Anyone know about buying 2nd hand cars?

[Pogodog]

I'm looking to buy a secondhand car but have very little clue about cars! I'm old enough to remember dodgy garages and all sorts of shenanigans with clocking miles back and all that.

These days, how does it work? I've seen a couple of cars that I like on Autotrader, being sold by garages with good customer reviews. Are these places generally trustworthy ? Should I take the descriptions at face value? Or should I be getting somebody to give it a professional look before I buy, in case they're selling a complete rust bucket?

Car supermarkets seem to sell their stock incredibly quickly - do people just turn up and buy once the basic checks (HPI, MOT etc) have been carried out?

Agh, i sound so clueless!!!

Some garages give guarantees, eg 1 year, and yes reviews and peoples opinions (friends etc) are good to go on imo. Do you have a friend/relative who is more knowledgeable who could go with you?

Private sales are much cheaper but there is no guarantee there.
You can pay for a vehicle check from the AA (if you are paying a lot for the 2nd hand car it would be worthwhile),

What sort of age and budget are you buying at, the advice will vary quite a bit based on this. It's also worth bearing in mind that used car prices are currently at a very high peak but with signs of potentially dropping over the next few months (although nobody has a crystal ball). If you don't need one right now you might get more for your money if you waited a couple of months to see how the market moves.

And for the "clocking" worries a full or even partial service history would cover that as mileage is recorded each service.

If you are a member of AA or RAC (and possibly others), they offer a pre-purchase inspection service. Obviously they charge for it, but it could save you committing a large amount of money you struggle to get back.

You can check a car's not on gov.uk by putting in the reg no. This will also tell you if there were any advisories.

You can get an idea of what the vehicle is like from this.

Thanks all. That’s helpful advice - I will definitely look at gov.uk and will look into an RAC inspection.

Yes, prices are high atm. Weighing up the risk of my old one dying on me versus holding out for a few months, but could fo without the hassle of no car, plus I’d lose on trade in value if the clutch goes (definitely on its way. Looking to pay around 9-10k, mines probably worth @ £900!

I bought a car from a car supermarket a few weeks ago. I reserved it online - they said the deposit was refundable but I wasn't concerned about not buying it as I'd had the same car a few years ago and I knew I liked it and what I was getting.

I test drove it a couple of days after I'd reserved it and got it within a week, it could have been quicker, but they needed to check and prepare it for sale - they fixed some minor scratches as part of the deal.

I was very happy with the experience and would do it again, apart from I'm hoping this car will last a good few years so it won't be any time soon.

However it seems I was lucky as at the same place the choice is much less and the prices higher from just over a month ago when I was looking.

You could also look to see if there are any scrappage deals for new/nearly new cars with main dealers if you can manage with a very small car.

You might get something within your budget once the value of your old car as trade in is taken into account.

At that budget, personally I would buy privately and pay the AA to do a check for you (you don’t have to be a member). I spent a LOT of time trying to get a Nissan main dealership to specify exactly WHAT their much- vaunted 100 point check actually covered, and never got a straight answer 🙄

IME, garages charge a premium because of their reputation for reliability, but that reputation is a bit of illusion. I’ve known a couple of people have a hell of a time getting stuff fixed on a car under warranty. These dealers are experts at wriggling out of them.

Car prices are insane right now.

I bought a 2nd hand car last December. Its now worth 2k more than I paid for it even though its a year older and done an extra 20k miles.

You can also look at used cars from a main dealer. The prices can be higher, but they have to complete all the mechanical checks and will give a guarantee, which can add up to peace of mind.

I used an app called Vehicle Smart (if you're using an Android phone). You can put in the registration of the car that you're interested in and it will highlight mileage discrepencies, MOT issues, etc

It also has the option to pay for further checks, including outstanding finance (I think).

I bought mine from a Ford dealership and got a fantastic deal. They check it over properly, replace parts etc before selling and it's under warranty if anything goes wrong, which it hasn't.

That’s good to hear about your car supermarket experience barbaraofseville. Sounds very positive.

Scorpio32, have just checked out Vehicle Smart - wow that’s amazingly useful, thanks. Just looked up my banger and it’s got all of its MOT fails on there, and the reasons

I was trying to look at a Nissan in their dealership next door but they were busy and once I sat in the car I wanted I hated it as it was too claustrophobic in the front. My Ford is lovely to drive and perfect for my needs.

If your comparing to back in the day, my understanding is you don't have the shite you did back then. Generally speaking cars are better made and there aren't the bodged together ones you need to avoid in the same way. At that price point you can't go that far wrong. A check on MOT fails as mentioned above is a good idea.

We've got our last 2 through autotrader, from Citroen garages. Part ex etc. Come with warranty. All good.

9-10k is a lot of money and I sold my 4 year old golf to a second hand garage and it sold for about that.

Get a decent warrenrty preferably a car with some manufactures left in then see if they will extend it with their own

Have a think and decide if would rather not buy second hand and consider a pcp or less deal unless you want a car to keep for many years. Certainly less risk.

Second what others have said to ask someone to give it a once over before you buy. My driving instructor came with me to look at a car as they do tend to go through cars faster than most so he has bought several cars.

Also take it for a proper test drive. At least 20 minutes and on roads where you can get it up to 70mph and see how it handles at speed, any odd noises while accelerating or suspicious burning smells.