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MSE Rules for Buying a Car...
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Hoof_Hearted
Posts: 2,362 Forumite


1) Never buy a French car
2) Sub £2,000 cars are better than £10,000 cars
3) Mileage is irrelevant, other than high mileage is better
4) Old Ford Mondeos are the best cars on the road
5) Never buy a new car
6) Japanese cars are "well put together"
7) A MoT guarantees that the car is in perfect condition
8) Never check the car out before you buy it as it is preferable to discover the faults later (e.g. it's only got three doors, not five)
9) When you buy a car, always let the seller deal with all the paperwork.
10) There are some outstanding bargains on Gumtree.
11) If your current petrol car costs £50 a week in fuel, spending £13k on a new diesel car to reduce your fuel bill to £40 a week is a great money saving decision (Apples2).
12) Always make sure you pay a deposit before seeing the car (Jaydeek1).
13) SOGA will protect you if your £500. 12-year-old Ford Ka develops a fault after 8 months of ownership (Jaydeek1).
14) Warranties are always worth the paper they are written on and cover everything except tyres, so don't bother reading the small print as the dealer will tell you they are "cpmprehensive".
15) Dealers will always quote you the best price for a new car, so don't bother checking prices with other dealers or the internet.
16) If you know nothing about cars and only have a screwdriver in your toolkit, bangernomics is for you (Richard734).
17) If you fancy a new car, always look for ex-demos as they are always cheaper than a new car (Chieffy72).
18) If you have fully comp insurance on your old car, don't worry about insuring the new one as you'll be covered to drive it by your old policy (Aretnap).
19) When the dealer tells you he has someone else coming to see it in fifteen minutes and they sounded very keen on the phone, he's bound to be telling the truth (Aretnap).
20) Full Service History guarantees the car has been immaculately cared for and won't develop any faults for the next 10 years (ChopinonaBudget).
21) If car dealers are hell bent on making a profit, they are scam artists of the first order.
22) If your current petrol car costs £50 a week in fuel, spending £13k on a new diesel car to reduce your fuel bill to £40 a week is a great money saving decision (Apples2).
23) Buying a £300 Corsa and fitting it with £500 worth of lights, hi-tech stereo gear and tinted windows will definitely enhance the resale value should you decide to sell at a later date (Barbiedoll).
24) It's better to rent for the rest of your life as long as you have a large expensive car.
2) Sub £2,000 cars are better than £10,000 cars
3) Mileage is irrelevant, other than high mileage is better
4) Old Ford Mondeos are the best cars on the road
5) Never buy a new car
6) Japanese cars are "well put together"
7) A MoT guarantees that the car is in perfect condition
8) Never check the car out before you buy it as it is preferable to discover the faults later (e.g. it's only got three doors, not five)
9) When you buy a car, always let the seller deal with all the paperwork.
10) There are some outstanding bargains on Gumtree.
11) If your current petrol car costs £50 a week in fuel, spending £13k on a new diesel car to reduce your fuel bill to £40 a week is a great money saving decision (Apples2).
12) Always make sure you pay a deposit before seeing the car (Jaydeek1).
13) SOGA will protect you if your £500. 12-year-old Ford Ka develops a fault after 8 months of ownership (Jaydeek1).
14) Warranties are always worth the paper they are written on and cover everything except tyres, so don't bother reading the small print as the dealer will tell you they are "cpmprehensive".
15) Dealers will always quote you the best price for a new car, so don't bother checking prices with other dealers or the internet.
16) If you know nothing about cars and only have a screwdriver in your toolkit, bangernomics is for you (Richard734).
17) If you fancy a new car, always look for ex-demos as they are always cheaper than a new car (Chieffy72).
18) If you have fully comp insurance on your old car, don't worry about insuring the new one as you'll be covered to drive it by your old policy (Aretnap).
19) When the dealer tells you he has someone else coming to see it in fifteen minutes and they sounded very keen on the phone, he's bound to be telling the truth (Aretnap).
20) Full Service History guarantees the car has been immaculately cared for and won't develop any faults for the next 10 years (ChopinonaBudget).
21) If car dealers are hell bent on making a profit, they are scam artists of the first order.
22) If your current petrol car costs £50 a week in fuel, spending £13k on a new diesel car to reduce your fuel bill to £40 a week is a great money saving decision (Apples2).
23) Buying a £300 Corsa and fitting it with £500 worth of lights, hi-tech stereo gear and tinted windows will definitely enhance the resale value should you decide to sell at a later date (Barbiedoll).
24) It's better to rent for the rest of your life as long as you have a large expensive car.
Je suis sabot...
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Comments
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5) A £500, 12 year old Ford Ka should be defect free even after 8 months of ownership, otherwise march back to the dealership shouting "SOGA! SOGA!"
6) Make sure you pay a deposit before seeing the car, just in case the dealer happens to sell it.0 -
) Mileage is irrelevant, other than high mileage is better
I can't agree with that. It depends on the use of the vehicle, who's been servicing it etc. For example an ex-police response car with 100K on the clock will be a thrashed dog, whereas a company car that spent it's life travelling the motorways will probably be far better. Some cars start developing expensive faults around the 150K mark (like the old Discovery 1's whose head gasket start to fail around then) so like everything when buying, doing some research on owners' forums, checking up for known problems and so on is a must.0 -
Any others?
Avoid diesels that are fitted with a particulate filter if you're only using the car for short trips. Avoid diesels if you do less than about 15000 miles a year (opinions vary on this one, and it does depend on the car and how you use it.)I used to think that good grammar is important, but now I know that good wine is importanter.0 -
Dealers will never offer you the highest ever recorded price for your car in part exchange. Accept this fact now and dont complain and call them scam artists when they only offer you the Trade Value.0
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If you dont have a basic set of skills, and a tool kit, Bangernomics is not for you0
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Can't help feeling that a few posters have missed the point of this thread.0
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Think someone is having a dig at me
1. They dont make a French Mondeo. So i agree dont buy French.
2. Wrong £2000 ish cars are better, I paid just over £2000 for mine. And its 4 times better because it cost 4 times less.
3. Correct. Mileage is not an issue if the car has been cherished. Plenty of worn out 3 year old wrecks at auction. Some never having been serviced once.
4. I agree with you 100%Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
7) Never buy a French car ........ needs stating twice0
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