Please share your tips for buying a car!

[Letthecarhuntbegin]

I have been buying cheap rustbucket runarounds for years. Now I need my car regularly as part of my job and it’s time to get one that a) looks professional and b) is very reliable.

Budget is tight right now (isn't everyone’s), so I need to get it on finance.

I have never done this before. Any advice what I should do? Do I go to a dealership and get one of their finance packages? Or get a loan from the bank and look at Autotrader? I am suspicious because my last car from there has been rubbish, though it looked like a good deal. I know nothing about cars. I don’t even know or care what type I get, I just want it to be smallish, decent looking (nothing flash)and to not keep breaking!!

Any advice on type of car, type of place to buy it, how to go about financing it very much welcome!

Thanks!

Get an online subscription to Which - they test cars for reliability and give scores. I go for reliability over everything else and have found them useful. Good luck, hope the search goes well.

Buying from a dealership will give you some protection, though of course pay more than private. Read their reviews, but of course, all cars can vary.

DO you have a trusted garage that could look over a potential car for you? Lots round here do, and if a reputable dealership, they won't mind (one of ours actually drove it 13 miles to our garage to check, now that is decent!). But maybe look locally to your garage if not.

Check for FSH, it will indicate good previous owners and good care, read what has happened each service.
Take for a test drive, start the car up from cold. Listen to the engine, pop the hood and listen, does it sound decent? Check oil level and consistency, no goop etc. Check colour of coolant should be red. If brown at all, could be leak from head gasket.

Read guide to buying on auto trader, lots of tips. Good luck, so nerve wracking buying a car.

Honda and Kia very reliable cars. Ask your garage what they recommend. They know how often they see certain cars requiring work, and others which are reliable tanks.

There are some hints and tips on you tube...also services like car vertical where you can pay around £25 to check out cars via registration number, gives you a detailed report. Nothing better than a trusted person who knows a bit though. You do get a warranty if you buy from a dealer, but you pay for it! Chops Garage and High Peak on you tube give you some insights. It depends on how much you're looking to spend though...there's a lot if difference between 5k and 15k but if you're spending 5k with a dealer they've probably paid 3k to give you a warranty

I’ve always bought from big dealers. I’ve only done finance once as my previous cars came on 0% finance which was no brainer! I got a much better deal through a car loan than the dealer could offer me. Also consider 0% finance deals on new credit cards but you need to make sure you can pay it off and they tend to only last 6-12 months so you need to be looking ahead for the next deal to transfer any balance.
I found the big “car supermarket” place a good starting point as I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted and they had a lot of stock in a range of makes and models. I made it quite clear I was doing initial research and wouldn’t be buying that day and the guy didn’t give me any hard sell. It eliminated some of my options and opened my mind to others I hadn’t considered.
also do some dummy quotes on car insurance before you commit to anything.

You could be me, except I don’t need mine for work.

My second Kia just bit the dust at its MOT and I dread car-hunting again. I’m single, retired, don’t know anyone who could check one before purchase. I bought my first Kia privately, I did think he accepted my cash offer too readily. An injector blew and cost a fortune, ending up scrapping it when another one blew. Bought another from a small garage, FSH and 3 months warranty. Failed MOT on something expensive but fixable, but they pointed out a couple of oil leaks which look worrying, and the clutch is failing, so they said I probably won’t want to bother fixing it. It’s 2009 and only £125000 miles. I’m gutted. It had two new tyres only a few weeks ago after a puncture.

I can’t do finance on my tiny pension so I’m cleaning my bike tomorrow…

Judgeservice?

Just come back to say THANK YOU! You’ve given me a great starting point, so helpful, thank you!

There are a few options and I have done all of them!

Small Loan for a private second hand car (corsa)
HP where you pay a deposit the. Pay it off in equal instalments (nearly new fiesta)
PcP where you pay a seperately and then a monthly payment. At the end there is a large "balloon" payment or you can had the car back. I got a loans and sold the car privately as it was worth more than the ballon payment m. (Brand new golf
Leasing which is like a a long term hire deposit plus a monthly lease fee

All of them have pros and cons.

I have a new AUDI A3 for £199 a month including servicing and tyres. Deposit was 6x monthly fee. There are some good lease deals

A good way to work it out is to calculate a price for three years car deposit interest and servicing and see which is the best!

Work out a monthly budget too. Mine is £330 for car fuel servicing, petrol, cleaning, insurance etc

There are cheaper lease deals. But the only problem is they are very difficult to terminated before the end of the term. Where as al the others there are ways to pay off the finance.