Best place to find a used vehicle?

rowan222

I'm looking to purchase an older used vehicle. Not one that would be sold by dealers but rather private individuals. Due to the nature of what I'm looking for it might take me some time to find it.

Obviously I need to be cautious where/who I buy from etc. But where are some good places to look?

Any particular that are "safer" than others?

Ta!

born_again

Autotrader, ebay etc.
if it is a specific car. See if there are any forums or facebook groups. Where owners might sell their cars.

WellKnownSid

If it's a specialist vehicle - then start with the car meets / forums / classic car sites where these people hang out.  Genuine sellers.

daveyjp

Some clues as to the vehicle would help, but I'd start with dedicated owners club or classic car websites.

rowan222

daveyjp said:

Some clues as to the vehicle would help, but I'd start with dedicated owners club or classic car websites.

I'm actually looking for an older small VW van or similar.  

Mildly_Miffed

If you're on Facebook, then marketplace, local car-for-sale groups, local community groups generally. The 21st century equivalent of the old local paper small-ads, basically...

There aren't many other really reliable sources - Gumtree can have some, Autotrader doesn't really go into the lower price points.

Car auctions will get most lower-value PXs, but the national chains can be pricey on buying fees if you can get in at all, and your chances to inspect are very limited.

Cheap vans are usually utterly knackered, because so many people want them as campers that prices are high - plus, of course, they're still very useful money-earners for smaller businesses. If you're set on VW, add in an element of scene tax.

ButterCheese

Re-iterating the above - you'll not find much on Auto trader below £2k ish, as sellers have to pay £30/month to advertise and that's a big % off your sale price if it takes a long time to sell.  It also won't populate features and spec of older vehicles (as the data is not readily available).

Gumtree was dying out a couple of years ago; no-one I know uses it anymore.  I'd even forgot it existed.  Bu worth a look - I think you can set up alerts when something matching your criteria is added.

Ebay - similar to AT so for lower priced vehicles many don't bother unless they know it's worth a lot i.e. can use the auction function.  They are more strict about communnications though, to deter people from selling "off site" and then not paying the seller fees.

So FB is the captive market now.  Don't be put off too much, just do your due dilligence and take someone with you if you can.  Inspect it thoroughly - if ithasn't got a stamp or a receipt then it didn't happen.  Don't take anyone's word for it.  No seller fees or anything, and the messenger functino is rather clunky, but it is arguably the best way to buy and sell anything that can't be posted.

I can't stress this enough though - the seller might be the nicest, kindest person you've ever met and it's very easy to trust them from the outset.  But nice people will lie to you in order to sell their stuff.  As above, if it's not documented then it didn't happen (unless it is obvious the part is new e.g. tyres).

I once bought a scooter for my son off someone quite far away, they were a middle class couple selling it on behalf of their son.  They assured me that a friend had serviced it and it was all in perfect working order.  I stupidly trusted their word, bought it, and rode it home.  Half way home it lost power, I limped it the rest of the way, took it to a garage and they said it had no oil in it - they didn't know how it was still running.  I managed to sell it on with the caveat that it was low on power, but someone still bought it luckily (presumably for the frame and parts)

rowan222

ButterCheese said:

I can't stress this enough though - the seller might be the nicest, kindest person you've ever met and it's very easy to trust them from the outset.  But nice people will lie to you in order to sell their stuff.  As above, if it's not documented then it didn't happen (unless it is obvious the part is new e.g. tyres).

Yes thats the part that does bother me. I'll just have to very very cautious I guess!

I must admit i hadn't considered Facebook Marketplace. thanks!

Mildly_Miffed

ButterCheese said:

if ithasn't got a stamp or a receipt then it didn't happen.  Don't take anyone's word for it.
...
if it's not documented then it didn't happen (unless it is obvious the part is new e.g. tyres).

And if it is stamped, be suspicious the stamp is fake.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/197603212205

There's far too much emphasis put on mileage and on "service history". Go by gut feel, and by what you can see and touch parked in front of you. If something's a heap, it's usually pretty bloody obvious on a quick look around it and drive of it. Look at the online MOT history - that can't be faked (and there's way too much fearmongering about fake MOTs).

Herzlos

FB is nice because it gives you a bit of an indication of who the seller is, what else they've sold etc though you can never rule out stolen accounts and scams so the usual caution applies such as never paying anything without seeing the physical vehicle at the address on the V5. 

For a small older vw van I'd be looking at owners clubs and find one the owner will bore you to death about.