Buying a car in lockdown?

nh31

Hello, 
I've recently passed my driving test (woo!) and am looking to buy a car. Unfortunately I don't know much about cars mechanically, or have anyone close to help, so I have been avoiding buying privately and considered buying from a dealer. With the current lockdown (Tier 4) the only option to buy a car is Click and Collect meaning that I'd have to buy the car before seeing or test driving. This is extra difficult given my lack of car knowledge. Can someone help me with my rights in this situation, and/or any tips for buying at the moment? Thank you in advance!

Grumpy_chap

What type of budget and vehicle do you desire?
Excitement is understandable, but do you have clear need for a car while in lockdown Tier 4, or, for practical purposes will it make no difference to wait?

nh31

@Grumpy_chap I'm just looking for a run around really, my max budget is around £3500. Realistically I don't need a car in lockdown as I can work from home but I'm keen to keep my practice up and have a car that I'm comfortable to drive once we can get back out and about again. Would your recommendation be to wait? 

Grumpy_chap

I am not recommending to wait or otherwise.

What I would urge, especially at the £3k level, is the important thing is the condition of a car, service history, etc. more so than age, mileage, make or model.  That is, obviously, easiest if the car can be seen before purchase.

There is merit is buying the car from somewhere sufficiently local that you can sensibly be in contact with the supplying dealer if there is a post-purchase need to.  This forum has too many tales of people who bought a car from far away and then unable to resolve problems.  I also bought a car once from too far away via an online auction site and was physically sick with worry between the period my money was committed mid-week and collection that weekend thought my experience ended well.

Do you have any friends or family who can advise you on local dealers?  Sometimes, local knowledge of a dealer is the most invaluable thing - we have a dealer in my road that services our cars and retails used cars anything from £1k to £5k.  None of the cars are ever that special and I am not always sure the prices are the best, but I would trust that dealer fully if I was in the market for a car in that type of price bracket and he had something nice on the day.  If you can find a dealer local to you with that type of recommendation from someone you trust (rather than some bloke off the interweb), that is a good option.  Obviously, closed though under Tier 4.

tacpot12

Lots of good advice from Grumpy chap.

Once you have identified a dealer you think is trustworthy, check what cars they have is stock, and if they don't have anything suitable, ask them if they can find you the car you want. Good dealers will be able to find a suitable car at the auctions they use to source cars. They have the experience to avoid 90% of the bad cars going through the auctions. You can use Autotrader, eBay and Facebook to get an idea of the prices of the car you are looking for, and give them a budget to work to. I would suggest you tell them you budget is £3000, just in case they sell you a car that needs some repairs shortly after purchase. Some faults will be covered by the Consumer Legislation, but not everything, so I would keep some money back just in case. Don't forget dealers need to make a profit, and may want paying up front to get the car to their site where an inspection can take place. You need to agree at what point you will pay the full price of the car. This should perhaps be after an independent inspection of the car - in your situation, it might be worth paying for an independent vehicle inspection by a specialist provider like the RAC. Their "Advanced" vehicle inspection covers everything you need, but costs £239! That is a lot if the result is that the car is no good, and you need to pay the same to get another vehicle inspected. You may be able to find a local garage or mechanic that offers a similar inspection service for much less.  

You should check that you can afford to insure the car of your choice carefully. There are a lot of different engine variants, if you mis-identify the engine you need to the dealer, and the source a specific car to that specification, you might end up having to buy a car you can't afford to insure.