Tips for Buying a Used Car

Jess McGlynnDecember 7, 2015

I have to admit that when it comes to talking about cars I am not the most knowledgable person out there. We have recently just been through the process of buying a new car (to me) as my faithful Vauxhall Meriva croaked it. Not the ideal time right before Christmas but it is so nice driving a car which doesn’t rattle and creak and which actually gets warm during the colder months!


There are so many things to think of when it comes to choosing a new car and to be honest, I am more concerned with whether I think the shape and colour of the car is nice enough for me to drive it never mind how the engine runs or whether the tyres are worn down. When you are buying a used car it always feels a little bit like a lottery as you never really know what you will be getting. Luckily we have a garage just around the corner, who kept my Meriva going over the last few months until we could replace her, and we will be taking the new car round to them to be checked over, just in case!

Despite my primary interest being shape and colour, I have picked up a few important things along the way from listening to James as he negotiated and inspected the many different cars we saw:


Research
Before you even go to see any cars it is worth looking around online to compare price guides for the range of cars that you are looking at so that you can avoid being overcharged. It will give you some ideas on the type of money you might expect to pay and should alert you to any possible issues if you spot a car which seems too cheap or too expensive.


Budget Carefully
When deciding on your budget make sure you factor in costs such as insurance, road tax, as well as giving yourself a little extra in case anything goes wrong. You might want to take your new car to an independent garage to have it checked over so you will need money for that, or you might know ahead of time that work needs doing such as if the tyres need changing.  You can check out point-s.co.uk for cheap yet reliable tyres online.

View It Properly
Don’t view a car if the weather is poor or at night; this will affect how well you can see the condition of the car such as scratches or dents which may be present on the bodywork. You should also take the car out for a test drive before agreeing to buy it; not only will this help you to see whether it starts and how it drives but you might also find that it just isn’t the right car for you. We viewed a couple of cars where the bite on the clutch was just so high and I knew it was something I would struggle with.

Documents
Finally, ask to see all relevant documents such as the service history, MOT certificates and the V5C registration. Although some cars won’t have a full service history they should all have the latter and you need to ask serious questions if the seller can’t produce these for you.

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