Buying second hand car from private seller

[StormsDontLastForever]

Hi I'm looking for some advice please, I am looking at viewing some second hand cars tomorrow. All under 100,000 miles. Have long mot's. I don't know a mechanic or anything I can take with me to look at the car. Is it worth taking the risk? They are between £1000 and £2000, not thousands of pounds but a lot of money to me. Is it better that the car has a long mot and service history with it? Does anyone have any tips? Thank you

Also not sure which thread I should have put this in so apologies if it's not correct

this is risky.
how do you know the vendor has good title. you need to pay for hpi check, or similar.
also how do you know they really are private sellers; any traders purport to be private so as to say sold as seen, and avoid greater protection of consumer protection laws.
and that is before any mechanical assessment.
don't do anything in hurry.
have you checked insurance groups, ie which model would be cheaper to insure.
look up some advice website, eg money saving expert.

In your case I think the savings of buying privately aren't worth the risks. There is lots of advice online though. Forums like pistonheads may help. Just search for "buying a car privately".
www.theaa.com/car-buying/used-car-inspection-checklist

I've had this discussion tonight as i have just purchased a car. I will only buy from dealers/garages as I need that added security that I can go back if there is a problem. Obviously you pay more for this but I feel it's worth it.

You can ask a mechanic to come out and assess a car for you. They charge about £40/50. The AA also do it but unsure on the amount.

Tips
Go for as few previous owners as possible

Check gov.Uk MOT history page and see if lots of work has been needed for MOTs in the past and how many advisories remain.

Google common problems with each model.

If the seller gives you any instinctual feeling that you should walk away, do so.

Check service history and service schedule to see if one due.

Ask about cambelt and when that's due.

Get a HPI check and valuation if you can but take the valuation with a pinch of salt, especially now while the used car market is buoyant

If you know what you are looking at it's very easy to buy a car second hand. It's a buyers market atm, people are having trouble selling cars due to Covid so there are a lot of cars out there that are very reasonably priced.
You can go on ClickMechanic online and pay someone £50 ish for them to come and look at it with you.
Full service history is good but the price will be reflected in the car. I've bought cars in the past with full service history and zero service history and they've both been good as each other.
I'd go for a car that's relatively cheap to fix if something goes wrong e.g Ford and not BMW

I have always had second hand older cars around he 2k mark. I check the MOT history on the .gov site... most will have had a fail at some point but a string of them.. nope, walk away.
A good service history is a major plus.. very patchy and I look elsewhere. As few owners as possible. Mileage doesn't put me off particularly unless it's very high for the year ..10k a year is normal, a bit over that fine, 20k a year probably not.
My current car cost 2k 18m ago, 48k on the clock for a 12 plate and has sailed through MOT but I did replace the cam belt as it was due (and we had one go on a previous vehicle). There are some perfectly good cars out there for under 2k. I steer away for 'expensive' makes and go for the cheap-to-get-parts for ones.

It's not a buyers market at the minute. Car prices are hugely inflated.

Ask if you can see receipts from past services. They will have notes about any issues found

Definitely get a pre purchase inspection by a mechanic that has a good reputation

Nothing wrong buying privately - many people sell old cars this way. Just take someome along who knows what to look for and ask to go for a test drive. You'll need insurance to drive yourself or they drive and you sit in the passenger seat.

@BibbityBobbityBellend

It's not a buyers market at the minute. Car prices are hugely inflated.

I agree, prices are crazy at the minute. DH bought a car in July as soon as the last lockdown ended as he needed it to get to work - his old one was falling apart.

The same model with similar mileage is now £500 - £1000 more in car dealerships.

Buy from a dealership for the extra security, get a mechanic to check it over for you but wait a few weeks if you can. People typically don’t buy cars very close to Christmas or in January so prices may come down.

At the moment dealerships won’t let you test drive (lockdown) but normally you can test as many as you need to and you’re covered by their insurance.

@TheDoctorDances completely agree. I was able to return my lease car because the valuation went up almost £1000 from one month to the next. Cars that are usually 1k are now 2k.

December is usually a buyers market but who knows what this year will bring.

I purchased a car this weekend. Some large garages were charging a fully refundable £99 fee to reserve a car and test drive it. Others were doing a click and collect feature so paying for the car before test driving etc which is madness to me.

I went with a salesman who trades from his house. The security with less of the cost. I was nervous to do so and willing to walk away but he was so professional and everything was wonderful. So far the car is ok. If it isn't, it goes back.

I still think it is a buyers market, but I'm buying cars on Facebook marketplace and some are really cheap compared to what they normally are. Perhaps worried they won't sell otherwise.