Can anyone help me (car related)

[IceCreamWoes]

I am relatively newly single. I'm not an idiot, have quite a good job, but my husband dealt with everything practical and we have been together since I was 17. I have never got involved in car related things. Mainly because I only passed 5 years ago and my ex husband bought the car, drove the car, sorted MOT and all that stuff. By the time we split up, car was old and I kept it as I do all childcare (with zero CM, another story).

Now the car is kapput. It's nearly 20 yrs old, 160k miles. I need a new one, but I think I'll get ripped off. I have very little money to buy one outright. Can I ask you some moronic questions as I don't know who else to ask...

1. My insurance doesn't cover me to drive other cars, only my own. How do I buy a car and then drive it back from the dealership or whatever if I'm not insured?

1. Do my current insurance provider reimburse me for the year I've bought and then I buy new insurance for my own car? Or do they transfer it and maybe I'll have to pay more?

1. I'm hopefully going to borrow some money from my mum to put towards a deposit, it looks like HP would be better rather than PCP, as I'd own the car outright after I'd finished paying monthly. I need a mortgage in two years and want to pay it off before I need to remortgage. That's sensible, right?

1. What should I look out for when buying a second hand car?

Help me not be an idiot please.

Dh bought a car from a dealer. They had an insurer who insures you to get the car home. Not expensive. They also paid 24hr tax to get it home.

Ring your insurer. If they want your business they'll do you a good deal.

We've just bought dd her first car. Way cheaper to take out a bank loan than pcp or hp.

Take someone with you to look at the car. Dh has been roped in to look at cars for single friends. He knows what he's looking for and doesn't suffer fools gladly.

Ask for the service history of the new car. If they can't provide it tread carefully. Also check the garage refund policy in case it breaks down badly. Do you have a car savvy friend you can take with you?? Ask to look under the bonnet and check for oil leaks around the pistons. Also ask to start the car and check for any warning lights. Good luck x

Once you’ve chosen your car you generally will take it home over the next couple of days so you sort your insurance out the night before. I would phone your current insurers to see the cost of swapping the insurance. Refunds etc depend on the insurer. Tax it online before you leave the garage with the car. You can’t do this until you have the new keeper green slip which you won’t get till you collect it.

Cant comment on HP as I have always paid outright. Not expensive motors for me!

What to look for is mileage and service history and if you region into Ulez zones. I don’t so the car I bought last week for example was a 14 year old car however it only had 33k on the clock. Legit mileage as you can tell by the inside of the car - original seats always show some level of wear and tear. Yes I could have bought a newer one for a similar price but at over twice the mileage.

Highly recommend asking someone you know who is into cars to go with you. Stay well away from Arnold Clark and ensure you get at least a six month warranty on the car. If you see a car and arrange a time to go see it feel the bonnet to see if they’ve had it running- if it’s warm that’s a big no.

Lastly - you can view previous mots for your preferred car online but mots are ten a penny if you know the right people apparently…

Good luck!

Thanks all for taking the time.

I've got £2k so thinking of putting that in as a deposit for a £7k car and it'll be about £130pcm for 3 years higher purchase. Apparently my current car could get £600 exchange. How does that work? I'll also look into bank loan and compare.

It's through car guru I've been looking tonight, I will read up whether I can have a guarantee incase it breaks down. The only person I can think of to help me is my ex. I've coped pretty well with everything else, but the car just stresses me out!

I'll call the insurance tomorrow and ask.

Thank you all!

Have a look at a bank loan apr instead of doing finance through the dealer, it can work out considerably cheaper. I wouldn't touch PCP with a bargepole as I like to own my things eventually.

Go on autotrader and filter things out, don't do private sellers only dealers as you have more consumer protection. At the very least it will give you an idea of prices vs mileage/age. You might find something you like within a 5 mile radius that you didn't know about.

You can get an AA auto check for a set price if you don't personally know a mechanic if you want peace of mind about what you are buying. Go onto their website for more information.

