Best place to purchase a used car??

[artisan]

You will get the best cars in Autotrader.

Go for a private sale everytime.

[kingdon]

Or just throw 3grand down the closest drain.

it doesnt lose £3000 staight away as the car is hearvy discounted, nothing beats driving a new car with everything nice and tight/smells lovely, 3 year warrently, 3 years no MOT, just paid routine servicing for hassle free motoring that cant be bad

the car should be still worth £5000 after three years, so for £5000 you get 3 years of no big unexpected bill in a new car cant be bad

[alchresearch]

I'd try and go for a private sale from a good owner and an RAC or AA inspection.

 

The only problem is why would someone be selling a car after just one year?

[daveyt2]

You will get the best cars in Autotrader.

Go for a private sale everytime.

 

I know this is an old thread, but my son is wanting to buy his first car, he only has about £1K to spare does he stand any chance of something reasonable. What are the pitfalls with autotrader? Sorry we are very green in this sort of thing.

 

Green as in not experienced.

[alchresearch]

What are the pitfalls with autotrader? Sorry we are very green in this sort of thing.

 

None, over any other outlet where cars are advertised. You'll find that most dealers advertise the same car on Autotrader, Pistonheads and Ebay. Neither advertiser will accept any responsibility on the car condition.

 

You could buy from a dealer and get a 1 month warranty.

 

My personal suggestion would be to do a local search on Ebay.

[vwkittie]

I would also go for a private sale every time for any car that isn't brand new or near-new (in those cases I'd only ever buy direct from the main dealer e.g. Ford themselves).

 

Personally I wouldn't touch any second hand car dealer with a barge pole, especially for a very cheap one. Simply isn't worth it.

 

Autotrader is fine, I've bought a few cars from there. When phoning up I always say 'I'm phoning about the car you have for sale' so that I can drop them like a hot potato if they reply 'which car?' (They'll likely be a dodgy dealer if they're selling multiple cars at once).

 

Obviously you just need to know about cars when you go to view it, or take someone with you who does, so that you can give it a thorough inspection and test drive. Oh and don't forget to check a wide variety of cars to make sure they're asking a reasonable price, then haggle them down.

 

A grand should easily see you a decent first car. For my first cars I just chose something for a few hundred with as close to 12 months MOT as poss and a bit of tax, then got rid of them when the MOT was up.

 

I personally have always serviced all cheapo nasty cars I've bought as soon as getting them as well.

[neeeeeeeeeek]

I just sold my decent 06 plate Civic with the idea of downgrading. Possibly a big mistake! Went to see a car advertised on here as excellent condition, it turned out to be anything but! lost my £60 deposit as they guy kept saying there was nothing wrong with it after clearing the engine warning lights then saying all the smoke coming out the back was the automatic choke! Best 60quid I ever spent I think, could easily have ended up with that pile of crap which was nearly 2 grand. Sure some people are geniune sellers but there are some people who are more than happy to rip you off. That was a private seller, not a dealer.

 

Ended up getting a car from Beuchief Motor Comapny near Bramal Lane, they seemed genuine enough.

 

Never had an issue with Autotrader but guess its the luck of the draw.

[vwkittie]

I just sold my decent 06 plate Civic with the idea of downgrading. Possibly a big mistake! Went to see a car advertised on here as excellent condition, it turned out to be anything but! lost my £60 deposit as they guy kept saying there was nothing wrong with it after clearing the engine warning lights then saying all the smoke coming out the back was the automatic choke! Best 60quid I ever spent I think, could easily have ended up with that pile of crap which was nearly 2 grand. Sure some people are geniune sellers but there are some people who are more than happy to rip you off. That was a private seller, not a dealer.

 

Ended up getting a car from Beuchief Motor Comapny near Bramal Lane, they seemed genuine enough.

 

Never had an issue with Autotrader but guess its the luck of the draw.

 

Huh? What was the deposit for??

[L00b]

Cheers, was looking for small to medium sized car, but if I can get something like a volvo at the right price then I would be happy to consider it.

Have a look here.

 

I recently met this dealer on a recommendation from our best friends, who have bought their last 4 or 5 family cars from him over the years (as have many of their own friends & acquaintances in the area), all of whom have nothing but praise for the quality of cars, service and value.

 

We ended up buying a Volvo V50 there (rather than private, car supermarkets or main stealers), and I'd very heartily recommend him. Will definitely go back if and when the V50 needs upgrading.

 

Even if it's not on the stocklist, if there's any specific car you're after, for a budget...that man will find it you.

[neeeeeeeeeek]

Huh? What was the deposit for??

 

The deposit was a deposit on the car, which was in excellent working order with no faults. Next time we took it for a test drive (with the intention of taking it there and then) loads of warning lights came on, he said he would sort it out. Went back the next day after it had apparently been sorted out to take it for an extended drive to make sure and when he started up loads of smoke came out of it and carried on coming out. This aparently is the automatic choke, even though it was not cold and it was a pretty new car. I am no mechanic but a new 1.2litre engine on a mild morning at 10am should not be doing what it was doing, he insisted it was all fine and refused to acknowledge our concerns, only thing we could do was walk away. £60 quid lighter!