I BOUGHT A CHEAP VAUXHALL ZAFIRA FOR £1,000!

Alright guys, how's it going? Welcome back. Well, today you can forget all your supercar channels and your drag racing and your lap times because I've got something way more exciting. What I've just bought is a 2010 Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 petrol for £1,000. Riveting stuff, this. You might be thinking, hang on a minute Matt, that doesn't sound exciting at all. Well, you're wrong. What I've bought here is an Elite Zafira. An Elite, which means it's got weather. Wow. All jokes aside, they're actually not bad cars. They always sell really well. Keep this to yourself, but I actually prefer this era of Zafira than the one that came after. I'm hoping today with this 13-year-old Zafira that I can demonstrate how you can make money in the used car business. What I'm hoping is, like I said, I paid £1,000 for it, if I can keep my spend to around £500 then I should be able to get £2,795, £2,995 for it, so there should be a decent return. I don't want to get too carried away though because Zafiras in general do have a tendency to be run on a shoestring. They just tend to be a used and abused family wagon that aren't treated with love and respect. We'll see, this one might be. And thinking about it, I know it's getting on in age now so it's probably got a leaking rocker cover gasket, but generally, touch wood, quite reliable. I've never had that many comebacks with them. Saying that, I do remember one occasion many years ago when I was at my old site and I'd been in business for about a year or so, and I had this Zafira. Quite a nice car, done 70,000 miles, and I think I sold it for £2,795. I sold it to a lady who had two or three kids and she traded in a, I think it was a 2005 or 6, Citroën C4 five-door, not the Picasso, the smaller one, the uglier one, which was a horrible goldy colour which had gone flat on some panels, and she wasn't entirely honest with the description. When I drove it after we'd done the deal – I should have driven it before, but you live and learn – when I drove it after we'd done the deal, I realised the turbo wasn't engaging. For the next six weeks or so, she kept calling every couple of weeks with issues. Minor issues, to be honest, on her older car, but issues that I rectified nevertheless. And then in the end, I got one of those, you know what's coming, don't you? You expect me to put my kids in that car and all that sort of stuff. So, in the end, I said, right, okay, bring it back. So her husband came back to my office, I think to kind of throw his weight around a little bit, let's be honest, and he said, right, I want my money back. Okay, fine, you can have your money back, but I'll tell you what, I'm not giving you your money back, we'll just undo the deal because I've still got your Citroën. And he looked a little bit sheepish and he said, you've still got it? Yeah, yeah, I've still got it. He wants a gold Citroën with no turbo. So he said, well, I don't want it back. So I said, well, tough luck. That's the only way you're going to get your money back, is if we completely undo the deal. I'm not being lumbered with an old Citroën and you get the full asking price back for the Zafira. That's not happening, sunshine. So in the end, I was quite happy to undo the deal. Then I rectified whatever the fault was, I can't even remember now, it wasn't anything major, put the price up of the Zafira by £200 to £2995, it sold immediately and the couple who bought it, who were very nice in comparison, loved it. Never bought it back for any issues at all. It's a weird job this sometimes, and I think the moral of the story is you just can't please some people. So don't bother trying. Anyway, let's go and have a look at this Zafira in question. I'll see you there. Well, we're here, it's silver with black leather interior. It is an Elite, it's got the nicer wheels on it. Oh yes, this is exciting. Joking apart though, it's even got the valance at the bottom. You know the skirt thing around the bottom of the bed? That's always missing on Zafiras. It's usually pulled off by some single mum outside the school gates in a onesie. On reflection, I could have phrased that better. Right, well, the tyres need air, I can tell you It looks like they've got about 12 psi in both near side. That's what always confused me about these kinds of car buyers. They'll kick off Royal when something goes wrong with their car, you know, an engine light pinging on three weeks after they've bought it, and then I get accused of putting their kids in a deathtrap or whatever, and yet they're comfortable to drive around in something like that with 8 psi in three of the tyres. A bit hypocritical, isn't it, don't you think? That actually looks okay. It's D for D-side. It's very dirty, very grubby actually, and it probably is a little kiddy abused thing, but the