Finding a good dealer Vs private

jamels2

Any advice on finding a reputable dealer? I like the idea of trading in my existing car but I also understand private seller are usually cheaper. I will add I am only looking at cars up to 2k . Thanks

foxy-stoat

At this level I would buy from a private seller that has owned and serviced the car for a good few years.

No point in buying a £1500 car for £2000 just so you can trade your current car in for 50% of its value.

caprikid1

foxy-stoat wrote: »

At this level I would buy from a private seller that has owned and serviced the car for a good few years.

No point in buying a £1500 car for £2000 just so you can trade your current car in for 50% of its value.

As has stated, the £2000 car you buy probably cost the dealer £1000 - £1200 tops.


The car you trade might be worth a £1000 - £1200 private they will probably offer £600- £700.

noclaf

foxy-stoat wrote: »

At this level I would buy from a private seller that has owned and serviced the car for a good few years.

No point in buying a £1500 car for £2000 just so you can trade your current car in for 50% of its value.

This. A lot of the 'dealers' now cannot be trusted, blanket statement but I stand by it. Also be careful not to assume all 'private' sellers are really private..again many are essentially using a dealer type setup but then making out they are private.

In a similar boat to the op...I will either buy from a used approved dealer if spending upwards of say £6k but if I decide to go down the midway to bangernomics price point then has to be private. Lot of well maintained private cars out there..as well as dogs so beware!🤪

foxy-stoat

Hence why you need to look at the V5c and see when the seller bought it....no excuses for lost V5, selling for my half cousin as he has moved abroad, I have just moved so no V5 and I have just bought it but my Wife doesnt like it.

Plenty of genuine private sellers out there, less than there were a few years ago with changes to insurance and tax rules etc.

Good lucks.

Mistral001

I would go private as many dealers just will not sell cars costing less than about £3000. You will not get much more protection from a dealer for cars in your price range from dealers as the cars will be of an age where most "faults" such as clutch failure, etc. will be considered as just maintenance and not something you can claim as a reason for getting your money back.

In saying that I recently bought a car I saw advertised on a website for well below £2000 from someone who classified himself as a dealer. The car is working well and has passed its first MOT without having to do anything other than change a few new light bulbs.

EdGasketTheSecond

foxy-stoat wrote: »

...no excuses for lost V5, selling for my half cousin as he has moved abroad, I have just moved so no V5 and I have just bought it but my Wife doesnt like it.
Good lucks.

I bought a car from a bloke once who had 'bought it for his sister but she didn't want it so selling on' lol. Turned out to be the best car I ever bought. Cost £1,000 and I owned it for nearly 13 years and 100K miles with only a clutch in that time as a major repair. Sometimes the dodgy sounding ones can work out but mostly I'd advise to steer clear.

Herzlos

As said, at the £2k range you're looking at a £2k car privately, or a £1k car the dealer took in on p/x and is selling for £2k with essentially no protections.


When you're contacting private sellers in this price range there's a high chance that it's a dealer, so always tell them that you're interested in "the car" and see if they respond with "which one?" or know what you're talking about.

mattyprice4004

Just don’t be one of those buyers who expects a private seller to fix anything that goes wrong after the sale.

Far too many people around that badger private sellers after the deed expecting support - that’s not how it works!