Help - Buying a second hand car?

[Deleted member 9966]

Right boys and girls,

I'm nervous, extremely nervous, about buying a second hand car. My lease car goes back in April and I have about 8 weeks to make a decision about what to buy AND buy it :yikes:

Does anybody on here have any tips for buying second hand? What to look for? How to know when I'm being spun a line?

I got done over by a garage in Derby when I last bought a car and don't really trust any dealer anymore.

Plus I'm also struggling to find dealers locally who have cars in that I am interested in.

cheers people
Liz

 

[maniek]

hi Liz
why dont you ask a car mechanic to go with you and have a look,
to be honest i think buying a used car is a russian rullet..

 

[enduro]

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[kilty55]

id ask friends/family what dealers in the area they use and if they can reccomend

also as mami says if you know a meachanic ask if they would oblige to check a car over if you find one you like

 

[Deleted member 9966]

thanks guys. I don't know any car mechanics anymore. I guess an AA inspection is a good option.

I want to buy from a reputable dealer but all the cars I like are two or three times the price at the main/reputable dealers. I can't afford to spend lots of money on new cars this year and my budget is about 6-8k for 2 cars (land rover discovery and a family sized hatchback)

 

[maniek]

im getting van this month as well and im stressed too,
you can try ebay, many car dealers post their cars there

Jamie can you reccomend any good place to get used van in edinburgh/surroundings

 

[Stewart]

Your budgets gone already on the disco, especially after the winter we've just had and the prices going up. With the budget you have you'll just about get a decent 02-03 disco.
Once you start paying less than that your guaranteed to be getting some work done on it.

 

[kilty55]

hi mani,i just bought a transit and traded my berlingo in,wish id known you were after a van

i bought from G.T. Carcare and Commercials they are in macmerry near you mani
they were recommended to me and specialise in vans only almost
he has a couple of vans with no vat on them at the moment and he seems to sell a lot of vans so just keep an eye on things he has if you want one vat free

 

[maniek]

thx jamie, will keep an eye on them, i need to decide what i want, still confused between transit/traffic/vivaro

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Your budgets gone already on the disco, especially after the winter we've just had and the prices going up. With the budget you have you'll just about get a decent 02-03 disco.
Once you start paying less than that your guaranteed to be getting some work done on it.

yeah I hear what you're saying Stewart. I've been looking at disco's since last April and I've watched the prices going up. I'm trying to hold out buying until April if I can, and if necessary, hold off buying a disco until the summer. It just means I'll have to buy the family sized hatchback car first (as Mr GRR's lease car doesn't go back until September) and then swap the cars over.

 

[White Room]

My brother rents out taxis and buys alot of cars and the first thing he looks at is the wear on the pedals, floor mat and drivers seat wear...

I done a HPI on a van, the mileage was nearly 90'000 out of from on the speedo

 

[nybor62]

what car is very good when buying a used vehicle , they will give you the low down on any common faults,and what to look for, a good average mileage guide is about 12000 miles a year

and please be carefull kind regards del boy, you know it makes sense

 

[Deleted member 9966]

thanks Rob. just on what car's website strangely :lol:

I might be going back to my original 4wd choice of a Nissan X-trail 😳

 

[Olz]

Do you need a 4x4 GR or is it just a 'would like' type thing, the prices are up after all the snow problems and feul is through the roof at the moment, I saw a guy at the petrol station the other week go past £100 in diesel in a 4x4 as I walked past to go in to pay, and he was still going :yikes::yikes:

Bear in mind that it was around april 2006 when the new tax bands came in and tax for uneconomical vehilces went through the roof as well, I used this to my advantage when we got the RX8, we purposley looked for one registered before april 06 becuase the road tax was half the price!

 

[nybor62]

it would be toyota for me so reliable

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Do you need a 4x4 GR or is it just a 'would like' type thing, the prices are up after all the snow problems and feul is through the roof at the moment, I saw a guy at the petrol station the other week go past £100 in diesel in a 4x4 as I walked past to go in to pay, and he was still going :yikes::yikes:

Bear in mind that it was around april 2006 when the new tax bands came in and tax for uneconomical vehilces went through the roof as well, I used this to my advantage when we got the RX8, we purposley looked for one registered before april 06 becuase the road tax was half the price!

I'd like something with a high driving position and something fuel economical, and I'd like something sturdy to use down the country lanes I use to get to work. I understand the fuel costs and tax, but i'm hoping to off-set that with a really economical second car for Mr GRR

 

[Scott]

Toyota Rav 4, Honda CRV? That sort of thing Liz? They are kind of 4x4's but not Chelsea tractors

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Toyota Rav 4, Honda CRV? That sort of thing Liz? They are kind of 4x4's but not Chelsea tractors

yep, looked at them all. I've actually just changed my mind totally about what to buy 😳

I'm now looking for a Nissan X-trail (40mpg!) and Mr GRR wants a Hyundai Trajet dad-bus :yesnod:

 

[Scott]

Personally I would avoid the Hyundai, i believe you get what you pay for in a vehicle and they dont fair too well in reviews. Last thing i would want to put my kids in is an unreliable vehicle. I looked at all the MPV's recently and the Hyundai and Kia sedona were way down the list. The sedona btw is awful, it feels like a boat if you are in the back.