bodywork looks okay. I think we've got some profit here. I don't want to speak too soon because it is in bay number 13. Unlucky for some. Right, let me do a quick vehicle history check, then using CarVertical. Now, it's really important you do one of these before you hand over any cash for a used car or motorbike. It's really easy to use. All you do is go to CarVertical.com, type in the VIN or the reg number. Now, in this case, we know the reg number, which is Delta November 10 Victor Sierra X-ray. Check vehicle. And this will give us a detailed report about the car's history. On top of that, it'll tell us whether it's ever been stolen, written off, had a mileage rollback, or has outstanding finance on it. If it's been for sale previously, sometimes it has photographs of the previous advert, so you can compare condition and spec and all that sort of stuff. It's quite interesting. And if it has been in an accident, sometimes it shows you photographs from the insurance company. So, it's quite a handy tool, really. And if you want to save yourself 10% off each and every check that you do, then don't forget to use my promo code HYPEEK. That's HYPEEK, all one word, and you get 10% off. And the report is ready. So, view report. That is a Opel Zafira, petrol, 2010, odometer's fine, so it's never been clocked, no outstanding finance, and there's no recorded damage. Perfect. Oh, the mileage is good. So, the last MOT, which was done in... It's got a short MOT. That's worrying, isn't it? The last MOT was done in February 23, and we're now in January 24. Time flies, doesn't it? It had done 79,000 miles at that point, and it does about 4,000 or 5,000 miles a year. That's not bad, is it? There was one year, must have had a busy year here, between 2014 and 2016, it had done 32,000, then all of a sudden, it had done 309,000 miles, then back to 45,000. Now, anybody can see that that's obviously a typo. It was obviously 39,000, and some idiot MOT tester in a rush, while the phone's ringing and he wants to disappear for his dinner, has typed in 309,000. It's annoying that that can't be changed now, because it might put somebody off. The average market price for such a vehicle is £4,200. Now, I was thinking that it could be a three grand car, but it might be a tad more. Maybe not, I don't want to get carried away, but the miles are quite good. It's a multi-purpose vehicle. Oh, it's a 1.8. I told you this video was going to be exciting. Forget your supercars. I thought it was a 1.6, it's a 1.8. Be prepared to be pinned into your seat. Let's see if there are any advisor items on the last MOT, then. There have been advisor items every single year. If we go down to the last MOT, then, there are a few advisor items. Surprise, surprise. Namely, tyres. It's no surprise, is it? If you run around with eight PSI, you will wear through your tyres. Central front tyre. I didn't know this was a five-wheeler. Nearside rear tyre, offside front tyre, brake pads, and tyre. It wants a set of tyres, potentially. Although, having said that, that was done almost a year ago. They might have been replaced. Let's go and have a look, shall we? Okay, then. Sun's out today. Makes a nice change, doesn't it? Now, the first bit of good news is we've got one key, but we've also got the second key. Look at this. Although, it is a bit sort of limp, but, oh well, at least we've got it. And there she is, the Zafira Elite. Now, bodywork-wise, this does look very tidy, albeit a bit grubby. Now, they advised on tyres. Now, they look very old. This is going to cost me a set of tyres straight away. Look at all the cracking here in the sidewall. They're ancient. 2015, so nine-year-old tyres there. That's good, isn't it, when you're driving your family around? Lots of moss and stuff everywhere, but it will clean up. Up front, we've got a Uniroyal. They're quite a good brand, actually. And again, it's quite low and quite old. 2019, so that's five years old. I mean, they are decent branded tyres, Michelin and a Uniroyal, so that's good. That's the valance thing I was talking about, and it's always missing because people don't care. Run-up kerbs outside Costa and Greggs. Usually Greggs. We've got front fog lamps. This is a big spec, isn't it, this? Another match in Uniroyal. A very dirty wheel there, like someone's been heavy on the brakes. Brake discs look a bit corroded. A little bit of a dent there, but not too bad. It just wants a very good clean, I think, and a set of tyres, because they're all very old and very soft. Look at that. Look at the state of this. Someone's run around in this. That's terrible. That should have been a fail, really. The worst bit then so far, I would say, is this. I mean, they've done a neat repair, haven't they? A little bit of cling film there. By the way, these lamp lenses are about £35 from eBay, to the fact someone's been out here with some