Great 'Tips on buying a second hand car' Hunt

245

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  • grandadsmith
    grandadsmith Posts: 133 Forumite
    edited 11 April 2011 at 5:10PM
    HPI it.:cool:

    Just HPI'ed this one :-
    'Mazda 323F for sale Welwyn Garden City, '

    HPI check reports
    It's a category C,
    Its been previously written off.

    And HPI/DVLA reported mileage :-
    10 th Sep 09 50K
    22 nd Oct 09 30K ??

    Wife says NO,

    But if it's a good repair,and the engine is good ?
    Its cheap ..

    :)
    Wife says NO..

    Cheap HPI Check for Cars - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums


  • I bought a 7 year old Porsche 944 in 1994 for £7,000
    17 years later it's worth a fraction of that, but it is so ridiculously well built that it had to have its first new exhaust last year when it was 23 years old.

    Similarly, I bought a 17 year old VW camper in 1996 for less than £3,000. 15 years later, I still have it and it's worth at least £10,000

    You only really lose money on cars when you sell them, so buy a car that you really like and keep it forever.
  • 5555tt
    5555tt Posts: 108 Forumite
    I am interested in this from the Newsletter hunt , a few weeks back ;was mostly hoping for suggestons on good 2nd hand car sites like pistonheads, usedcarexpert seems ok'ish but lacks enough info on cars mentioned; autotrader is good though
  • One needs to be careful while investing on an used car.Once you get the feeling of trust then you can go for the investment and for this it is essential to take the help of professional car dealers.
  • Motoring is expensive. Work out your costs for 2 years or 5 years or whatever on a spreadsheet or piece of paper rather than just acting impulsively when you see those nice alloy wheels and that air conditioning.

    I'm assuming you know roughly what you want to buy and what your budget is.

    And think about the following..

    1. Depreciation is the biggest cost. Unless you buy a car say older than 7 or 8 years old, but then you may have something thats unreliable and expensive to repair. A good balance is to buy a car thats 3 years old and run it for 3 years. Look at prices of different age cars on autotrader.co.uk and ebay - magazines like Parkers and What Car are way out.

    2. If you like the idea of a nearly new car, you can probably buy a new car on broker websites like 'drive the deal' and 'autoebid' for the same or less than the cost of a nearly new car at the local dealer ! Plus you can choose the spec, colour etc. Stick to german cars and some japanese cars and the projected depreciation over 3 years plus may be affordable.

    3. In fact, never buy from a dealer. You can save thousands by buying privately! More than enough buffer against major repairs. But I recommend a full inspection by the AA/RAC and HPI check. If you're not comfortable with the car or the vendor, walk away.

    4. Shop around for finance. Personal loans usually beat any dealers deals (but I told you to stay away from dealers!). Offer cash/cheque and reduce your offer to strip out the financiers profit the dealer has built in.

    5. Cars are expensive.

    6. You can get estimates of servicing costs in What Car. Then factor in extra for unforseen repairs (more for an older car, and more for foreign/exotic cars).

    7. Estimate your mileage and factor in fuel costs. A diesel probably
    makes sense if you do a high mileage (12k+ a year), but they tend to be more expensive to buy.

    8. Insurance - estimates in What car and Parkers, or get a quote. Important for younger drivers!

    It will all look expensive, because it is ! But divide into a monthly amount and ask if you can afford it. Compare different cars.

    If you can't be bothered with the above you can't go wrong with a 3-7 year old Ford Fiesta, Focus or Mondeo, VW Polo, Golf or Passatt, Honda Jazz, Civic, or Accord or almost any low mileage car in good condition below £2k. Check its got a full service history and I recommend less than 70,000 miles.

    A mate of mine spends no more than £1000 on a used car then runs it into the ground. No depreciation or finance, and very cheap motoring. I like to spend more and I buy nearly new cars for reliability, comfort, driving enjoyment and image. Your choice.

    Happy hunting and happy motoring.:cool:
  • .. and sell your old car privately if you can for the best price, usually the best deal.

    And stay away from those low offering dealers at We buy any car !
  • Any tips for the "banger buyers", like me?! Sub £1500.
  • Any tips for the "banger buyers", like me?! Sub £1500.

    Thats not a banger, thats 3 bangers.

    1. Forget car auctions. Additional charges are around 25% added on to what I look to pay.
    2. Ebay Ebay Ebay. Avoid Gumtree.
    3. Research your seller. My last one came from someone trading without declaring, but had sold loads of cheap cars whilst keeping 100% feedback which is quite an achievement.
    The ebay one before that was a genuine private seller, 200+ positive feedback (looking to keep it that way).
    4. Google the car your looking at and see the faults. Ask the seller if the cars displaying any of these faults.
    5. If the cars not as described, walk away.
  • andygb
    andygb Posts: 14,631
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Any tips for the "banger buyers", like me?! Sub £1500.


    I saw an ultra clean Peugeot 55 reg 307 2.0L XSi with 47K miles, FSH and full MOT, and even a couple of months tax (Unheard of at auction:eek:), go through a local ADT for £1500 last week. Certainly not a banger, and I would have happily used it myself.
  • andygb
    andygb Posts: 14,631
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Thats not a banger, thats 3 bangers.

    1. Forget car auctions. Additional charges are around 25% added on to what I look to pay.


    On a £10K car the total charges are around £600, therefore 6%. The more you pay the less buyers commission you pay. I paid around £195 on a £2.5K car, and I am not a trader.
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