Buying a used car privately

ripplyuk

My partner is looking for a new car. His current car was a total banger when he bought it but amazingly, has lasted many years with hardly anything spent to maintain it. He now expects all cars to be the same.

The budget is £3000 max so all are either old or have high mileage. We'll be viewing some at the weekend and I was wondering if anyone could give us any advice or tips. Neither of us know anything about cars.

I've already advised him to get a mechanic or someone knowledgeable to check the car, and do a HPI check online but he thinks it's a waste of money.

What is the best way to pay a private seller? Do they usually want cash? I'm also wondering about how to sort insurance for test drives. Will his insurer cover all cars if he arranges this beforehand?

arcon5

In that price range I'd buy from a dealer - a reputable one.

Check his insurance policy some have other car cover.

marlot

There are loads of buying guides on the internet.

Check out the MOT history of any car you're looking at here https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

As Arcon5 says, he may already have 'driving other cars' on his insurance - but be aware that this would normally be third party only - if he crashes the car he's looking at, any damage to it wouldn't be covered.

You have more rights than ever as a car buyer now, but avoid back street dealers who won't stand behind their legal obligations.

Nobbie1967

Best way to pay is by bank transfer. I'm with Lloyds and bought a car on Sunday and did the transfer using internet banking and the money was in the sellers HSBC account within minutes and I was able to drive the car away as soon as I'd sorted out insurance and tax.

I generally find that nice people sell nice cars, not very scientific, but it seems to work for me. If I like the person and they seem open about the condition of the car then this is a big plus alongside good service history and an MOT record that shows issues being dealt with rather than left year after year as advisories. It's a cliche, but one careful owner is a very good sign, although at under £3k this is fairly unlikely.

foxy-stoat

At £3000 I would normally buy private cash is fine or online transfer just check first and pay them £5 to see if its instant, check that they have owned it for a good few years and look at the history closely - HPI check is a must - if its a CAT C/D and you do not know about it you will have issues when you come to insure it, there is no place for ignorence these days with insurance, you will also be paying more for it than you should.

You can insure it for a day for £25-£30 but you can get the seller to drive you around for a test drive, your partner may have driving other cars (TPO), check his policy first.

loskie

Nobbie that is very good advice.
for 3k you are best buying private otherwise you are buying a 2k car with 1k dealer mark up on it.
A lot of dealers at that end of the market source cars from private buyers now as auction costs are getting high.

knightstyle

Make sure you see the car at the owners property and that their name and address are on the V5 before handing over any money.

Marvel1

I queried with my private seller about how they want payment, I was glad they wanted bank transfer, wouldn't be willing to risk 3 trains and a taxi with £5500 in cash.

gazfocus

I'd echo the sentiment of nice people sell nice cars. We have experienced both. First private car I bought was a 15 year old bmw and while it didn't have anything major wrong with it, I did have to spend £200 on it within a week of buying it and the seller gave me tonnes of verbal abuse. This time round, my wife and I went to buy a car this weekend and with the car being 90 miles away, the seller kindly agreed to hold off any other buyers until we'd been. When we were there, he allowed us the use of his ipad and printer to sort out insurance so we could drive the car away. Needless to say, the car is as near perfect as we could expect. The seller owned it for 7 years, tonnes of receipts, and good MOT history.

I think you'll get a genuine feeling for the person selling the car. If you don't like the person, don't feel you need to buy their car just because you're there.

arcon5

gazfocus wrote: »

I'd echo the sentiment of nice people sell nice cars. We have experienced both. First private car I bought was a 15 year old bmw and while it didn't have anything major wrong with it, I did have to spend £200 on it within a week of buying it and the seller gave me tonnes of verbal abuse. This time round, my wife and I went to buy a car this weekend and with the car being 90 miles away, the seller kindly agreed to hold off any other buyers until we'd been. When we were there, he allowed us the use of his ipad and printer to sort out insurance so we could drive the car away. Needless to say, the car is as near perfect as we could expect. The seller owned it for 7 years, tonnes of receipts, and good MOT history.

I think you'll get a genuine feeling for the person selling the car. If you don't like the person, don't feel you need to buy their car just because you're there.

Probably more to that story than were being told?
Problem is when you buy privately sellers don't expect you to come back to them with problems which sounds like that was the case here. £200 doesn't go far with cars these days so can't have been anything major..