sellotape and cling film rather than just order one. Tells you a little bit about the previous owner, I think, without wishing to be disparaging, of course. The remote locking works, so let's have a look at the boot. Now, here's the thing. I've just spotted some carpet here from somebody's hall stairs and landing, and off-cut, which is a bit of an old person thing to do, isn't it, I find. So maybe this wasn't used as a family car at all. Maybe it was just used as somebody's big practical car or van, because we've got some rubble here. It is all quite clean, though, on the bright side. We've got three layers of protection there. It's just dirty. They've had a dog in the back, because I can't smell anything, but I can see wet noses up against the glass. Now I know we're into four tyres, my £500 spend is looking a little bit less likely. Look at the leather look. Yeah, they've had a dog in here. It's all scratched. This isn't a four grand car. We've got a little bit of a hole there in the bolster. On this kind of car, I don't think I'd bother repairing it or replacing it. The rest of it's in decent nick, actually. And it is an Elite spec, which means you get electric windows in the back, electric mirrors, auto lights, heated seats and leather. Nerd, honestly. Well, apart from needing a very good clean and a fresh set of mats and a fresh set of tyres, we're all right, I think. These always break, the glove boxes. I've repaired more of those than I care to remember. Service history, then. So we've got the owner's pack here, and my keys here. This might well have started out life as a rental car for six months, because they often did. Hmm, maybe not. Maybe not. Well, this is odd. The service history, bear in mind this is a 2010 car, the service history starts in 2017, when it was seven years old, in Wirral. 17, 19, 21, 22, and the cam belt's been done. That's good news. But where's the early history? Why is there no early history? How odd. What happened to the first seven years? I mean, I suppose, thinking pragmatically and trying to keep upbeat, it's better to have recent history than old history, isn't it? At least I know that it has been serviced in the last few years. That's not bad going, then, is it? Nope, not working here. We've got the wrong key. Oh, there we go. The inspection light's on. It's done 83,000 miles. We've got a little bit of fuel in. It's a five-speed manual. Any CDs? No CDs. No fun. They've got heated seats, though. What have they been listening to? Oldham Community Radio. We get to the tune here, the African tune. Right, so the African tune really is because... Sounds riveting. We've got, down here, like a little guardian angel. Protect me, my passengers, and all who I pass by with a steady hand and a watchful eye. I bet the guardian angel is up there thinking, try and help me out here, love. Put some air in your tyres. Maybe replace them every nine years. We've got an auxiliary jack there. That's quite good. This isn't too bad, this car, really. Not bad at all. Not mint, but then it is a 13-year-old Zafira. I think I can do something with it. It smells quite clean. Let's have a look under the bonnet. It's always on the other side, isn't it? Sod's law. Now, the important thing with this is, like I say, they do suffer with poor rocker cover gaskets, so I'm looking for oil leaks, basically. It all seems quite dry, doesn't it, so far? Let's get this bonnet up. Checking here for any mayonnaise. Now, it is a cold day, so I expect to see a little bit, but no, we're all good. We're all good here. That oil doesn't look too filthy either, does it, really? Right. This isn't too bad, then, really, on the whole. I think we need to drive it, don't we? Right. Clutch feels all right. Sounds all right. It's not cammy, or tappity, or vibratey. Clutch is a little bit soft, and the biting point's a little bit high. Not too bad. There was a recall for these about six years ago, something to do with the air conditioning system, I think, because one caught fire, then all of a sudden everybody panicked and stopped buying Zaveras. It was the most knee-jerk reaction I think I've ever seen. Anyway, it was a free recall by Vauxhall. And we're off. I'm bearing in mind now I'm going very old, soft tyres. I'll say it now, I've got my guardian angel, what am I worried for? I wonder if there's a guardian angel up there that will stop me buying old tat. Oh, AMG GT, in grey. The clutch is all right. I think it's acceptable. It's probably the original clutch at 83,000 miles. On the bright side, I suppose, a new clutch in a petrol car like this doesn't have a dual-mass flywheel, so it won't be a massively expensive job. This is all right, you know. It's all right. Got my heated seats on. I always find this really confusing. Just as a flashback, I bought one of these in Spain 11 years ago, 12 years ago, same shape as this but