Forums > Help! > used cars

Posted: 21st Jul 2006
My brother is a used car salesman.

Things to look out for:

#If possible only buy a car with full or almost full service history.

#Make sure the car you buy has a guarantee with it. Most reputable used car sales company will give you 3 months free and then give you the option of buying a longer term guarantee if you so wish.This is ALWAYS worth it. For the sake of spending an extra £100 you can get up to a years guarantee.

#If you do get a guarantee...read the small print. No garage wants to pay out for something after they've sold it, and sometimes the terms and conditions of the guarantee can be ridiculous.

#The car you are buying should have a recent service certificate, if its anything older than 3months...I would advise against it. Also if you find a car that you do really like, and it hasn't been serviced for longer than that, some good used car garages will re-service it for you before you buy it.

#If you pay a deposit, get a full receipt and a signature from whoever you handed the money over to.

#I don't know if you are part exchanging or out right buying but if you part exchange get your car valued first. You can do this from any good car values magazine or here. You won't get that price for your car as that is the price the garage will expect to sell it at, so expect a couple of hundred quid less at least.

Er...will pick his brains a bit more later!

Hope that helps!

Posted: 21st Jul 2006
If a car looks too good to be true, get it HPI checked. This will reveal its history, for example if it was written off or involved in an accident etc. A friend of mine HPI checked a car that he absolutely loved and looked immaculate- turns out that 7 years about it was a category B write off.

HPI Check

Posted: 21st Jul 2006
Knew I'd forgotten something!Well done Chutney!

Also, the best way to find out if a used car dealer is reputable, ask friends/people at work/relatives or anyone else you know where they've been to get one, there's nothing better than a personal reference!

Posted: 21st Jul 2006
Thanks a lot guys

Am waiting to hear back from my colleague's dad who tests MOTs cars and knows lots of people that sell, but in case that doesn't work out... lots of good tips, cheers

will be my first car that drives on the left side, so wish me (and the rest of Britain) luck

"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)

Owner of Dragosani's left half

Posted: 26th Jul 2006
*decides to avoid the roads around Edinburgh*

Auctions are good for bargains but you need to know what you're looking for BEFORE you buy it. So if you're not to savvy on cars take someone with you who's very savvy. Have a good luck around before the auction starts and never go above the limit you set yourself.

Auctions have a bad reputation but really there are lots of garages selling their part ex's and such. And also private sellers who want rid of their old car quickly now they have a new one. But always air on the side of caution, like chut says if it looks to good to be true it probably is

Let's relight this forum

Posted: 26th Jul 2006
Nah, I'm not that good with cars and I've actually found a really good piece of advice on a used cars website:

"If you have a friend who says they're good with cars, don't trust them because they're usually NOT but won't pay for your repairs" or something like that

My colleague's dad has found a corsa for 700 quid that I could get fully MOT-ed and serviced, so I think I'll go for that. By the way I DID drive for about an hour or so in Ireland last year and apart from the multi-laned roundabouts (which I've only ever encountered in Italy before, and they don't have traffic rules anyways) it was all fine. I thought I'd get really confused with the gearstick in my left hand, but it was all good

"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)

Owner of Dragosani's left half

Posted: 27th Jul 2006
You can use places like THIS to find what price you should be paying for cars too. It can be very useful to see if you're paying to much or getting a bargain

Let's relight this forum