Buying a used car

[Jules001]

We are now at the stage of helping teenage daughter find her first car. We have always bought our cars from a main dealer, however our cars have always been relatively new so have never encountered any problems. Obviously daughter's car will not be so new, neither of us know enough to trust buying a car privately, so want to use a dealer such as Ford Retail or Bristol Street Motors, but as these cars could be anywhere in the country, most of them although stating that they will deliver a car that you are interested in to a local dealer seem to only want to do that after you have purchased the car unseen. Mr Jules says that we should reserve the car we are interested in and get an AA check done on it before purchasing it, however I am not sure that this is going to be money well spent. I thought that the whole point of buying from a dealer was that you should not need to get an independent check on it as their
name and reputation should be sufficient protection against buying a lemon. Can I have other peoples opinions on this please as obviously this is going to be a major purchase for our daughter and we want to get it right.

[BagPussAA]

I would say that Mr Jules is correct and that I would get the AA to check the vehicle before purchasing it. I have bought a car from a dealer before and later found out that it was a previously written off vehicle and not safe to drive. It is worth the money to get it check out by a professional that you know you can trust rather than relying on the dealers reputation.

[Iggle Piggle]

I have had 'lemon' cars from stealer-dealers too, there is no guarantee the cars they sell are any better or worse than a small second hand dealer or even a private sale.
Wherever you buy a car from make sure that it has had a 'full HPI check' to ensure it is not stolen/written off or still has money owed on it, make sure the service book is stamped up to date, and get a local garage mechanic or the AA to give it a check over.
You can't go too far wrong with this guide.

[KJN]

I agree with what you state. It does not matter where you purchase a second hand car from it is possible that there will be a problem with the car in the future. You do not state how old the purchase car will be, bear in mind most cars come with a warranty up to three years from date of registration If you are using one of the two Companies you have named and the car will be over three years old, the car should come with HPI check, full service record and at least a years dealer warranty, why not ask for a further year warranty free of charge when bargaining over the price? that way your daughter will have two years motoring free of problems from the purchase date.Also check that the warranty covers breakdown, if not buy for her peace of mind.That's the road I would go down (excuse the pun)

[TWR]

First of all, Insurance & the CC of the car, may it be petrol /Derv, dealers! do not be fooled by their crap Jules after all they are there to sell cars & make a profit, If you have the money, you are in the driving seat! that means if you cannot get the discounts you want, you can walk away, if you are not the person that can do that, what can i say? if you see a local car advertised & is selling due to bereavement, go and look but be careful as this is a tender time, I would leave your Contact No, if you see or hear of something take a mechanic with you, the AA + RAC will cost you far more than it would to pay someone that you know that understands the workings of the car, & there is a lot, if you do not take the advise of posters you will pay the price, as may has, just a thought for you, depending on the car take cash, as you can barter, make sure you do your homework regards the car /history/owners/mileage/cam belt change/service/service book stamped/ & the most important/ HP Check, if someone says the V5 will be here next month, don't ask Question, walk away. there are thousands of cars out there to choose from, last bit of advise, do not bye in the rain,& do not bye in haste, do that & you will pay the price.

[SpikeyBush]

Even buying from a main dealer you can get a lemon. I find it hard to forget the Vectra Turbo I got from Network Q years ago that spent most of its time back in the shop, it even got sent back to Opel in Germany to find out why it kept breaking down. All the while I was paying tax & insurance for a high performance car but was left languishing in a 1.3 litre Mitsubishi Lancer courtesy car! In the dealer's defence they did take the car back in the end and they gave me a replacement which was newer, faster and had more bells & whistles but that was probably only down to me being a long standing customer who has bought numerous cars from them over the years. So I guess a lot boils down to the relationship you have with the dealer. If you've spent thousands with them over the years and are likely to spend thousands more, they will be unwilling to muddy the waters. Play that card, in the current economic climate you're holding all the aces.

[rov1100]

Buying a second hand car is full of difficulties. We thought we would go for a fairly new one with low mileage. What we found out later was that it belonged to a registered invalid who had less functions in his legs. This put an enormous stress on the clutch and gear operating systems and made what appeared to be a 2 year old car into something that resembled an 8 year old model.

[Jules001]

thanks for all the replies so far, I think what we are now going to do is to extend our search to smaller local dealers too, but still get an AA check wherever we buy it from.