Best place to buy a used car with confidence?

BeenThroughItAll

bery_451 wrote: »

Ok how do I check on how long the car has been advertised on autotrader?

You don't.


Well, I suppose I could suggest using cached pages, but I'm not even going to try. Someone else can climb that mountain.

BeenThroughItAll

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

You don't.


Well, I suppose I could suggest using cached pages, but I'm not even going to try. Someone else can climb that mountain.

Actually, you know, you might be able to. I'm not certain if this is the case, but if you look at the ad number at the end of this link:


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410198340778


It starts 20141019 which could, I suppose, mean it was created on 19-10-2014. Who knows.

heartbreak_star

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

they'd rather exfoliate with a cheese grater than continue to drive them

Thanks for that, there's Diet Coke on my keyboard now

HBS x

terrencetrentderby

You are not buying the garage, you are buying the car.It's less about the place, the person or dealer selling the car, more about the actual car. You can tell from the bills, receipts, service history what attitude past owners have had towards the upkeep of the car. Also, certain cars attract young, flash drivers who thrash whatever they drive. Choose something uncool. Uncool people tend to look after their cars.

bery_451

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Actually, you know, you might be able to. I'm not certain if this is the case, but if you look at the ad number at the end of this link:


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410198340778


It starts 20141019 which could, I suppose, mean it was created on 19-10-2014. Who knows.

Ok can anyone confirm this?

jimjames

forgotmyname wrote: »

I would say high mileage is better. Low mileage £4000. High mileage £2000. How is that not better? I get a car of the same year and a good holiday thrown in.

Totally agree. I'd much rather buy a car that has been used on the motorway for 500 miles in a day or two rather than having 500 cold stop start journeys in traffic to do the same distance over a couple of months.

Which car has more wear and tear on it? I don't think a warm engine gets much wear when it's sitting on motorway, cold starts repeated aren't good for longevity.

jase1

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

A car could easily have only one owner who treats it like crap and invests nothing in it other than ditchfinder tyres and a service once a year at the main dealer, which in no way guarantees it'll be in A1 condition when they get rid of it just before the first MOT.

Why is it that some people get so worked up about cheap tyres on second-hand cars?

It really means nothing. Traders put cheap tyres on cars when prepping them, private sellers put cheap tyres on when selling as it saves them maybe £100, and TBH a lot of drivers don't feel the need to put premium rubber on cars anyway -- none of this means that the car was neglected.

I've had cheap(-ish) tyres on my cars on several occasions -- and with one exception I didn't have a problem with them (and that was likely more due to bad tracking than anything else).

Given how the price of Chinese tyres seems to have fallen through the floor of late (205/55/16s down to as little as £25 each) I'm almost tempted to buy a set in the spring just to see what the fuss is about.

mjoneseyjones

jase1 wrote: »

Why is it that some people get so worked up about cheap tyres on second-hand cars?

It really means nothing. Traders put cheap tyres on cars when prepping them, private sellers put cheap tyres on when selling as it saves them maybe £100, and TBH a lot of drivers don't feel the need to put premium rubber on cars anyway -- none of this means that the car was neglected.

I've had cheap(-ish) tyres on my cars on several occasions -- and with one exception I didn't have a problem with them (and that was likely more due to bad tracking than anything else).

Given how the price of Chinese tyres seems to have fallen through the floor of late (205/55/16s down to as little as £25 each) I'm almost tempted to buy a set in the spring just to see what the fuss is about.

Because the Super Motoring Crew(tm) on here love portraying themselves as motoring purists and heroes of the A roads, who only buy the best for their P Reg Ford Mondeos and thus maintaining motoring standards in the face of British driving recklessness.

The millions of motorists in the UK who get by just fine without putting top of the range, all weather Continentals on their Astras or servicing their Polos every 28 miles are actually complete mugs who will DIE next time they attempt to drive round a roundabout in sub 15 degree temperatures. Perhaps you should remember this next time you question on of the Super Motoring Crew(tm) on tyre choices?

BeenThroughItAll

jase1 wrote: »

Why is it that some people get so worked up about cheap tyres on second-hand cars?

It really means nothing. Traders put cheap tyres on cars when prepping them, private sellers put cheap tyres on when selling as it saves them maybe £100, and TBH a lot of drivers don't feel the need to put premium rubber on cars anyway -- none of this means that the car was neglected.

I've had cheap(-ish) tyres on my cars on several occasions -- and with one exception I didn't have a problem with them (and that was likely more due to bad tracking than anything else).

Given how the price of Chinese tyres seems to have fallen through the floor of late (205/55/16s down to as little as £25 each) I'm almost tempted to buy a set in the spring just to see what the fuss is about.

I certainly wouldn't get 'worked up' about make of tyres, I was in that case merely using that as an example that 'one owner' doesn't necessarily equate to 'good buy'; in that I'd rather buy a car which has passed through a number of careful owners' hands than buy something which one person's neglected.

JustinR1979

I've had a load of Kormoran tyres put on my works vehicle - similar prices to Linglong.
Have slid on roundabouts and nearly been in a field so far, they are dangerous.
But hey, cheap is fine - until you crash.


Seeing cheap tyres on premium cars does make me wonder where else there has been penny pinching.