Buying a car for the first time

[Baaahbaaahbaahh]

But it has a small chip in the windscreen. It still passed its MOT. Would you buy it or not?

I would ask them to fix it before you collect it.

Not unless they fixed it first. It’s a very simple thing to do, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t happily do it for you, unless of course it’s too big to be fixed and the car actually needs a new windscreen!

A small chip is nothing to worry about. They are extremely common. The worst one on my screen happened when the car was a few days old and I was gutted, but 8 years later it's still there. If the bonnet is littered with stone chips it indicates lots of motorway miles which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
My advice is priority to a service history.. ideally you want a full and documented history that the car has been serviced, maintained and looked after. If through mileage it needed a new timing belt it's also important that's been done, it's a big job if due and if ignored it's a risky car.

If it's only a small chip and garage won't help, you can get a repair kit from Amazon for around a tenner and do it yourself.

How much would it be if worst case scenario the whole windscreen needs replacing? It’s the perfect car for me otherwise

I had a new windscreen

Check your insurance policy, mine was £75-100 and didn't effect the no claims

A chip can be filled to stop it getting bigger but it won't make the chip invisible

I opted for a new windscreen as the chip was directly in my line of sight and distracting

My new windscreen, because it chipped right on top of a previously repaired chip, was £90 through insurance. Bad luck as the car is only 2 years old and I really don’t drive that much! I don’t know of you’d be covered if you bought the car already chipped though? Which is why I’d insist on the garage sorting it.

It’s not through a garage unfortunately. It’s through Cinch.

You should automatically get windscreen cover through your car insurance so will only need to pay the excess if/when it needs replacing. If it went through the MOT then it should be fine...