 

[enduro]

Mother-in-law has an Nissan X-trail...very good motor. What ever you do dont buy a Jeep these are fairly cheap but very expensive on spares.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Personally I would avoid the Hyundai, i believe you get what you pay for in a vehicle and they dont fair too well in reviews. Last thing i would want to put my kids in is an unreliable vehicle. I looked at all the MPV's recently and the Hyundai and Kia sedona were way down the list. The sedona btw is awful, it feels like a boat if you are in the back.

where did you find the reviews for them? the what car review for the Trajet just seems to put a downer on the interior quality and some fixable issues mechanically.

 

[Aston]

have you thought about going to a car auction??

why a disco liz? with an £8k budget for to cars, id get a bmw 5 series on a 53 -54 plate for around £5000 onwards and use the rest for a 2nd vehicle ... loads of room in the bmw, nice shape too.. or even a mercedes c or e class?

 

[Deleted member 9966]

have you thought about going to a car auction??

why a disco liz? with an £8k budget for to cars, id get a bmw 5 series on a 53 -54 plate for around £5000 onwards and use the rest for a 2nd vehicle ... loads of room in the bmw, nice shape too.. or even a mercedes c class?

I don't want a rear wheel drive car Ed. would prefer a high driving position and 4wd. gone off the disco idea, but want a nice sturdy car that will survive impact after seeing what happened to Doug's truck 🙁

 

[Aston]

rear wheel are great liz.... i bought gayle a bmw 328ci on 30th october 2002, on 31st october (halloween) lol she decided to put her foot down.
she drove through a hugh puddle and when she breaked, the brakes aqua planed and she wrote off a corsa and a mondeo...the bmw just had front end impact damage.... if i were in a crash, i would want to be in a bmw

great cars, build quality, performance residuals....but its your money and you have got to be happy with what you buy.

 

[Scott]

I went and looked at them myself and here

Hyundai Trajet GSi TD diesel Reviews | MPV's and People Carriers | Review Centre

What dont you like about rear wheel drive?

 

[DHTiling]

thanks guys. I don't know any car mechanics anymore. I guess an AA inspection is a good option.

I want to buy from a reputable dealer but all the cars I like are two or three times the price at the main/reputable dealers. I can't afford to spend lots of money on new cars this year and my budget is about 6-8k for 2 cars (land rover discovery and a family sized hatchback)

Liz, get Dan to ask his mate who IS a mechanic to look over your choice of car//🙂

 

[Deleted member 9966]

I went and looked at them myself and here

Hyundai Trajet GSi TD diesel Reviews | MPV's and People Carriers | Review Centre

What dont you like about rear wheel drive?

cheers for pointing me towards those reviews. the Trajet I'm looking at has about 70k miles on the clock but when Mr GRR gives up work, it will probably take him 4 years to get anywhere near 90k which is where the gearbox problems on the older models seem to start. The one I've found locally is a 56 reg.

as for rear wheel drive, it would be absolutely useless in the snow where I live and the roads I use to travel to work. I'd prefer front or 4 wheel drive. I have nothing against rear wheel drive cars other than that, but I do need something with a big boot for a buggy and camping gear. a Trajet and an X-Trail would give us the choice of taking either car when we go away camping.

thanks for all your input guys, I really do appreciate it. buying cars is like a lottery sometimes.

 

[Scott]

I have 2 mpv's a zafira which i have to say is blinding in the snow and very practical. Not so good on the fuel with a 2.2 turbo diesel but motors at 95moh all the way to france and has done countless times. The Fiat mulitpla is without doubt the worst car in creation, i went from a BMW 750iL to this car so it was always going to feel inferior but even now i get more enjoyment from driving my toyota van 🙂

The problem with most mpvs is lack of boot space when you use all the seats, although you got some serious horizontal line dancing to do before you have enough kids to fill all them seats 🙂

 

[Deleted member 9966]

I don't really want an MPV myself, hence wanting a 4x4, but Mr GRR really likes the Trajet. His ex-gf's parents had one and he's never been able to fault their practicality as a good sized family carrier (2 adults & 3 kids). I'm taken with the fact that the front seats can turn round to face the rear and create a picnic table type arrangement in the middle of the car if you get all the seats configured right :lol: plus all the rear seats can be removed to make way for a small van sized space :yesnod: maybe I should just buy a transit.... a crew cab version

 

[tilestop]

Don't forget to have it forensically examined..

 

[Gazzer]

Don't forget to have it forensically examined..

You have been watching too much Top Gear !