New car valued £6,000.00

spurdog1

Time to buy a "new car".

been a decade since bought. Before i recall some compant doing car checks before purchase. Is this still done? BTW i live Gloucestershire.

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

CliveOfIndia

What sort of checks do you mean?

HPI is worthwhile to check there's no outstanding finance or to see if it's been declared an insurance write-off - though if you're buying from a dealer, they'll usually do this themselves.

If you mean a mechanical check, both the AA and RAC offer this service (you don't need to be a member).  Or if you know a decent independent mechanic, they may be willing to check it over for you if you pay them for their time.

spurdog1 said:

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

If it's a private sale you won't be able to pay by card.  If buying from a dealer, they may only be willing to accept a small deposit by card due to the fees they'll be charged.  But paying any amount on card will give you S75 protection, if that's what you're after.

What do you mean by "their rules" ?  You can pay the credit card off over as long a period as you like, as long as you make the minimum payment each month.  That's not the MSE way of doing it, as you'll be charged a fair whack of interest, unless you've got a 0% promotional deal running.

born_again

spurdog1 said:

Time to buy a "new car".

been a decade since bought. Before i recall some compant doing car checks before purchase. Is this still done? BTW i live Gloucestershire.

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

New as in new to you (2nd hand), or new as in brand new?

TBH car buying is just the same as then, other than being careful for the scams on social media marketplaces.

Newbie_John

HPI check is a must, I tried buying privately but 9/10 had hidden category S, category N, general dodginess - changed 4 owners within 2 months and HPI said do not buy.. and then one was OK but on Finance, and buying privately car from someone that's on finance is a lot of hassle.

Ended up from a dealer, so far 6 months later all good.

spurdog1

HPI and mechanical check.

What is an "S75" protection, cliveofindia?

CliveOfIndia

spurdog1 said:

HPI and mechanical check.

What is an "S75" protection, cliveofindia?

An HPI check is eminently sensible, especially if you're buying privately.  Just make sure you go via the genuine HPI website, not one of the many third-party sites out there who will charge you more than the genuine one.  Although, as I said, if you're buying from a dealer it's not always necessary - a lot of dealers will do an HPI themselves (primarily to protect their own interests).  If they've already checked it and are prepared to show you proof (any half-decent dealer will be happy to do this) then it's pointless to pay for another one yourself.

Mechanical checks - AA or RAC are the most well-known ones, dead easy to book online.  Or, as mentioned previously, if you're lucky enough to know a trusted local mechanic, it may be worth asking if they'd be willing to take a look for you, and how much they'd charge.

S75 - Section 75.  If you pay for goods on a credit card and the supplier breaches the terms of the contract, and fails to reimburse you, then the credit card supplier will refund your money.  That's over-simplifying it somewhat - but let's say you pay a deposit for the car, then the next day the dealer goes bust and your car is no longer available, and the dealer refuses (or is unable) to return your deposit, you can ask your card issuer to refund you.

There are quite a few caveats and exclusions, and it's not a get-out-of-jail-free card that will cover every eventuality.  But it's a handy bit of extra protection, which is why lots of people try to pay at least part of the amount by card.

I'm just curious as to why you mentioned paying 50% by card, if not for S75 protection?  If it's to earn cashback/points/whatever on your card then fair enough - though as I mentioned, you're quite likely to only be able to pay a small amount by card, so it may give you little benefit from that perspective.  And hopefully it goes without saying - unless you've got a 0% promotional rate running, make sure you repay the card in full when the statement arrives, otherwise you'll be charged a lot of interest.

Goudy

It's worth pointing out a car from a dealer might have a finance marker against it when HPi'd.

Dealers often use stock financing or sometimes called unit financing, it's a form of mercantile credit. 

You usually can't sell something you don't own, but this form of credit allows dealers to fill forecourts without over expending themselves.
It also have some benefits to the dealers when paying auction houses for stock, the dealers line of credit will be directly linked to the auction houses.

It's not unusual to find used cars at dealers with this form of finance marker on them, it doesn't mean anyone will chase you for the money.

It's a form of trust credit between the dealers and the finance company and only usually lasts 90 days before the dealer has to pay it, not you.

It will be marked on the HPi results as this sort of finance, if it isn't marked as unit or stock finance but showing as another form of outstanding finance, walk away,

spurdog1

it is a car dealer, a father/son business...i worked with the father years ago. I have 3000 i can lay my hands on but the S75 was the protection side of it, which i was trying to do. There is no history to the vehicle, he bought from a dealership, such as bristol street. The HPI and RAC inspection therefore makes sense, giving me further protection. Mind you "not knowing anything about cars the report may come back to me as technospeak".

I thank you for your kindness and response, some in the past have been rather unkind.

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

spurdog1 said:

Time to buy a "new car".

been a decade since bought. Before i recall some compant doing car checks before purchase. Is this still done? BTW i live Gloucestershire.

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

New as in new to you (2nd hand), or new as in brand new?

TBH car buying is just the same as then, other than being careful for the scams on social media marketplaces.

At £6k!††††††††††††††††††††††††

Goudy

HillStreetBlues said:

born_again said:

spurdog1 said:

Time to buy a "new car".

been a decade since bought. Before i recall some compant doing car checks before purchase. Is this still done? BTW i live Gloucestershire.

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

New as in new to you (2nd hand), or new as in brand new?

TBH car buying is just the same as then, other than being careful for the scams on social media marketplaces.

At £6k!††††††††††††††††††††††††

Would have been possible a couple of years ago!

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

born_again said:

spurdog1 said:

Time to buy a "new car".

been a decade since bought. Before i recall some compant doing car checks before purchase. Is this still done? BTW i live Gloucestershire.

I can pay 50/50 cash and credit card (aim to pay off quickly, not to their rules). Any tips or guidance for me?

New as in new to you (2nd hand), or new as in brand new?

TBH car buying is just the same as then, other than being careful for the scams on social media marketplaces.

At £6k!††††††††††††††††††††††††

Don't recall seeing any value in title when posting?