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Need to buy a car, know nothing about them, help!
I just passed my driving test and looked into buying a used car, i have a budget of about 2 to 3k, i thought i would just grab a car everyone drives like a fiesta or corsa. Then realized there is a lot more to it, i honestly know nothing about cars, i just need to get back and forth from work when i move home.
Whenever i find a car i check the past MOTs on the DVLA website, and all cars i look into seem to have failiures in the past or advisories that are not fixed, is this normal? Do i just avoid these cars or the fact the most recent MOT says it passed despite its previous failiures mean its all okay now?
How do i properly buy a new car without knowing anything? I have no friends who know about cars, the mot failiures seem common with all cars i look at and they just put me off.
Thanks for any advice, ive read lots online on how to check cars but dont really understand half of the checks i will be doing.
Whenever i find a car i check the past MOTs on the DVLA website, and all cars i look into seem to have failiures in the past or advisories that are not fixed, is this normal? Do i just avoid these cars or the fact the most recent MOT says it passed despite its previous failiures mean its all okay now?
How do i properly buy a new car without knowing anything? I have no friends who know about cars, the mot failiures seem common with all cars i look at and they just put me off.
Thanks for any advice, ive read lots online on how to check cars but dont really understand half of the checks i will be doing.
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Comments
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Most cars will have a failure at some point. If it's failed then passed later the issue has been fixed.
If you know nothing at all either go with someone who does or get friendly with a local mechanic and pay them to look over a vehicle.0 -
Whenever i find a car i check the past MOTs on the DVLA website, and all cars i look into seem to have failiures in the past or advisories that are not fixed, is this normal? Do i just avoid these cars or the fact the most recent MOT says it passed despite its previous failiures mean its all okay now?
A garage which gets a car in for service + MOT will do the MOT first so they pick up anything that needs attention that the service level the customer selected would not otherwise check, hence failures being recorded that then get fixed.
The fact a car fails an MOT and is then repaired should not put you off, that happens all the time. The fact that an advisory is not fixed shouldn't either, it doesn't stop the car being driven. I've had the same advisory (relating to the front number plate being discoloured but still meeting the legal legibility standard) on MOTs for my car for the last seven years .Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 20230 -
It very much depends on the failures and advisories.
If it's something like tyres, lights or wiper blades, then it could suggest that the owner was doing fairly minimal routine maintenance, but it's a very quick and easy permanent fix.
If it's stuff like body corrosion, then it suggests the car's on the run-in to end of life.0 -
Thanks for the advice, i found one where most failed mots were fixed the same day and then approved, the last mot was passed and the one before was to do with break pads wearing as advisories, so that would mean they most likely replaced them right?
Also how do i go about mileage and how old the car is? Ive been seeing lots of cars from around 2005 at a decent price but my partner who also knows nothing about cars says they will break fast because they are old, what year would be a good year to buy a car at? How old is too old? If its old with low miles is that bad because its hardly been used?
Thanks0 -
As per the above replies, previous MOT failure/advisory items are not necessarily cause for major worry. Where it really pays to have a knowledgeable friend or tame mechanic along is for stuff that isn't necessarily an MOT testable item - if something like the engine or gearbox is about to go bang in a big way, then that would be more of a concern.
At the price bracket you're looking at, you're going to have to expect to do some repairs at some point in the near future. However, that doesn't necessarily mean huge bills - just run-of-the mill stuff that you'd expect on a car of that age. Over the years I've bought some absolutely cracking little cars in that price bracket, that have given me years of service for very little cost.
It's worth looking at some online reviews on the likes of WhatCar - they will usually give you pointers as to common problems to check for on a particular model of car.
If you've only just passed your test, it's well worth getting some dummy insurance quotes from the likes of CompareTheMarket etc. Insurance is likely to be by far the biggest expense for you. And it can be surprising what cars are reasonable, and what are expensive. An oft-cited example is the Corsa - small car, small engine, you'd think it would be cheap. But because it's a favourite of newly-qualified boy-racers (sorry to generalise!), it can be quite pricey to insure. Whereas something like a "boring" old Volvo estate with a much larger engine can be much more reasonable. So it's well worth getting an idea of likely insurance costs before you buy.0 -
i found one where most failed mots were fixed the same day and then approvedthe one before was to do with break pads wearing as advisories, so that would mean they most likely replaced them right?Also how do i go about mileage and how old the car is? Ive been seeing lots of cars from around 2005 at a decent price but my partner who also knows nothing about cars says they will break fast because they are old, what year would be a good year to buy a car at? How old is too old? If its old with low miles is that bad because its hardly been used?
14yo is about the average age of a car at scrapping in the UK, so it's all about condition and how well it's been maintained. At that end of the market - I'm assuming you're looking around the grand-or-so mark - it's very easy to buy a shiny shed. ESPECIALLY if you buy from a dealer. There's very little legal comeback, because it's a car that is old and you can expect issues simply because of age.
If you don't know what you're looking for or at, either find somebody you trust who can help you, or try to scrape together more money.
Feel free to ask us about anything you're seriously looking at.0 -
Look for a comprehensive history. Lots of service stamps and receipts. Whilst no guarantee it will give an indication of whether the car has been looked after or not.
If they are all old as the hills you know it's likely to need big work doing soon too.0 -
Thanks for all the help.
I can´t post a link because i´m a new member, but it´s a Peugeot 207 1.4 VTi Sport 3dr 2010 on Autotrader, for 2,995 Pounds with 30k miles, the plate is KP60 OTZ
The MOT history seems okay on this one, but if it´s already about 10 years old would that mean i would have to look for another car in about 5 years time? I will probably be doing about 10k miles a year, so was looking for a low mile car. Does it seem good or are there better ones out there?
Thanks0 -
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908251511845
First things first, that's been in stock ages. Autotrader ad URLs give the date the ad went up - and that's been there since Aug 25...
Nothing even remotely scary in the MOT history - the discs and pads it had last year were probably the originals at that mileage. In fact, the mileage is a negative, if anything. 30k in nine years is very low. Clearly genuine, though, looking at the test history. If you're planning on putting a few more miles on it, then it's probably not a bad starting point.
If the service history looks good, and it floats your boat, goferit. But haggle, because they'll want to see the back of it.0 -
It's scrubbed up well. Have a decent test drive in it. Check things like the air conditioning works properly and all the electrics. Being cold it's things like that people miss.0
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