• We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies from this website. Read more here

Buying a used car

everexe

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Messages
845
Location
EXETER
I am looking for some advice !

I am about to buy a used car and I have about £5000 to spend.

Is it common practice to take that sort of money to a private sellers house in cash ?

Have you taken a bag of notes to buy a car ? or would you not consider this to be sensible ?

Should I only deal with private sellers if they will take a cheque ?

Would you only deal with trade dealers ?

Do you know any good used car web sites (apart from Auto Trader, Ebay Motors, Piston Heads) ?

I have not bought a car for about 15 years so I am a bit rusty.

Any sensible advice would be much appreciated.

UTC.
hi, i am a trader and have recently aquired a (55) plate citroen c5 diesel, which i think is superb value at £4500, the car is advertised on autotrader, take a look, postcode ex28gq or call me on 07771517201, regards simon.
 

heathy1

Very well known Exeweb poster
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
11,286
Location
The Only Way Is Exeter
I am looking for some advice !

I am about to buy a used car and I have about £5000 to spend.

Is it common practice to take that sort of money to a private sellers house in cash ?

Have you taken a bag of notes to buy a car ? or would you not consider this to be sensible ?

Should I only deal with private sellers if they will take a cheque ?

Would you only deal with trade dealers ?

Do you know any good used car web sites (apart from Auto Trader, Ebay Motors, Piston Heads) ?

I have not bought a car for about 15 years so I am a bit rusty.

Any sensible advice would be much appreciated.

UTC.
Mate if I were you I would be straight down the dealership, 80% of second hand cars sold privately in the Auto trader are about to have some sort of breakdown but funny how its always a great motor and they are only selling it due to emmigrating/pregnancy/new job.But remember this when your down Swiss Tony's, buying a car is like making love to a beautiful Lady.....
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
891
Location
Harley's Fish & Chip Shop !
Hi Front Row Lover,

Well as the principal reason I can't get to many City games is because I'm a sales manager at a car dealership & Saturdays are our busy day hopefully I can help. As its probably the last sunny day of the summer its pretty quiet here today so let me give you my thoughts. (this might be a little disjointed as people come in.)

First of all the issues that you raise in your original post.
The websites that you mention are spot on. Autotrader is where everyone advertises and Pistonheads is good for not only specialist cars but is good source of information on any car you might be thinking of buying. They are a very friendly bunch on there and most questions will be answered sensibly before you wander off to the classifieds. I would stay away from eBay if it was me as I hear nothing but horror stories coming from there and if it is a 'proper' car they will be advertising on Autotrader anyway.

As a car dealer I bet you're waiting for me to say don't buy privately but as ever with these things you need to go into them with your eyes open. For £5000.00 unless you are planning on buying a used exotic sports car anything you buy should be in reasonable condition so the chances of picking something good privately should be good. Two things about buying privately at the moment are there are a lot of people either in financial problems and are downsizing or might be looking for a better deal than the p/x price the nasty car dealer (me!) has offered them, so feel free to haggle a bit. of course if it does wrong you haven't got as much legal recourse as buying from a garage as some dodgy small dealers pretend to be normal people to get out of giving you any protection ("Sold as seen mate,") So one of the other major advantages of buying from a dealer is that you should get a warrenty of some sort when you collect the car (usually given the budget your working to it will be three months.) but again look at the small print carefully as some times they only cover stuff that will never go wrong.