Exciting times OP, good luck!

If you are buying from a car dealer you usually don’t take the car away on the day you buy it. You will put down a deposit and agree a collection date. The dealer will PDI (Pre delivery inspection) the car before your collection date.

Make sure the dealer has HPI checked the vehicle. Ask for a copy.

Always get a warranty.

Before collection you then have time to shop round for insurance, sometimes you keep your current insurance, it might be cheaper (I swapped my car recently and insurance for new car was cheaper so they refunded me the difference) or you may have to pay a little extra. Also use a quote service like go compare etc to see if it’s significantly cheaper to change companies. There’s probably an admin charge to change/cancel your current insurance.

You can also check the car’s MOT history here. before you buy it. To see whether any faults have been logged during the MOT’s.

Agree with PP’s that bank loan probably cheaper.

Tempcover.com for insurance to get you home, then transfer current insurance to new car - can usually do this online.

If buying from a dealer get someone to come with you and check the car over, make sure you test drive etc.

If buying off market place, same, take someone with you, check all history and make sure you haggle as everyone puts a higher price but are willing to accept a few hundred less.

Buying a car is scary even if you do know about cars.

• My insurance doesn't cover me to drive other cars, only my own. How do I buy a car and then drive it back from the dealership or whatever if I'm not insured?

Some larger dealers do 7 day drive away insurance. If not, simply call or complete the change online. You will have time to prepare to do this whether you buy privately or through a dealer. Get quotes first for the make and model so you know it's not expensive or unaffordable.

• Do my current insurance provider reimburse me for the year I've bought and then I buy new insurance for my own car? Or do they transfer it and maybe I'll have to pay more?
Either/or. This happens all the time. You may find a new insurer is much cheaper so you'll pay a cancellation fee and they will pro rata your payments. This may mean you pay a fee or receive a reimbursement. Something to watch out for is that a new insurance co may want two month payment as the deposit. Comparison sites are your friend.

• I'm hopefully going to borrow some money from my mum to put towards a deposit, it looks like HP would be better rather than PCP, as I'd own the car outright after I'd finished paying monthly. I need a mortgage in two years and want to pay it off before I need to remortgage. That's sensible, right?
I'd recommend either a zero interest credit card or a bank loan. HP and PCP have higher interest rates and are secured against the car. But yes, very sensible.

• What should I look out for when buying a second hand car?
Google MOT history and enter the reg on the gov.uk website. This will show you if a car has been well maintained or ragged. For example if every year there is something like brakes, tyres or normal maintenance then it's only seeing a garage once a year because it has to. You can get mechanics or the AA etc to go out with you for a charge but they do miss things. Buying from a bigger garage makes me feel safer. They are usually more compliant to regulations but also can fuck about. Ask for recommendations on the local fb site. Google common problems with whatever model you're looking at. Auto trader is quite good because it shows you a round about price they should be asking for. Do not buy from gumtree or marketplace.

Feel free to message me any specifics if you would like help.

Auto trader also has very good reviews. Avoid anything with a wet belt. Ford eco boost I'm looking at you 👀

Car dealers will normally deliver the car. Find one with low mileage and put the registration number into Google. You can see the mot history of the car. All the dates and weather it failed or passed. You can read everything and see if it's had any fails for anything major or just small things.

They can deliver but it's certainly not "normal". Those that do are nearly new vehicles way above OPs budget and them getting dropped off is the first time you see them in the flesh. Those that do also use a 14 day return policy like it's not normal policy but then really fuck about when you say you want to take it back, usually keeping your money for some time. Be wary of these.

Try Tempcover.com or the garage may do a 7 day drive away policy to give you time to arrange your own insurance. Always buy breakdown and legal expenses insurance as an add on to your car insurance policy as generally a cheaper way of buying extras rather than go direct to RAC or AA.

