Edilaxy Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) Hello, im looking to buy a 2004 Ford Galaxy Ghia 1.9tdi with 130hp. It has 200.000km, 6 leather seats (would like it more with 7 seats) and almost fully loaded. The only thing that i know is missing is the sunroof, but that is very rare on mk2 galaxy's anyway. The car looks like new. Will meet the owner in a week or so when i come back home and check it out. My question for you, the owners of galaxy's is if i should buy it, or should i go for some other option? I basically researched many models. Would go for toyota corolla verso, for the reliability, but it's too small for my needs..Avensis verso, just to ugly insideToyota previa - only 115hp diesel and interior looks shabby. difficult to find one hereCitroen c8, peugeot 807, lancia phedra - too unreliable.Renault grand espace - some of my friends have them. Constantly broken down cars. Had to replace the whole engine at 200.000km. Extreme high cost of maintenance with all these problems.Chrysler grand voyager also same type of problems..Mercedes V class - cant find one without at least 300.000km and problems with rust, electric and so.Mazda 5 - too smallHonda odyssey - cant find oneMazda mpv - rust bonanzai forgot the others Basically the galaxy fits my needs. With seats out i have a flat, almost 2m long cargo space. Big, but not too big like the grand espace/voyager which leads to problems with suspension, higher fuel consumption and van like driving. The interior is nice looking. Much better than his brothers sharan and alhambra. Leather seats look very good and i can turn them backwards which is a nice bonus. Outside it's a nice looking car if you ask me. The one im looking is black with the usual ghia chrome trim. What should i expect from a galaxy with 200.000km? Is the car reliable? Driving an old mercedes diesel for a while now. Almost requires no maintenance , so i really wouldnt be happy with a car that breaks down easily and often. I would appreciate any suggestions and advice i can get from galaxy owners.. Anyway, have a nice evening Edited January 31, 2017 by Edilaxy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 Really depends how much its going for, although that may not be as simple a choice as your clearly looking at a Lefthand drive model, whereas most of the users here will be Righthand drive so values will vary somewhat. What we can see of it looks ok, but you'd be best judge of it. The earlier galaxies do have their faults, but most are easy to fix, hard to say what you will suffer from, though broken door wires a likely candidate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregers Posted January 31, 2017 Report Share Posted January 31, 2017 as above if its going for a price your willing to spend compared to other models you are looking at.is it at a dealer or a private sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edilaxy Posted February 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2017 the owner wants to trade it for my old merc + some money. i value mine at 3000€ and he his at 6000€. you can find them cheaper here, even 3500€, but these are 350.000km cars on the end of their road, also without much equipment. i dont mid paying a bit more to get a car that is in very good condition and has all the extras i need, so not really a question about what it costs. for me it's a question of how reliable they are.. i have a feeling that they would be better than all except the japanese in terms of reliability, but they beat mazdas in rust protection (i live near the sea so it's important to me) and probably in maintenance costs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregers Posted February 1, 2017 Report Share Posted February 1, 2017 well like any cars they have there raft of problems,hence you will find numerous forums that have been set up to help with the problems that rear there heads.this forum has a wealth of tech knowledge that has been added to over the years,which would help you to be able to fix it(hopefully),also thinking about it the current owner will nodoubt has mended any problems that he has encountered over his owner ship?like anything,you could buy a nearly new car and end up saddled with a wreck,or 1 that is a lot older and high mileage and runs like a dream,good luck in your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edilaxy Posted February 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 yeah, i already knew some of the problems they have, but nothing i knew looked like a deal breaker. today i met the owner and had a look and test drive. the car looks and feels good, but he has a problem with the electronics. he cant lock the doors and his blinkers turn on every couple minutes or so. also some of the windows dont work always. we had to turn the car on and off and open and shut doors to get it working. he said that he went to a mechanic/electrician and he said that the problem is in one module in one of the doors. im hoping that is right and not some bigger problem. also i noticed that the front windshield defrost system doesnt work. other than that it's in a very good condition. what do you think, could this be a big problem that is difficult to solve or is it a simple fix for a good electrician that knows galaxy's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edilaxy Posted February 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 just found this: http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php?/topic/24859-drivers-door-electrical-problems-2005-galaxy-mk2/ basically the same problem this car has, only on "mine" you cant even lock the doors manually. it just unlocks. the owner has to remove the positive connector from the battery to lock the doors.. thinking about it, have a feeling that if the wires were just 1-2cm longer there wouldnt be a problem with them. probably too short and opening/closing doors just wearing them down.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregers Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 yep these cars are a nightmare for wiring problems because they are too short and not just in the doors,the rear hatch throws up lots of problems as well.i find it hard that a auto electrician couldnt identify the fault/sstruggling to understand how the seller has put his cars value at 6k and yours at 3k? also on his are they alloys or wheel trims,photo not good,they should be alloys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edilaxy Posted February 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Im hoping that these problems are mostly located in doors and not in other places that are more difficult to reach. Reading about it， it seams that they are just door related. The wheels on the car steel with winter tires but i would get the original alloys with summer tires. Have better photos but all have the license plates visible. My old mercedes is worth 3k. He wants 6k for his. Oh i found a bit of rust on the body. Just between the front tire and the doors. More from beneath. Also just a bit of bubbling on the back doors. Dont know if i should worry about it. On other galaxys i didnt see any rust on them but maybe didnt look good.. Its a 6vseat version. Can i add one more seat? Is it complicated to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregers Posted February 9, 2017 Report Share Posted February 9, 2017 think you can only add another seat by removing the middle 1s and buying 1s that havnt got arm rest on them,as th captain seats take up more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted February 10, 2017 Report Share Posted February 10, 2017 (edited) Im hoping that these problems are mostly located in doors and not in other places that are more difficult to reach. Reading about it， it seams that they are just door related. The wheels on the car steel with winter tires but i would get the original alloys with summer tires. Have better photos but all have the license plates visible. My old mercedes is worth 3k. He wants 6k for his. Oh i found a bit of rust on the body. Just between the front tire and the doors. More from beneath. Also just a bit of bubbling on the back doors. Dont know if i should worry about it. On other galaxys i didnt see any rust on them but maybe didnt look good.. Its a 6vseat version. Can i add one more seat? Is it complicated to do? As said above - unless you have like mine with one single seat in the boot area, in which case finding one of the right seats for the missing position should sort your 7th seat. The seats come out completely by moving the right bits around underneath, no tools required to swap them, and both sets of slots should be present. 6k even in Euros seems a little pricey to me though for a car of that age, even given the spec, though if thats whats available then your pretty much there anyway. The only module in the door is the door lock motor - I've had one of these fail, but they aren't too difficult to replace if you have a replacement unit. Wiring is more likely the issue, and the boot gaiter can cause issues you'd only notice elsewhere. It might be worth checking the brake lights work as expected (keep an eye on the dashboard at the same time, if the backlight lights up when the brake pedal is pressed with the lights switched off one of the two wires on the boot is broken. also check they actually light up, if not then theres a good chance you have wiring issues back there. Edited February 10, 2017 by BrianH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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