Is buying privately just too risky?

Dealers often don't want your part ex car, they do however know that people do want rid of their old cars. Often they'll just give you money for the car that would be discounted off the one they're selling you, and bung your car into an auction, where the buyer will only be able to do what the dealer has just done.

That said, with experience you start noticing things like resprayed paint and ripples in the bodywork etc. a lot more.

I've had the opposite experience. Every dealer car I look at was either clocked, crashed, tatty or just plain overpriced. A lot of them had been used abused since they were ex-fleet or ex-lease.

In the end I bought a well cared for car from a private seller, it was his pride an joy. In fact, the man I bought it off wanted it to go "to a good home" rather than going to a dealer as a part ex.

I've had the car for about a month now, and whilst it did need a lot of little things doing (front brake discs and pads, spheres etc) it is a tidy unmarked car and wasn't overpriced.

Er.. quite. A trained eye will spot many things about a car that a non-expert would never see. It may only look like the salesman is just having a quick look around but you can tell a lot about a car with just a cursory inspection and a look in the service book.

That said, many people in the motor trade are very lazy and inexpert when it comes to buying. And as you say, many PX cars end up at auction or sold out to local small traders.

Every secondhand car was a private sale to the dealer. If you believe a dealer checks a car he buys and puts it right before sale then go to a dealer. But most small dealers simply clean the car and fix anything after the sale - if you're lucky.

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Yes. If you don't _know_ cars. Take someone with you who does, when buying s/h. Preferably someone with experience of working on them. Who knows what to look for bodywise, and can spot the signs of impending component failures. Many profess to _know_ cars, but IME few have enough knowledge to really assess the condition of a s/h car. A few pertinent questions might weed out those who have enough, from those who just think they have. Mike.

I wouldn't claim to have a trained eye, but by now I can spot overspray, pattern parts, ripples, mismatched colours, and painted leather a mile away. Knowing the model in particular helps as well, a lot of cars out there have bits bodged on from others of the same series. Maybe not bad of itself but a sure pointer that some jiggery-pokery has gone on.

An HPI check on your mobile phone would have revealed that information (and any outstanding finance problems) on the spot. Then you could have walked away.

You need experience to make a good buy either privately or from a dealer. I think the two best bargains I ever got were both from dealers but from dealers who didn't know much about the car they were selling and just wanted rid of. A two year old Alfa Romeo that should have been about £4k I bought for £1.8K because the dealer was convinced that the gearbox was knackered. In truth all of those Alfas suffered from a "clonk" when first gear was engaged and the car was cold. And later a very nice one-owner Jaguar 3.6 that the dealer just wanted off the forecourt because it had been there for too long. Eventually sold for what I paid for it after I put another 30K on the clock.

Start off by taking a friend who knows what he is doing along with you. If it's a big payment consider getting an independent motor engineers report on the car before you buy. It could save you buying a written off but not reported car or even a stolen grey import.

But you have just told us you know f*ck all about cars. Perhaps you should take your spam and stuff it up your arse? Just a friendly suggestion like.

I got that far then assumed it was bull shit spam as well.

More likely than not, yes, but not always.

-- JackH

You can be duped by private buyers or sellers. Yes it is more risky to buy privately, but believe me, dealer cars can turn out to be lemons too.

The thing about salesmen is the px price they offer is nothing related to the car. It is merely what is necessary to close the deal, and you will usually be ripped off.

Why don't you pay for an AA inspection and buy the car privately? Inspection cost ~£150, but you will more than save that by not going to a dealer.

If I was, I'd have included the clocking bit. ;-)

The garage doesn't care if it's shafted or not. As long as the bodywork is sound, they can fix any mechanical faults themselves, (almost) for free.

This is the beauty of them - a few years ago, after owning my first car for about a week, I had a list of busted/dodgy things as long as my arm. Popped back to the garage, gave them the list, and they sorted every one of them.

I would never spend a meaningful amount of money on a private sale. Whilst it's fine for cheap cars, you have nothing to gain but a few quid, by avoiding a garage. You get no warranty, and no comeback if it's a duffer.

Agreed. However, if the dealer car turns out to be a lemon, then the law says they have to sort it. If the private car turns out to be a lemon, then, er, you're stuffed :)

I went to see a car that had a full service history which ended 2 years ago when the car had done 80k miles. It had supposedly done 1k miles in the two years since then with no maintenance and the same keeper as the first 3 years. I think that not only had the car been clocked but the last page of the service history had been lost too.

-- James

To be fair - they wouldn't fix the digital clock :)

There was a Sunday Times story last week (check web site) about a car inspection company that also gave a 3 month warranty. That seemed a good idea, but obviously no details were printed but perhaps worth a look?

But a replacement clock cost me £10 from the scrappy !

Thanks for the advice guys!

I purchased an old AA book some time ago that suggested the best way to examine a used car yourself is to split it into four sections and then to create your own checklist within these four areas. It also advised that you should try to steer clear of the private buyer mentality (i.e. bouncing shock absorbers up and down,running over the bodywork with a magnet or jabbing a screwdriver underneath, etc, etc)and just concentrate on forming an overall impression of the cars condition. The four suggested areas were: bodywork - interior - engine - documentation and should include such things as checking for re-spray evidence, bodywork damage, clocked mileage and the all important V5 document to see how many owners the car's had to date. Having followed their advice and devised my own checklist, I thought I would take it a stage further and include a "points system" to alert me to any potential problems. For example, a worn tyre would be worth

50 points while evidence of a re-spray would carry the maximum 500 points. The advantage of using a points system is that you can actually set yourself a points limit to determine whether the car in question is actually worth buying. Anyone wanting further advice on what to look out for when purchasing a used car can email me at snipped-for-privacy@clicktopromote.co.uk for an automatic response.

Muzzel