Definitely check MOT history - if it's constantly had advisories for anything like like leaks, suspension etc then it'll likely hasn't been looked after. Have a look at common faults on certain cars on a website like Honest John - one example would be that Ford automatic gearboxes are known to have had problems. Make sure you're familiar with common faults in anything you like the look of.

Ignore people who tell you to buy low mileage cars - it's the service and MOT history that matters. A 10k mile, 4 year old car with poor history would be a terrible choice. If it's diesel then a higher mileage is better as the filters get clogged with low use.

I had similar concerns when my car I'd had for 22 years died after divorce. I considered buying one from one of the online companies and have it delivered but was concerned if something went wrong with it. I did actually choose and buy online (an 8k fiat) but I did it from a reputable garage that offered 12 months MOT and guarantee. The salesman will help you with everything else, they sort road tax and finance if you need that and I'm sure they could organise insurance but I just arranged insurance once I knew the registration number through an online comparison site. If you already have insurance you can simply ring up and change the car details, they'll probably charge you a bit but it's very simple. Car has been absolutely fine for 18 months now.

I didn't collect my new car until a few days later so had time to swap the insurance over beforehand. Old car was insured until that date, then cover for new car took over.
Go with your gut when viewing cars and if sales people are overly pushy then back off. I got a really genuine vibe from the dealership I bought my last car from and had no problems with it.

Also, make sure you take the old car out of your name and transfer to new owner/garage. Even if you sell to we buy any car etc who say not to worry. You can do it online 7am to 7pm using the v5 reference. It's your responsibility until it's out of your name. I can't tell you how many people get speeding tickets from cars they no longer own but never declared. Easy enough to prove but not worth the hassle.

I agree with this. I've had 2 of the makes off that list and they were both very reliable!

I got a Hyundai I10 in blue for £7.5k, 2014, 14k miles on the clock. Got a loan at 6.9%. Loans under 5k tend to have higher interest rates. So you might be better taking a higher loan for a better interest rate and paying off 2k straight away. Check the details!

I always buy second hand cars from the Car Giant car supermarket in West London. I have never had a problem with the state of the car as they thoroughly service them before sale. Furthermore, they have their reputation to consider and don’t want bad reviews.

https://www.cargiant.co.uk/

You don't take it away then and there. You transfer your insurance and you may have to pay more depending on the car. There will also be an admin fee.

Look into a bank loan if possible to buy as these sometimes have lower interest rates.

Always test drive it with no music on for a good half hour. Take it on a fast road and push it to 70. You want it to be responsive, no odd noises, handles smoothly, changes gear smoothly, no overheating, warning lights etc. Make sure it doesn't have a really high bite point as this can sometimes indicate the clutch is on its way out. Is the clutch heavy? Will it be annoying in stop start traffic.

Look for a full service history and ideally just one previous owner. A car that has been through a lot of owners is suspicious, can indicate an ongoing problem with it.

Inspect it like you're investigating a murder.

Unusual wear on one tyre or part of a tyre? Might be a tracking/balancing problem, get it realigned. Tyre places will do that for you. If you're a regular they may not even charge you.

Any flaw can be used as either a negotiating point or they may offer to fix before you collect. Mine was scratched up when I got it. My driving instructor went with me and gave them a list of everything that needed fixing before 'we' collected it. It mopped up beautifully.

Autotrader will have accurate prices as a guide. On the subject of finance, depending on how much you can afford, interest free purchase and balance transfer credit cards can be a good option.

Wow, thank you everyone, great advice here. I'd never considered a bank loan.

I'll definitely ask around for people who might help with checking out cars. My dad would have been great except he very selfishly died!

Ok, big girl pants on, I can do this 😬

Happy hunting!
Dh actually went to look at a car for the daughter of a friend's friend. Never met her before but he was happy to oblige.
Sad to say, a bloke looking puts a different slant on things and you're likely to get a decent deal.
( dd is a 1st year apprentice mechanic hoping to make it a little bit more equal😁)