Buying A Used Car
Where to look?
When buying a used car it is important that you look in the right places to ensure you are exposed to the most offers and choices possible. Having more to choice from offers huge benefits as you will have more chance of finding the best deal possible which suits your preferences. A great way to start is by looking on the internet, find out which cars have good feedback when it comes to longevity etc (there are also many lists online of the top 10 Used Cars, which can be found through a simple search on google which may be of help), and once you have found one which takes your fancy, you can begin utilising specialist websites which advertise thousands of used cars to find the one for you.
What to look for?
Whilst surfing the web or any local paper for used cars a good way to locate the best offers is to select the dealers who have clearly spent more time and effort in making their advert as clear and as comprehensive as possible. Someone who can provide you with all the details of their car including its service history and mileage is probably more likely to have looked after their car than someone who cannot provide these details. Also if they include any undesirable details in their advert or they mention them at a later stage of negotiation, whilst you should obviously take that undesirable feature into account, you should also take it as a good thing in that the dealer is probably more likely to be honest with you throughout the dealing process; it is better you find out before you commit than after.
Meeting/contact with the seller
Ask all the right questions about the car its history and condition as you will be surprised what the owner will reveal when asked directly. You should also arrange to meet the seller in the middle of the day as daylight will help you to spot and damage on the vehicle.
Before meeting the seller let them know that you require to see all the documents related to the car such as its history check, service history, logbook and MoT certificates etc. This will help you to determine whether or not the car has been looked after or if it has had any nasty accidents in the past. Another useful thing to check is the vehicle identification number which can be located at the base of the windscreen, the chassis next to the driver’s seat beneath the carpet and under the bonnet, you can then check this against the VIN in the logbook.
Making an offer
Before you show any interest in anyone’s vehicle make sure you have considered your budget very thoughtfully to ensure that you are not going to be wasting your own or anybody else’s time (there is no point drooling over a £17,000 used Toyota GT86 if your budget is only £11,000). Whilst you may have a price in mind, do not be afraid to haggle as you never know how far your seller will go. Get an idea for how much you should be paying by looking on the internet at used car sites. Let them know your reasoning for the price, for it is harder to dismiss a price if you have to dismiss reasons as well.
Other fish in the sea
If it is the discounted prices which attract you to used cars then it might be worth buying a pre-registered car. These are similar to used cars as in you will not be the first registered owner of the car and you will get a big discount for this reason. They are usually cars which dealerships or manufacturers want to sell ASAP meaning they are willing to drop the price tag quite low, despite the fact that the car is new and only has the delivery mileage on it.