Buying a used car advice/tips

little_green

Hoping to buy a new (to me) car in the next month or so & looking for advice. Had been considering finance but decided that’s a luxury I don’t need.

I am hoping to get something that is going to last the next 5 years. My budget is around the 3000 mark maximum. Ideally I’d like something no older than a 2010 plate & with mot until next year. Now I know that is quite a list of demands haha.

I was thinking about road tax as well as I know some cars have very low (£30 annually) RT whereas some have more eg £155. Now if I were to manage to keep the car 5 years the car with low rt would cost over the 5 years what the other car would in one year!! therefore, I could technically say if I find a car with low RT then my budget for said car may increase to account for this difference (eg. 5x155=775 , 5*30 = 150 , 775-150 = 625). On the other hand am I stupid to put out that “excess” money in advance when I don’t actually know how long the car will last.

It's increasing hard to find a nice looking car with low RT that's not newish though. Feel free to recommend any.

I do love haggling but my knowledge on cars is limited therefore I don’t feel overly equipped. If anyone can pass on any tips on haggling both with private sellers & with a garage. Obviously with private it depends entirely on the individual but with garages how much are they usually willing to drop on the tag price? I know if you chose finance options they throw in other incentives, so what "extras" can be thrown in for a used vehicle, or can they simply just reduce the tag price? What do you consider a reasonable % to ask the seller to lower the price by? Making too low an offer is just silly & sellers don’t take you seriously but similarly I want to make sure I’ve maxed out the wiggle room there is!

Also I'm a little confused, the car I'm looking at currently, on the latest not advisories it says all 4 tyres tread is perished. I thought if tread was below the accepted value then it was an auto fail? So why has this been noted as an advisory? Also frustratingly your looking about £275-£300 for 4 new tyres. I'd already wanted to haggle the seller down not sure I can add that expense on top

Thanks in advance.

Tokk

What's your mileage/usage like?

If your usage suits diesel then you're looking at the kind of age where diesels can be low tax... If you can manage to find a non-dpf diesel then so much the better.
If you're doing lots of short trips with only occasional long ones then under no circumstances buy a DPF equipped diesel - low tax or not, that'd be asking for problems.


When they're talking about tyres being "perished" they'll be talking about the rubber being old/dry and cracking, not the tread depth being worn down... End result is the same though, replace ASAP!

I'd personally be more concerned by a car without service history (showing suitably regular servicing!) than a car that's failed the occasional MOT - MOT fails followed by passes mean repairs done and issues no longer present.

little_green

Tokk wrote: »

What's your mileage/usage like?

If your usage suits diesel then you're looking at the kind of age where diesels can be low tax... If you can manage to find a non-dpf diesel then so much the better.
If you're doing lots of short trips with only occasional long ones then under no circumstances buy a DPF equipped diesel - low tax or not, that'd be asking for problems.


When they're talking about tyres being "perished" they'll be talking about the rubber being old/dry and cracking, not the tread depth being worn down... End result is the same though, replace ASAP!

I'd personally be more concerned by a car without service history (showing suitably regular servicing!) than a car that's failed the occasional MOT - MOT fails followed by passes mean repairs done and issues no longer present.

mainly quite short journeys so perhaps not that suitable for me at this time.
Re the tyres, ok that makes sense, damn it's still the same outcome though (ie they need replaced!)
Yeh it's kidn of good to see a fail followed by a pass, as they n you know the seller isnt just "slapping" 12 months on it & the test was actually done by a reliable source. Toughest part with older cars is not being able to predict what may go wrong & costs involved.

ukbfg

In my experience, 2nd hand dealers now generally price pretty competitively in the 1st place and don't tend to haggle much, as they know buyers are generally searching ebay/autotrader by price and will probably end up only viewing the more competitively priced cars.

What sort of car are you looking for? Big/small, Estate, MPV, Sporty etc? Most models have a range of different engines and tax brackets. I always consider the tax bracket and choose engines accordingly as it does make quite a difference to the overall running cost.

Parkers.co.uk used car reviews are very good for comparing models and running costs.

little_green

ukbfg wrote: »

In my experience, 2nd hand dealers now generally price pretty competitively in the 1st place and don't tend to haggle much, as they know buyers are generally searching ebay/autotrader by price and will probably end up only viewing the more competitively priced cars.

What sort of car are you looking for? Big/small, Estate, MPV, Sporty etc? Most models have a range of different engines and tax brackets. I always consider the tax bracket and choose engines accordingly as it does make quite a difference to the overall running cost.

Parkers.co.uk used car reviews are very good for comparing models and running costs.

When you say second hand dealers do you mean like independent garages on bigger ones eg Arnold Clark? Surely they must drop something on the tag price!?

Ideally I want something that looks sporty(ISH) eg Corsa ltd edition/sxi etc , fiesta st line , zetec , astra sxi seat Ibiza or Leon... You get the gist. For insurance purposes any "add on's" need to come factory fitted as standard. No modified cars (been there done that more hassle than worth!). Want a small engine - under 1.8L. no turbos. Will consider less popular brands like Hyundai, kia etc but even those seem to be pricey. No box cars, sadly those are the affordable ones with cheap road tax!!

I want too much for my money tbh but help me be realistic and suggest what should be achievable in my 3k budget.

little_green

found another car that appeals to me but a bit confused as the advert says it has 1 year mot but when I check on the dvla webstie it says the mot is until july this year.... so i'm thinking the seller is going to slap a pass on it ....??

facade

little_green wrote: »

found another car that appeals to me but a bit confused as the advert says it has 1 year mot but when I check on the dvla webstie it says the mot is until july this year.... so i'm thinking the seller is going to slap a pass on it ....??

The seller will MOT it when you pay a deposit, then you get a full year's MOT as advertised when you collect.

Mercdriver

I think you are being quite ambitious with your wish list. Something sporty with low tax. Are you a young/new driver? The cars you list will whack up your insurance quotes.

Jonesya

Check the mileage of the car, then find out when the major services are due and when the cam-belt next needs changing - if its due any work then include that in your haggling for them to do it.

Oh, and go round checking all of the little bits that are easily missed and you only notice later - do all the windscreen wiper settings work and they park themselves, does the hot air blower work on all the settings etc etc.

little_green

Mercdriver wrote: »

I think you are being quite ambitious with your wish list. Something sporty with low tax. Are you a young/new driver? The cars you list will whack up your insurance quotes.

here will be 2 people on the policy one under 30 but over 25 & the other over 30. Neither of us are new drivers. Have been checking insurance quotes for the cars taking my fancy.