OT - Car Buying Site

Autotrader, ebay? How old do you want?

I've had several good cars through autotrader over the years, a couple of them were from mini-traders who cherry pick the better or more popular trade-ins direct from garages, leaving the rest to go on the forecourt or through the ring.

Also really good for giving you an idea of market price, and what sort of range of options are available.

Hi Clive

Just looking at around 2 years old. Must admit I hadn't thought of eBay, but have tried Autotrader, Exchange and Mart and one or two others. It did seem that a number of web sites all acted as referrals to (I think) motors.co.uk or some such.

Phil

Thanks Newshound

Yes I tried Autotrader and a few others, but the car and engine seem rather rare, at least to the second hand market.

Phil

At that age, isn't it worth looking at main dealers? That way, you would have the remainder of the three year warranty.

Chris

but have tried Autotrader, Exchange

Hi Chris

I have been round/phoned the local main dealers with no luck, hence my willingness to travel. Add to that the fact that local dealers are chocolate teapot territory and, because Hull is a bit of a back water, the prices are higher here than, say Leeds.

Phil

Yes, eBay doesn't inspire confidence for the £10 purchase for me, let alone the nearer £10,000

Phil

Auto Trader generally has the most of any model I've ever looked for. Or Ebay - but not sure I'd ever buy a car from that.

I've put a couple of cars on Auto Trader both reasonably priced and not had a single call. Facebook seems to be the way to sell at present.

My current car came from there. 500 quid or so three years ago, and still going well :-)

For a 2yo car, maybe not though.

I'm surprised that a main dealer has not been able to log on the the Ford used car network and track one down for you. They have always seemed most willing to do that around here, sometimes bringing a car for you to view from 100 miles away.

Chris

I've bought cars via eBay - it's just a shop window the same as AutoTrader, etc. You don't have to hit the buy button and ship £7 grand via PayPal.

I bought a Lexus from ebay, never saw it first, it was and is extremely good, still got it a dozen years on, still perfect. I got a slight fright when I realised it had different plates front and rear! He had kept his private number, yet not changed both plates, phew

What the hell are you looking for? - given the popularity of the Focus, you must be looking for the one nobody bought - probably for a very good reason.

I here stories near every day of people 'selling' a car at an Ebay auction, then the winner not paying up. Not really surprising given how many tell porkies in the description.

Very different from the things I normally use Ebay for, where the vast majority are honest and reliable.

I paid up - the car was as described, and a fair price. Cash handed over, car bought. It was even a few days after I'd won, because I was at the wrong end of the country when the auction ended.

I then sold the one it replaced on ebay - same deal, they turned up, had a look at it to make sure I wasn't lying, they handed cash over and drove the car away. There were hints dropped that it wasn't terribly shiny, but it was fairly quickly agreed that that was to be expected at that age/price.

In either case if it didn't match the description, I'd not have expected the transaction to be completed. Fortunately at the end of the market I was dealing with, there's little point in being anything but honest :-)

Ah yes, forgot the other part of my point. In both cases, the transaction was more like a traditional private car sale than a low value ebay purchase. The latter I expect to be win, pay, get delivered. That's not going to happen with a car.