When buying second hand cars do you prefer to buy from a car dealer rather than a private address? I think I prefer buying from a dealer as you have a lot more comeback. Is it worth paying for AA type inspections on cars £2-3000?
You might say the garage will fix any faults the AA finds and therefore you have recovered the cost of the inspection. On the other hand I have the feeling they will probably just tell you to sod off and wait for some other punter to come along who wont notice the faults.
But without a ramp how can you inspect a private 2nd hand car properly, you need to give it ur own MOT test really. Just walking round it and kicking the tyres doesnt tell u much. Yeah more chance of getting a bargain and more chance of getting your fingers burned. What price to u put on piece of mind.
You can't, but apart from rot, most serious faults will show on a test drive. A jack and axle stands in the boot are useful though if rot is suspected.
you need to give it ur own MOT test really. Just walking
Checking a car involves a little more than that. Inspecting a car gives one a very good idea of it's history and how it's been treated. That, along with it's mechanical and bodily condition at the time is usually enough to asses it's value. Works for me, and I've baught all my cars privately, bar 1.
Yeah more chance
As I suggested in my reply. If anyone has doubts about their ability to check a cars true condition and value, they're better off relying on someone else to check it for them.
No inspection can guarantee that a serious fault wont develop after the dealers guarantee has run out. I'd rather rely on my own assesment and pay a similar price to what a dealer might pay by buying privately. Mike.
If buying privately I prefer to let the seller drive me part of the way on a test drive. It is usually possible to tell if someone drives that car regularly. If they don't locate minor controls straight away, or make awkward gearchanges for example, I assume they may be a private trader. I can also see if their driving habits would have been likely to cause premature wear, e.g. riding the clutch. This has prevented me from buying potential lemons in the past.
Depends how much of a clue you have about cars - a test drive tells a lot. If it drives fine, pulls up in a straight line, everything works fine, no grumbling from wheel bearings, clicking of CV joints or knocking of suspension joints then chances are there isn't much wrong. Obviously common wearing parts (brake discs/pads, tyres, shocks etc.) can all add up, but they're not too hard to check. But personally above all, the thing that will do you the most good is pick a model that's known to be reliable, and not known for lots of common faults (i.e. Rover T series engines and their head gasket problems, oh and K series as well if the coolant hasn't been paid attention to). That's the best bet.
I personally would have more peace of mind buying a car sold privately by someone who's clearly looked after a car very well and is honest about its reliability over the period they've owned it, than one for sale by a dealer. A lot of people part-ex cars into dealers rather than sell them privately for a very good reason.
Peter
-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."
I think it involves wearing old jeans, a torch and being bothered to get down on the ground - even without raising the car there's much to be gleaned from seeing / manhandling the reachable 2-3 foot all round.
I'm continually amazed at the cars I've sold where the buyer couldn't be arsed to look either under the car or even under the bonnet!
To the OP: At the £2000-3000 level I'd definitely buy privately. There's far too much dealer mark-up at what is now laughably called the "runabout" level. Also, if you come across a dodgy dealer there's little you can do legally if there's a problem : so-called small claims processes are not geared to deal economically with debts of this level, especially with a defendant who proves uncooperative.
Also, many private sellers simply cannot be arsed to dress up a car for sale. You're more likely to get an honest appraisal of the life of the car by looking at if it's been kept clean or not, if anything's been carelessly broken and so on. Anything avoidable with care - like small dints, wheel scuffs, filthy door jambs, dry mud encrusted around wheel arches, key scuffs around the locks etc - added together will paint a picture of a careless owner, who's as likely to be mechanically unsympathetic.
And that's before you even try to start the car! I've walked away from many cars at this point...
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