best place to look for a second hand car?

It very much depends on what you're looking for, what you know when it comes to looking for stuff and of course, where you are. Personally I'd not want to be buying a car in London, heh... they're cheap (since it's not needed) but cheap for a reason...

The message from Marvin contains these words:

Marvin ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

What are you looking for, and what's your budget?

Budget is £2.5 to £4k, looking for an Alfa 147 (not likely at this price unfortunately), Subaru Impreza (not a really hot one), Ford Focus perhaps.

You'll find a lot of Alfa Romeos and Focii in this price bracket, the Subaru, you may be lucky. In what part of the world are you?

Looking on Auto Trader there are lots of Subarus in this price bracket, and few Alfas. I'm in Edinburgh.

Marvin, try a visit to 'central car auctions' - or another auction place if you can. You could easily pick up a very very very good car well within your budget. Don't be superficial though; if something required a £100 paint job for a biggish scratch on the paint, big deal, however make sure the engine's in good nick and has been well maintained.

The majority of my street have in fact got cars from auctions, bmw 3 and 5 series, couple of focii, and all pretty great so far. Also got my son and daughter's car there. You do have to be careful. It's cringe-worthy when you see a rust-bucket, have a laugh about it with a neighbour, then speak to the person who bought it, realise they were in real need of a decent car, and have been 'conned' - albeit through their own inexperience. So, in a word, be very careful!

I find you've got to be up at the crack of dawn (arf arf) to get the good uns - which is what the dealerships often do. It's not been unknown for me to call someone, only to be informed someone called 5 minutes before. This has been very very early in the morning. Of course, you may piss off a few people this way, but hey, a bargain car is worth pissing someone off if you're polite ;)

You'll struggle to find a 147 for that kind of money - not a decent one anyway.

However, you'd get a very nice 156 for that kind of cash.

Any reason why it *has* to be a 147? - look for a 156 Sportwagon instead.

Thanks for the heads up there.

Autotrader or Exchange&Mart, but do HPI check first.