Advice on buying used car

bohma2000

My car was written off by the insurance company last week. I need to buy a replacement in about a week. I will only have about £800-£900 to spend.

Where would be the best place to look e.g. eBay or Autotrader? How can I be sure a car has not been clocked etc? Are there any guides on the net on buying used?

Martyn_H

In addition to your options, I'd consider walking around your neighbourhood to see if there are any cars for sale, also ask around your friends/ colleagues if they know of anyone selling a car.

Weird_Nev

At that price buy on condition and history, not milage!
You might HAVE to get a high milage car, but if it's well cared for and serviced then it should last.

Take someone who knows cars with you, vet the owner as much as the car, and buy privately. Don't try and get a diesel - much better value to be had in petrols for under £1,000.

I agree with looking locally for a car with a sign in the window, but check that all paperwork is in order.
£1000 can get you a lot of car, but you have to be prepared to hunt and compromise.
(I spent £700 on a BMW 328i estate 18 months ago, with 162,000 miles on it! It's provided 18 months and 15,000 miles trouble free service and now owes me nothing. )

bohma2000

Thanks for the replies. I can't find any cars being sold locally but there are lots on Autotrader in my area (W. London) for under £1000.

What are the advantages of buying from a dealer compared to buying privately?

As far as I can see, you can probably buy cheaper privately but you should have more comeback against a dealer. Is this correct?

fivetide

At the price you are at a dealer is not going to have anything any better than what you can get privately. They are making a profit remember? So the car possibly cost them £200 if you are lucky. It is hardly likely to be in good nick.

Get someone who knows what they are looking at or visit a few forums to see what the common faults are.

Google is your pal here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8574668.stm

5t.

Weird_Nev

For £1000 from a dealer you will be buying nails. Dealers need to make a profit, there is little profit on cars in that sector. And the comback will be very limited, because from a dealer for £1000 you expect a nail!

For £1000 from a private seller, you COULD be buying a nail, or you oculd be buying a gem! There are plently of cars about being sold privately for that little, but you do need to know what to look for. You want it to have some tax, at least 6 months MOT, you won't get anythign diesel worth having apart from possibly a Peugeot 306 HDI for less than £1000. Petrol is the way forwards for low priced cars are they're so unfashionable and people mistakenly think that if they want a cheap car, they want a cheap to run car, and that must be diesel. Most petrol cars will do better around town and on short journeys than diesels, especially old knackered diesels.

I've done a quick autotrader search on your behalf, just so you can see what kind of thing is available:
See the results here

For your money I'd be looking for:
Hatchbacks (lots of them so cheaper and more carfor your money)
Petrols (less demand = more car for your money, better round town and short journeys, cheaper and easier to fix)
Manual transmission (less to go wrong, cheaper to fix if they do)
All paperwork in order (i.e. MOT, service history and V5 all present and ready for inspection.
Some service history.
Not bothered about miles so long as it has been serviced regularly.
Decent length MOT (6 months+)
Some road tax.
Honest seller be they private or trade.

Specifically, I'd be looking at Ford Focuses, Peugeot 306's, Vauxhall corsas (if you don't mind them, I hate them!) or something japanese and tinny.
If one particular make or model catches your eye do some internet research (honest john is good) to find out about specific faults or issues that you should check when examining a car. Hope that helps.

getmore4less

I think I would look for a £500 runner with a years MOT that way you have another £500 spare to fix and keep looking for a better one.

As said loads of 306 around that price some look good some will be bangers.
I bet you can find a £500ish one just as good as those asking £1k

1.9 non tubo seems to to be unbustable

My 98 1.9d lx keeps giving but has started to cost
brakes all round 3 years a go (08)
nothing 2 years(09)
cambelt, glow plugs, alternator, back box, last year(10)
rear brakes needed clean adjust and a pully on the aux belt is getting noisy(£70part)(11)

Thing is stuff costs so you need a bit of money in the back pocket.
eg: a set of 4 tyres is £200 so can be a significant part of the value


Look for some work having been done in the previous few years otherwise just about everything is probably ready to go.

leeg9989

it depends what you want need ive bought cars for £100 they start stop and thats it i find trader tends to better quality cars ebay is full of other peoples rubbish, or check out the auction ie w.o.m.a.
hpi your car i never used but got caught out recently and nearly lost the car. check on direct gov website you can type v5 reference number and find out mots history which will show records of milage
on types of car i would personally stick with fords, the focus is a good allrounded car value for money in my eyes, try and stay away from the jap cars coz for that sort of money you will be looking at dogs french motors are generally cheap but expensive to fix again german motors are good but can be dear when they go wrong

bohma2000

I like the Focus and its had good reviews etc. Unfortunately I can't find any for sale within my budget (up to £1000) in my area.

I did come across this and am wondering why not? It is from a dealer but they are offering a years. MOT and it has a full Ford service history! http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201138417325414/sort/priceasc/usedcars/transmission/automatic/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/price-to/1000/make/ford/postcode/ub32az/page/1/radius/30?logcode=p

Comments anybody?

Johnny_Barnes10

Plenty of great advice in here, I'll have a budget of around £1000 too. Will definitely be leaving myself a £200 cushion for repairs, luckily for me there's plenty Focus's in my area. Would prefer from a dealer just in case as I'm not too clued up about cars but have since read whatcar, and honest John for guidance.