Safely Buying a Second Hand Car

pimento

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C279106

My friend wants to go and look at this car. What should she reasonably do to make sure she isn't scammed or buying a lemon?

I suggested an AA check, but it seems quite cheap and I was wondering if there's something I'm missing.

BenL

Looks very expensive to me, your friend could get a dealer sold 2003 model with similar mileage for that price

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-Mercedes-Benz-SLK230-Manual-Convertible-2-owners-/310352960692?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item48427a5cb4

Ben

pimento

Thanks Ben! I've passed that on to my friend.

Is it always better to buy from a dealer?

BenL

It is better to buy from a dealer in circumstances of lack of knowledge about vehicles and peace of mind.

If you are a more confident car buyer and know things to look for private sales can be a good place, I would expect the car to be lower priced though to reflect the status of the sale - no guarantees or comebacks like you have with a dealer sale. The SLK you posted a link to was private sale and more than a dealer would charge - there are a lot on ebay too from dealers all over the country. I picked that one as it matched the mileage the closest.

You will get good dealers and bad dealers but in a lot of cases it is safer to buy from a dealer - mostly you pay extra for the privilege.

The aa checks I think are a couple of hundred ££, your friend would need the private slk to be priced at say £4700, add on the £200 aa check to make £4900 to get in the discount range I would expect it to be lower than a dealer sale to make it worth it.

The dealer price is before negotiation as well don't forget so there maybe a bit of downward movement in these colder/darker/wetter/lack of money months.

I've not looked into the SLK as a car too much but a quick look on http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/mercedes-benz/slk-w170-1996/?

shows quite a few bad points to take a look at, rust appears to be quite an issue.

Ben

pimento

Thanks Ben. All this will be passed on.