What to look for in second hand car

[Senti79]

Hi,

New to this forum, coming from the Netherlands. I am quite surely going to purchase a used Cupra Born in the next three months (no hurry because of end of lease contract date). The goal is to purchase a car which I can use 10 years with reliable driving range, in which I will be driving 10.000 to 15.000 km (6.000 to 9.000 miles) per year. Therefore looking at a used car with a maximum of 60.000 km (40.000 miles) driven. In which I prefer to have a heat pump at least. I already see there is a difference per country/region in specs (Netherlands I see Adrenaline, Performance and Copper, while in others it is called V1/V2/V3) so not that usefull to ask which spec I should take I think. But mostly the question is there any reason/experience to stay away from the "one" edition froms 2021 beginning 2022? Is the version from end of 2022 and onwards much different?

[rylon]

I think the biggest difference is probably to the infotainment system, the MY25 (model year 2025) version comes with the 12.9" infotainment screen, and moves the drive controls from the side of the drivers display, to the right steering wheel stalk, with lights and wipers placed on the left stalk. This updated infotainment software is much better, it's fast and responsive. I found the old one to be slow and laggy and a bit clunky.

Also worth noting the MY25 has three rear seats even with the bigger 77kWh battery, whereas before it only had two due to weight concerns, but they've updated the chassis and suspension to fix that.

I think I'd ask to see if they'll do a battery health report so you can see what sort of degradation it's showing.

Hope that helps!

[milkyway55]

Also worth noting the MY25 has three rear seats even with the bigger 77kWh battery, whereas before it only had two due to weight concerns, but they've updated the chassis and suspension to fix that.

The two seat only 77kwh version was only in the UK market. Other markets had the three seat versions since 2023.

[rylon]

Also worth noting the MY25 has three rear seats even with the bigger 77kWh battery, whereas before it only had two due to weight concerns, but they've updated the chassis and suspension to fix that.

The two seat only 77kwh version was only in the UK market. Other markets had the three seat versions since 2023.

So strange! Do you know why that was the case?

[milkyway55]

The two seat only 77kwh version was only in the UK market. Other markets had the three seat versions since 2023.

So strange! Do you know why that was the case?

UK importer being obtuse I'd say, it's not a RHD market thing as Ireland had them from 2023 too.

[rylon]

Oh that's really frustrating isn't it. You'd think it would be in their interests to simplify the number of different models they have anyway.

[RoarP]

When you find a car you would like to buy, then check to see if it is a recall for the vehicle.

Get the VIN, and check for information here :

https://checkout.cupraofficial.com.au/o ... ns-recalls

[LouisH]

My Born V3 (Nov '22) went in for its first service and software updates in December.

Just used the (Australian ?) VIN checker, for my car - it comes up with two service campaigns outstanding - 93Q2 and 93S2 - both from 2023.

Does it mean the dealer hasn't updated the system, or the service campaign updates failed to work ?

The car was with the dealer for two days.

I was a bit concerned the car doesn't have a physical service book, and I didn't get a receipt to confirm what work had been done - apparently everything is online and only accessible by the dealer.

[Elea4]

The Aussia VIN-checker usually doesn't delete outstanding updates - this one is up-to-date:

https://www.dieteren.be/en/recall