Buying from a dealer at the moment is similar to buying privately at the moment with the money you have as you should be able to haggle a little bit but don't take the pi**. Looking at Autotrader before you go will give you a good idea of what you should be paying so you know whats the right price. Offering £4000 for a £5000 car will only get the salesmans back up and will end in tears as it means you might not get the car you want. However if the salesman treats you like a plonker, refuses a test drive unless you sign an order first or wants to give you finance quotes before you even get in the car walk away, there are always different dealers who will treat you properly. Also bear in mind that going to a car dealer always takes longer than you think so don't try to cram too many into one day. Never take young children if you can avoid it as they will get bored and you might have to leave before you can make a decision. Plus if you want good service always arrive or book a test drive at the dealership at least an hour before they close as turning up at five to five on a Sunday to test drive the car at the back of the lot is not a good way to encourage the salesman to give you proper service (unless he's going to get sacked on Monday if he doesn't hit target!).
Speaking of which, the big thing about buying from a franchised dealer at the moment is that both the dealership and the salesman have monthly/quarter targets to hit, so if you can walk in on the 28th of September and they are one off that target, they will treat you like royalty and you might get a better deal. However if you go franchised, don't expect to get a better deal for cash anymore. The main dealers are targeted on finance as well and they get rewards the more HP/lease deals that they do.

As far as payment is concerned, cheques are now basically dead in the water as far as both private and dealer sales are concerned. Through a dealer I'd make you wait a week to collect a car as it cleared but I would have the facility to take a debit car which should ring straight through and enable you to take the car possibly on the same day.

Privately; I would agree a deal, give him £500.00 deposit but make sure he gives you a reciept and then come back the next day with a bankers draft or a building society cheque made out to the name on the registration document. (Be careful of "I'm selling this for me mum,") If he asks for the readys and he is going to give you more off if you do then go that way. But be aware that some smaller branches of banks won't actually have that amount available (yes really!!). If you give a private seller a cheque you might find both the seller and the car have gone once you've waited a week.

Any car anywhere ask for the following so you can check them: registration document, ALL the previous MOTs and the service book. Any of the mileages look unusual or don't match, walk away. Digital speedos in some cases are even easier to clock than the old-fashioned ones.
Finally, use HPI and check out the history on the car. Doesn't cost much and could save you a lot of bother. An AA inspection doesn't cost much either and if its a proper car the dealer shouldn't have any problems with it.

Phew!! Hope I haven't scared you too much. Without knowing what type of car you want to buy I think thats about it. Let me know if you need any more advice. HTH. 8-|
Mange tout ! As Del Boy would have said. What a response. It must have been a quiet day in the show room today.

Very very helpful.

Thank you for your words of wisdom.

FRL.
 

Pete Martin (CTID)

Very well known Exeweb poster
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
11,386
Location
Here and there
Over the past four years I have bought four cars off of Ebay and sold three the same way.

In every case I have been more than pleased with my purchase and have had no problems with either the deals, the sellers, the cars or payment. My most recent purchase in March this year saved me £2,500 on the average s/hand dealer price.

Maybe I have been lucky. but I would trust the people I have dealt with on Ebay far more than many second-hand car dealers.
 

St George

Active member
Joined
Apr 24, 2004
Messages
1,534
Location
Dreaming of the quiet life....
One thing i would say is don't be afraid to travel as you can pay a lot less up north and in wales. We bought a xsara picasso 2 years ago which was 3 years old from a dealer in south wales and saved a small fortune. Couldn't believe it when we searched on autotrader and this 05 car was the same price as 52 plates so we went straight up and bought it, never had a problem. They also had the exact model with very similar mileage that friends of ours bought from citroen in exeter but 2 grand cheaper. Also bought my vw transporter kombi last year from Shrewsbury and saved at least a grand. Two weeks later i drove my mother up to derby to buy a skoda fabia 07 plate for 4 grand, bargain. A bit of a pain i know but worth a days travelling.
 

Agent_Kujan

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Messages
167
Location
Darkest Surrey
Thanks very much for your kind words FRL.

It did take me quite a while to write but yes we were quiet yesterday. Normally we do 5 on a Saturday, we did two. Not through want of trying by my guys, just not enough people coming in through the door.
One of the major problems is the scrappage scheme. Great idea for customers but all it has done for the main dealers is move forward people who would have changed their cars eventually, so that now there is a big hole in the market. The VAT increase will mean we will get a very busy December but after that it could well be tumbleweed and cobwebs. Next year will be very, very tough for the motor industry and it doesn't help that a lot of manufacturers are currently being run by idiots. (I could give many examples but it would be the longest post in exeweb history!) Daihatsu are going in the UK and by the end of next year most people believe there will be a few more (Dodge? Saab? Perdoua? Chrysler?) either going out of business or shutting down their UK operations.
Again do your research as if you buy a vehicle from a brand that might be pulling the plug spares could become a problem. Some Rover bits and bobs are becoming sparse now with vehicles actually being written off as the waiting time is so long insurance companies can't be bothered.

