To think, I can trust anyone when buying a car, can I?

[OHforDUCKScake]

Need a family car, sold my old car.

I look out for the usual, low milage, full service history, tax, long MOT etc etc.

We drove an hour to view what appeared to be a great car last night. Got there, closer inspection saw that it was a dangerous bag of nails.

Ive seen one near by which also looks good, did a check on it and their 90k on the clock turns out to be 120k flr real. And the garage itself have terrible reviews.

Garage next door to me is selling a car that Im after, but is about £1000 more than what its worth. Autotrader advised that you could sell such a car to a dealer at £215 or private at £645. He ks trying to sell it for £2195, so potentitall nearly £2000 mark up.

Im taking my childrens dad who is very good with cars, Ive done my home work and going with reliablemcars with plenty of excellent reviews (VW Golfs, possibly Polos, Skoda Fabia or Octavia.)

Yet despite doing everything as sensibly as I can my end, I feel like Im going to be screwed over anyway.

Im never going to know if its truly a good car. I hear of car dealers 6 month warranty, and the, not sticking to it.

Am I missing something?

Ive only got 2k to spend but that should be enough for a good, reliable, safe car.

can't * trust anyone.

I did think to myself - my, she's naive.

Nope, can't blindly trust when buying a car. That's why you have to do all the checks that you sensibly did. I think you can also get the AA or something to come out and check a car over.

Unfortunately no you cannot trust anyone when it comes to cars .

Have you looked at the Seat Ibiza? I am on my third, love them!

Try going to Ford, Nissan dealers & see what they have in part exchange? I ended up with a really good car doing this.

I dont want a ford or a nissan. I want VW, either totally or a car made with VW parts (Skoda).

And I dont have a car to part exchange with.

The only other thing I can think of is to try and get finance to spend more.

But I shouldnt have to do this. 2k should be enough.

Our excellent, honest, reliable local garage who services our cars for us told us (after telling us that our car had finally bitten the dust) that dealerships are the best because a dealership will do the checks and will only sell something decent whereas smaller places will often buy in anything they think they can make a buck on. Ex motorbility cars are usually a great buy as their service histories are impecable.

I had this problem recently - cost me a fortune in petrol, and many wasted days .

IME, it's a good idea to be as flexible as possible regarding the actual model of car (e.g. I wanted an auto Yaris, but went looking for Yarises, Smarts, Fiats and 2 generations of Micras, and ended up with a fantastic little Suzuki). Only go to private sellers and unfamiliar dealerships if they're nearby as so many are a waste of time and money, and prioritise dealerships who specialise in what you're after and have good reviews. Time on the phone will save you a lot of petrol, and most will agree to "hold" a car for you for a few hours if you tell them that you'll definitely buy it if it's as they've described.

Or of course you need a nice reliable garage that will be willing to cast an eye over a car for you before you buy.

Yanbu

I bought 6k heap of shit from a Citroen main dealership. They were awful and I really had to fight for my rights.

On the other hand, I have sold a few cars privately and all have been fine with genuine reasons for the sale.

There is a good guide online about what to search for and what to ask when buying a used car.

Think it may be a which? guide.

I second Ibiza fab cars.
2k will be enough, talk to that garage and haggle they often mark up to over allow on the part ex. So say a car being exchanged is worth £1000, they'll give £1500 so you feel like your getting a better deal when really that £500 is coming out the car your buying.
So as your not part exing do haggle.

The other thing is vw's can take the miles so don't let a high miler put you off, as long as its been maintained and had its cam belt done youll be ok.

There are some honest sellers out there, but trust your instincts and get a green flag / independant check as unfortunately there are also some arseholes.

£2k isn't enough, not for a VW, they have a higher price tag because they are sought after and don't drop their value as second hand vehicles for the same reason. This thread simply perpetuates the problem, as you are saying you'll only buy a VW. It inflates their prices above what they are actually worth.

I second looking at Seat. They are VWs underneath just like Skoda but again like Skoda have a smaller price tag

You're not going to get a low mileage, fsh, tax, long MOT, etc etc VW Golf for £2K IMO.

There are lots of people you can trust when you buy a used car, but on the flip side there are lots of people you can't trust. There are steps to protect yourself though, you can get RAC/ AA to check it over and make sure you get an HPI check before you part with any cash. That will tell you if it has been in an accident or has any finance outstanding on it.

I don't think you'll get a decent VW for that much unless you go for a really old Golf and then they get "classic" car money.

We've just bought a car and had to double our budget after looking at about 400 bags of shit. Apparently second hand cars are a really strong market at the moment, so you get less for your money. Personally I don't think a warranty is worth the paper it's written on and you will get more for your money buying privately, you just need to know what to look for - service history, cam belt age, clean oil, full clean anti freeze etc.

Also don't make my last mistake and buy anything petrol with over 100k on the clock. DH goes to work and back (20 mins each way) in my little A3 and puts £75 worth of fuel in a week as it is now over worked and hugely underpowered.

I agree WRT the VW's - sort of. Decent ones do exist, but they are gold dust.

However, Skodas are much more realistic for my money, and I love the huge Octavias.

But its them that I keep getting stung with.

(Also, Im not going above 80k for Petrol, a bit more for Diesel).

Ducks, Seats are made by VW.

Honestly the Ibiza made best all round car a couple of years running when I first got mine.

I have never ever had a problem with all three of mine.

Where abouts are you, im currently selling my golf ,

But i do agrree that you certainly wont find a vw with low mileage for 2k, belive me ive spent the last month or 2 searching for the same and in the end borrowed more to get a newer golf with a 60k mileage. The reason they are always so high is because theyre such good runners!

Don't you have a decent mechanic, that you trust? they often know of cars being sold - usually cars they have worked on.

I dont have a mechanic I can trust, no.

Im test driving a Ford Focus 2000, 85k and a Skoda Fabia Saloon 2003, 86.5k at 5pm.

I'll probably get one of them.

Cant decide which, will have to give them a whirl.