Buying a used car. Tips ?

bleepandbooster

As catoutthebag said and always get them to start the car up while you stand towards the rear to check for smoke out of the exhaust. Take the oil filler cap off or pull out the dip stick to see if the oil is clean (No white sludge) But give it plenty of Umming and Arring !!!

Forgot to say the wife has a VW Polo .......... nice little motor ! Petrol 1.2 pays more tax than me !!!

Cofion
David

Robisere

Check this out:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/cars-for-sale/

Put in your postcode, distance from there, price range, make/model/etc.

steve-L

flash2006 wrote: »

Ok, thanks for the advice, have narrowed it further down. 8K annual mileage, minimum 4 doors. Petrol or diesel is ok, no preference.

There are a few car's that have specific problems.
With a budget of 10k that leaves a lot of choice.

If you have 10k in the bank and nothing better to do with it than buy something that will depreciate then the boxter is not such a bad idea if you don't have kids, it will at least be fun and depreciate slowly on 8k/yr.

If you have kids then an estate is in my experience worth the extra parking length as are leather seats.

If you have to borrow a penny then 10k is a ludicrous amount for a car unless you love driving so much.... but since you don't seem to care I'm guessing its not that important to you.

There are plenty of decent motors for £6000 ...I know what I'd buy if I had 10k sat in an account that wasn't set aside as a deposit for a house but your preferences are probably different....

flash2006

steve-L wrote: »

There are a few car's that have specific problems.
With a budget of 10k that leaves a lot of choice.

If you have 10k in the bank and nothing better to do with it than buy something that will depreciate then the boxter is not such a bad idea if you don't have kids, it will at least be fun and depreciate slowly on 8k/yr.

If you have kids then an estate is in my experience worth the extra parking length as are leather seats.

If you have to borrow a penny then 10k is a ludicrous amount for a car unless you love driving so much.... but since you don't seem to care I'm guessing its not that important to you.

There are plenty of decent motors for £6000 ...I know what I'd buy if I had 10k sat in an account that wasn't set aside as a deposit for a house but your preferences are probably different....

The only reason I increased it to 10K was because I want a reliable car. e.g. not one which has already done 100K miles. What can I get for 6K ?

Hintza

steve-L wrote: »

If you think back to after you just passed your test to now you have probably forgotten the scrapes or near scrapes you'd never do now.

Lots, but most (if not all) of them were down to the stupidity and testosterone levels of a 17 year old trying to show off.

LandyAndy

What's all this about the OP being inexperienced? They say they've been driving for 10 years.