at all, so I wouldnt skip them if this is the only reason.

If I was you I would strongly recommend that you check whatever damage was done is resolved (my crossmember was still stuffed, they just put a new bumper on and that was it)

Alternatively if you want a higher mileage, it can be good (Bruce clearly had some success) but I would say dont really buy a high miler to run it down if you dont have money in the bank. You cant get extended warranties, so when these things go, your looking at a large amount.

You can also get a car removed from the cat register. Unsure of the exact process but a guy bought the only Clio V6 in a certain color ever made that was stacked but it did get taken off the register. Think you need a competent engineer to verify the repairs are as good as they can get. But ot you see m5s and amg mercs that are over 15 years old now and been to Mars and back and they still go strong and probably had some serious abuse over the years.

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I cant recall if this was ceased as a practice, but here is some info:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=811785&nmt=Some%20say%20you%20can%20remove%20HPI%20classifications%20%28cat%20C/D%20etc%29

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-identity-check/overview

This is it, unsure of the test itself but it's still going, Only £50 not bad.

Damn I should have done that and then sold my car as clean if I had the time, I probably would have sold it myself, but its useful to know you can de-CAT a motor!