Oh one more tip. If you agree with the dealer any minor repair work(small dents, wheel kerbs, carpet nicks) before you take the car make sure that is written on the order.
Even better, when you are signing up on the car and the salesman is busy get your partner or friend you've gone with (always go with someone to buy a car, a second opinion is vital to stop impulse purchases.) to go out and take pictures of the dings and rips with the old camera phone, so you have a back up if does go wrong.

Again anything else you need advice on let me know. HTH :)

God, if my boss finds out I'm posting this stuff....
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
891
Location
Harley's Fish & Chip Shop !
Thanks very much for your kind words FRL.

It did take me quite a while to write but yes we were quiet yesterday. Normally we do 5 on a Saturday, we did two. Not through want of trying by my guys, just not enough people coming in through the door.
One of the major problems is the scrappage scheme. Great idea for customers but all it has done for the main dealers is move forward people who would have changed their cars eventually, so that now there is a big hole in the market. The VAT increase will mean we will get a very busy December but after that it could well be tumbleweed and cobwebs. Next year will be very, very tough for the motor industry and it doesn't help that a lot of manufacturers are currently being run by idiots. (I could give many examples but it would be the longest post in exeweb history!) Daihatsu are going in the UK and by the end of next year most people believe there will be a few more (Dodge? Saab? Perdoua? Chrysler?) either going out of business or shutting down their UK operations.
Again do your research as if you buy a vehicle from a brand that might be pulling the plug spares could become a problem. Some Rover bits and bobs are becoming sparse now with vehicles actually being written off as the waiting time is so long insurance companies can't be bothered.

Oh one more tip. If you agree with the dealer any minor repair work(small dents, wheel kerbs, carpet nicks) before you take the car make sure that is written on the order.
Even better, when you are signing up on the car and the salesman is busy get your partner or friend you've gone with (always go with someone to buy a car, a second opinion is vital to stop impulse purchases.) to go out and take pictures of the dings and rips with the old camera phone, so you have a back up if does go wrong.

Again anything else you need advice on let me know. HTH :)

God, if my boss finds out I'm posting this stuff....
Again, many thanks for your advise. You are obviously one of the few people left in this country that cares for the job they do.

Top man.

FRL.
 

Hants_red

Admin
Staff member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
62,071
Location
League 1
But remember this when your down Swiss Tony's, buying a car is like making love to a beautiful Lady.....
I think I might be doing one of them wrong. :S
 

Oldsmobile-88

Very well known Exeweb poster
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
26,948
Location
In RaWZ we trust....Amen.
Even better, when you are signing up on the car and the salesman is busy get your partner or friend you've gone with (always go with someone to buy a car, a second opinion is vital to stop impulse purchases.)
Very true...My heart always rules my head....:D...

I recall about 20 years ago buying a Datsun 280ZX...White,Targa Tops & burgundy interior,lovely,from a 'Del Boy' dealer...I knew that model was a rust bucket, & saw evidence of patched rust,but i still bought it,whereas if i was with someone with half a brain,i would not have...Still i had 2 years fun motoring in it,it never let me down & had to get a nudge,nudge,wink,wink MOT on it the next year....Incredibly the year after that, i sold it without a MOT to a mechanic for £300 even after i pointed to all of the holes in the chassis...
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Messages
891
Location
Harley's Fish & Chip Shop !
Another question for Agent_Kujan.........

Protect your no claims bonus or not when insuring a car?

I have 8 years no claims. Not sure wether to spend the extra £50. Bare in mind my Mrs is insured on the policy as well.

I appreciate this is not really your business but I am thinking you may have some more wise words.

Thanks again.
 
Top