To feel nervous about going to view a car on my own!

[burtsbees2001]

I'm looking for a new car and finally found one (Mini). It's approved used from an official dealer so I'm hoping for good things. I was feeling pretty confident about it but today I'm soooo nervous, I'm worried about the test drive in case I do something stupid. I'm not a nervous driver but as it's not my own car and bigger than what I drive now so it's going to be weird. It's a massive financial decision for me too, I've not spent this much money before let alone on a car. People are saying it's overpriced and it is a bit but I'd like to think I'm paying for peace of mind with it being approved used, relatively low mileage, clear MOT and full service history. Looking for stories of others going on their own, especially as a woman. It isn't until later today so I still have a few hours to stress about it 😂

I have many times and also when one of my son's needs a new car I go with them. In fact I'm going with eldest DS next week.
I prep and look on forums petroheads etc for know problems and what to ask the dealers, like has this been changed/fixed etc if it's a common problem, so do your research.
If it is overpriced ask questions to figure out if it is worth the extra, what sort of service and guarantee do they give, please be very careful about warranty and ask questions about that as some really isn't worth the paper its written on!
I source my own warranty on top with specific dealerships of that make of motor.
The only reason I don't go alone now is because they are £££ of our money so DH and I go together ( also he is very tall and needs to fit in) BUT if the dealer starts talking to DH about the car he directs them to me as it will be my car ( he drives pickups as he loves them).

I always take a friend when viewing a car. It's completely understandable that you're nervous. It's one of those situations where the seller has far more knowledge than the buyer usually.

Do your research. Write down the questions you want to ask. Look on car forums for people mentioning common faults with the exact make and model. Or at the very least the engine model.

I have always bought cars by myself. My husband has never really cared about cars and I do 99% of the driving. Also, if you don’t take a man with you, the sales person cannot ignore you and talk to him!

Until a couple of years ago, we had only had pretty basic cars (we kept our last car for 18 years). Things have moved on a lot since then and I was a bit nervous about being able to work out all the complicated stuff quickly enough.

When I last bought a car, I test drove two cars (two different showrooms) and each time the salesmen sat in the passenger seat.

I assume that is now standard practice. Either way, I found it reassuring. Obviously the basics were familiar (indicators and wipers etc) but there were lots of new features I wasn’t familiar with such as the lane control assist (which beeped at one point when I drove round a pothole without indicating).

In addition, the handbrake was very different, one of the cars was automatic, which I wasn’t really used to, and the display screen was extremely complicated. It was helpful to be able to check various things as I was driving.

Good luck!

If you think it's a bit over priced, offer what you think is the right price, cars are priced for a bit of haggling.

Why should being a woman make you, or anyone else, nervous about buying a tin box on wheels, regularly bought by and owned by women? The dealer will get permission, the buyer, male or female is important to them.

That's good to know, I definitely want the salesman with me. This is a manual and I don't think it has all the ultra modern features but it will still probably feel alien to me, as my car is 17 years old!! And yeah at least it's just me they can talk to, it's my car and apart from the mechanical and electronic aspects I need it to be right for me and comfortable. I remember learning in a Polo and I could never get the seat to a comfortable position, I was either too close or too far from the steering wheel.

Update if anyone is bothered or finds this in the future - it was fine, spotted a few things up with the car but they were already aware and are fixing them. They were keen to try and upsell extras and get me to take out finance, I refused the finance and got money off one of the extras. I'm buying the car so let's hope all goes well 🙏I feel so much better for doing it!!!!

I think I might be too late to this party but having been stung once many years ago on buying an approved used with a the hundred and whatever point check bullshit I now always get an independent mechanic report. AA costs about £200. I am not a mechanic, they test drive it, check all the body panels etc and prepare the report which helps negotiate getting things fixed with the garage.

A few years ago I bought a 2 year old car from a reputable dealer. There was an issue on the test drive. I had the AA do their report, they also confirmed the issue on their test drive of my car but also spotted things I didn't. It should have been an easy fix. Long story short, they couldn't fix that fault. It even went to the garage of the manufacturer and they couldn't fix it. It was probably a build fault and the reason the car was available for sale at just 2 years old. Because I had the AA report they did take the car back and gave me a full refund.

I went to see my last car on my own (bought it in Aug 25). It had low mileage, I had done basic online checks on it, it was still a few years in warranty and I'd found no negative feedback anywhere online about the dealer. The sales guy was nice enough to be honest. I said I was nervous driving a new car (new to me) and asked him to do the test drive so I sat in the passenger seat and he drove out and around for me. I was happy to go through with the purchase and I drove it home.
I couldn't figure out the wipers and had to keep pressing the one wipe function during sudden torrential rain until I found a safe space to pull over and figure out where the full wiper settings were! That was the only issue I had!

When my DH bought his last car he paid for an independent mechanic to go and do a survey on the car. It gave him piece of mind before buying it.

Isn’t manufacturer supposed to repair FOC anything that is fundamentally wrong with the car. Apart from those issues caused by how the car has been driven