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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Buying a used car

34 replies

MyDogsPaws · 04/06/2024 11:17

How does anyone do it? I bought a used car a few years ago which hasn’t lasted the length of the finance agreement so I’ve ended up having to pay it off early and scrap it and now I’m absolutely skint and have no car, I need a car to get to get work so I’m having to hire a car at huge expense on my credit card. I’m struggling to commit to buying another car as they are all massively overpriced and it feels like whatever I buy will just breakdown again, because of my budget the cars in my price range are all 2018 or older.

if I buy a car from a dealer I can get another finance deal but they are all hugely expensive. They generally have a (short)warranty which is something I suppose but because of the price i would have to get a 48month finance deal and there is bug risk that the car won’t last that long.

If I buy a much older cheaper car through a private cash sale I would be taking a massive risk buying one without any kind of warranty- I’m sure no one ever sells a car unless it has something wrong with it so it seems like it would be a definite disaster!

Aibu to be so stuck on this decision? Tell me your used car buying tips and also some success stories to get me out of my decision paralysis!

OP posts:
HScully · 04/06/2024 13:18

I bought a cheap less than £800 car with a yr MOT to keep me going between financing a new one. It was old but ended up actually doing 2 years with no issues. I only intended on keeping it a few months as it worked out cheaper than hiring

lighthouse26 · 04/06/2024 13:08

We are in the process of buying a new car. Our current pcp is up and we have had such a shock at how much car prices have increased. Before our pcp, we had older cars that we were throwing money at to repair. We were looking to purchase a few years old car (2020-2021 plates). However, we are now going for new on finance as it's working out less with monthly payments than the same used car (plus we won't need to pay for mots or breakdown cover).

I hope you find the car you are looking for. I completely get how stressful it is.

randomchap · 04/06/2024 13:04

MyDogsPaws · 04/06/2024 12:35

Had anyone ever had experience buying a car from cinch or similar?

Got my last car from Cazoo

Had it over a year and had no issues. Went through the MOT fault free

I got my local garage to give it a once over after it was delivered. You got 7 days to return it. I don't know if Cinch have the same option

Original poster
MyDogsPaws · 04/06/2024 12:35

Had anyone ever had experience buying a car from cinch or similar?

OP posts:
Original poster
MyDogsPaws · 04/06/2024 12:35

BerlinSky · 04/06/2024 12:27

Yup same thing happened to me, I have always leased and then when we bought our house we decided to buy a car so that we would have a tangible asset at the end of the loan. Worst decision we ever made, the car has not stopped breaking down, garage refused to help us in the slightest (Chalfonts Motor Company if anyone needs a place to avoid!). It's cost us thousands upon thousands to keep it going, and we haven't even paid off the loan yet still.

Have decided I will never buy another car again once we have paid this loan off, and will instead just go back to leasing. Too much risk buying one, even from an apparently good garage with the RAC guarantee.

Unfortunately I don’t think leasing would be a good option for me as I drive a lot for work and have messy kids and dogs so it’s hard to keep a car in perfect condition.

OP posts:
BerlinSky · 04/06/2024 12:27

Yup same thing happened to me, I have always leased and then when we bought our house we decided to buy a car so that we would have a tangible asset at the end of the loan. Worst decision we ever made, the car has not stopped breaking down, garage refused to help us in the slightest (Chalfonts Motor Company if anyone needs a place to avoid!). It's cost us thousands upon thousands to keep it going, and we haven't even paid off the loan yet still.

Have decided I will never buy another car again once we have paid this loan off, and will instead just go back to leasing. Too much risk buying one, even from an apparently good garage with the RAC guarantee.

Shade17 · 04/06/2024 12:17

Of course not all private sales have faults. The best thing you could do is buy something known to be reliable like a petrol Toyota.

Original poster
MyDogsPaws · 04/06/2024 12:10

@NoodleNuts no I don’t, especially at such short notice. I really really need a car as I can’t afford to keep hiring for another week. I’m just so scared to make a huge financial commitment and it all to go wrong again.

OP posts:
NoodleNuts · 04/06/2024 12:02

Do you know anyone who has any mechanical knowledge of cars who could go with you to look at some?

I don't think its a big risk buying from a dealer with a 48mth finance deal - a 2018 car should last longer than 4 years, assuming it is looked after and you aren't rally driving in it every weekend!

Also private sales are not all cars that have something wrong with them - people upgrade or stop driving all the time. I've recently sold my 2012 car, it never broke down or cost me huge sums to fix, I only sold it as I wanted a more up to date, newer car with more mod cons.

Plus warranties generally won't pay out if they deem something to be due to wear and tear, which most of the time they are.