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1) What fuel? The car I'm looking at is completely standard - could it run on normal 95 ron, or does it need 99?
It will run on normal unleaded but will perform better on V-Power / Tesco 99 once the ECU has learnt that you are running better fuel. Also gives a greater safety margin against the dreaded det.
2) Service intervals? And when is the cambelt service? Also, how much is the cambelt service likely to cost? (I'm thinking its probably at 50k, the car I'm looking at is just shy of 50k so I'll have to take that into account).
Service interval is every 7500 miles / 6 months (whichever comes sooner) on all Classics. Cambelt is every 45k miles (or three years) on all except the last of the MY00 production when they changed it to 60k miles (4 years). You'll be looking at around £150 - £200 to do the cambelt alone, the complete service would be nearer to £500. Shop around, main dealers are usually the most expensive so try and find a good independent.
3) Any common faults/problems to be aware of?
Not many really. Just check for white smoke out of the exhaust, could indicate blown turbo or head gasket. Check the header tank for oil in the water. Engine not overly noisy on start up, they're not the quietest anyway but piston slap can be an issue. Usual stuff really. Good look over for crash damage etc.