a 1.7 diesel, and I loaded up all my possessions in it and drove it back. I did that about three or four times that year when I was moving to the UK, and it was quite good. In fact, I got stopped by the Guardia Civil early one morning driving through Granada or somewhere. Proper Guardia Civil roadblock, searched my car, searched all the box in the back. Anyway, they let me go. Nice little anecdote for you, that, wasn't it? What am I going to do with this, then? I need to run it to my mechanics for a service MOT, four tyres, a new rear light lens, and hope they don't find a load of other stuff wrong with it as well. Tyres are going to cost me, they won't be expensive, will they? If I put some budget tyres on this, 50 quid a corner, 200 quid, service will be 80 quid, light lens will be 40 quid, 320 MOT. We might, might be just still on target for my £500 spend. Maybe. It'll be a close call, this, but I'm going to try and do it. I'm going to try and do my £500 spend. You probably realise, but this year I'm trying not to go off the rails with stuff. See how that goes, shall we? I think it's also crying out for a new set of mats. They'll cost me 12 quid, and a key repair. Right, okay, we might just, just, just be slightly, ever so slightly over the £500, but we'll be there or thereabouts, I think. As long as we are, there should be a good £1200, £1300, £1400 profit here. I think first I'm going to take it for a quick mini-valet, spend £15 on it, and get it looking a little bit, a little bit fresher. On the bright side, of course, it has had its cam belt done, so that's £350 I don't need to spend. That's all good news. Granted, I've only been in it for five minutes, but there's no misfire, there's no warning lights on. We're all A-okay, really. Right, I think that's what I'll do. So give me, give me a week. I'm going to try and spin this one round quickly. Time is money, isn't it? And if I leave it sitting for a month, then that isn't great business. So I'm going to try and spin this one round quickly, or quicker. Right, see you later on. Right, well, I've got an update for you regarding my cheap Zafira. It's not good news. Just ignore all this death row here. I've got lots of, lots of problem cars backing up. In fact, shall we get in? I love the snow, but I also detest it. Let's get this fired up then. Oh, heated seats. Forgot about that. Right, my mechanic has given me a bit of a list. Oh, I've just realised. My little guardian angel wasn't looking out for me on this occasion, was it? I might keep that. I've got a feeling I'll use it in the near future. Right, my mechanic's list then is as follows. You ready for this? Washer's not working. Nearside rear light unit. We knew about that. The horn doesn't work. This one's quite worrying. There's oil in the coolant tank. Who put oil in the coolant tank? I don't know. No, it's indicative of a, quite a serious issue there, I think. The nearside front tyre, nearside, offside front tyre, nearside front tyre. I've got basically four tyres. They're all badly perished and below tread. Lovely. Then we've got the nearside front and the offside front dust covers. They need to be replaced. Front distant pads, rear distant pads. In addition to that, we've got an oil leak, in brackets, bad, from oil filter housing and sump. Great stuff. There's a fan belt noise, which we can hear. The exhaust is blowing from the exhaust midsection, apparently, and the exhaust back box has got holes in it. Quite a long, miserable list that, isn't it? So what I've decided to do is, well, not bother with it. I thought, guys, I thought paying £1,000 for this and then spending £1,000 on it, then maybe selling it for £3,000, would be quite good business in the grand scheme of things. But with that long list and the fact that I've got oil in the coolant, it just panics me. I could be into a very big bill and then sell it with no confidence at all. Then it'll come back and then it'll just haunt me. So, I've got my sensible hat on again. Sorry. I'm going to have to sell it as it is, I think. I'll do a very blunt advert. Sorry, got snow on your feet then. I'll do a very blunt advert and just try and get my money back or as close to. While this is warming up then, let me just show you around it briefly. It's a bit of a pity really, because I know it'll sell, but there's no point selling something if there's no profit, is there? What would you do? I think I've made the right decision here. Once again then, I've avoided a massive overspend. I quite like this. Right guys, thank you once again for watching. Make sure you give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Make sure you subscribe if you haven't done already. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or X as it's now called, and TikTok. I'll leave the link below. And yeah. Cheers guys. See you next time. I don't want to film this.