Help - need to buy a car

LouLouHelen

Someone drove into the side of my Mum's car and due to the age of her car the insurance company have written it off as it is cheaper to do that and give her £650 for the car than to get work done :-(

My Mum was not budgetting on loosing her car and is now getting all upset and worried about buying a new one. She lives on her own so needs something reliable and good value for money. If she clears out her savings she has a maximum budget of £3000.

I really don't want my Mum to get fleeced by a garage so I have offered to go with her but my knowledge is seriously no greater than hers when it comes to cars. Problem is that neither of us knows anyone who can give us any sound advice on buying a second hand car .....

Please could I ask you kind people if you have any advice on what to look for, where not to buy from etc.

Many many thanks in advance everyone!

Debt_Free_Chick

LouLouHelen wrote: »

Someone drove into the side of my Mum's car and due to the age of her car the insurance company have written it off as it is cheaper to do that and give her £650 for the car than to get work done

What would it cost to buy the car back and then have the work done?

newlywed

Just been through the 2nd hand car buying fiasco.

1. Buy from the person on the actual V5C (registration document/log book).

2. Pay for the check on the car - we used AA but if you can do it online, then experian do it cheaper and you can bulk buy checks to make it even cheaper. A trader was trying to sell us a car that was written off (Category in 2002 and should have been scrapped and never returned to the road!!! We wouldn't have known from looking at the car. It also checks if it's been reported stolen, has HPI outstanding etc.

3. Check that the VIN number (open the bonnet and it should be on a plate at the front of the car - and also under/near the driver seat) matches with the V5C document.

4. Try and buy one with tax and MOT as you are not legally allowed to drive it home without them - one garage said they don't tax the cars for people. That meant we would have to buy the car, get the insurance document, get the tax disc all before being able to drive it home legally!

5. Ask if you can get a mechanic to check it over. Even if you don't actually plan to do this, you can tell quite a bit by their reaction to this question - if they have something to hide or not.

newlywed

This website (linked to DVLA) has lots of tips and advice.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/index.htm


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/AdviceOnBuyingAndSellingAVehicle/DG_4022402


Oh and www.honestjohn.co.uk website lets you look up a specific car type (Car by Car breakdown http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm) that you are interested in, gives approx mileage for the age and a breakdown on what goes wrong with them and what areas to check for on that make and model of car. So you can see what areas rust first on the car etc and know what to look out for.

LouLouHelen

Thanks for the advice newlywed, will defintely look at the HonestJohn website and get in touch with the AA!:T

Yes I though that but looked at cost of that option and its just not worth it unfortunately, Debt Free Chick

Debt_Free_Chick

LouLouHelen wrote: »

Thanks for the advice newlywed, will defintely look at the HonestJohn website and get in touch with the AA!:T

Yes I though that but looked at cost of that option and its just not worth it unfortunately, Debt Free Chick

The trick is to find someone who will do repairs - like an old-fashioned panel beater - rather than simply replace the damaged panels (which is what the insurance companies will do). All depends on the damage though.

My insurer reckoned it would take £6.5k to repair my car bodywork. They offered me £2.7k for the vehicle. I bought it back for £350 paid £700 for the repairs and pocketed more than £1500!!! :T