Advice buying a car

DezUk

DezUk

DezUk

Associate
Joined
20 Sep 2003
Posts
2,392
Location
Scotland
I have been looking around at BMW 330ci Sport Convertibles lately and have found one down south (Bristol) that is a nice example for the money. I have been in talks with the guy about going down to buy it. But i don’t really know the best way to go about it. I could book a flight and get down there for him to turn around and say he sold it. I would be struck down there with no ticket home.

Just wondering if anyone on here is experienced in buying cars long distance and if there is any standard way of going about it?
 
Bought and sold loads of cars over distance. Always get a friend to take you there and follow you home. This also means you have an extra set of eyes and and makes me feel safer when it comes to dealing with large quantities of cash.
 
Well I would say that the standard would be for the seller not to be a **** and if he knows you're flying down then to keep hold of it for you. Are you definitely buying it or are you just going down to have a look?

You could always pay him a deposit via cheque or paypal?
 
Well if i was going it would be with the intetion of buying but having not seen the car in the flesh there might be some issues with it. If so then i would have to leave it but its does look clean.
 
The people who brought my Punto travelled about 50 miles to come and buy it. They got the train and then a taxi and said it cost them like £50. When it came to discussing price I knew I had an upper hand as they wouldn't want the same trip home, especially considering they had a lot of cash on them.
 
Peerzy said:
The people who brought my Punto travelled about 50 miles to come and buy it. They got the train and then a taxi and said it cost them like £50. When it came to discussing price I knew I had an upper hand as they wouldn't want the same trip home, especially considering they had a lot of cash on them.
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Thats a good point though I have already discussed the price with the guy and have managed to get thr rpice down by 1500. So if i go i will only be taking the agreed amount and no extra.
 
I did the reverse to you.
I was interested in a car in Glasgow.
Got a return flight for 69 quid from gatwick, so if it turned out to be a dog that was all I was out of pocket by.
Turned out to be a peach, and the 500 odd mile return drive was fun :D
 
DezUk said:
Thats a good point though I have already discussed the price with the guy and have managed to get thr rpice down by 1500. So if i go i will only be taking the agreed amount and no extra.
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Ok well you have agreed the price. Tell him that if the car is as described then you will buy it on x date at x time for the agreed price. Make it clear you will be straight with him and tell him about your flight plans. He will probably pick you up from the airport. Don't see what else you can do really but of course the best option is to get a mate to drive you.

By the way if you are paying cash I would take some sensible precautions. If you are going on a saturday it might be wise to find your banks local branch to the seller and draw the cash out after you have inspected the car and decided the seller is trustworthy. Of course you would have to get down there really early because most banks close at lunchtime on saturdays. Just a thought because you don't really want to be jumping in a strangers car carrying £1000's of pounds if it can be avoided. The alternative I guess is to do a bank transfer once you are happy. Can you do CHAPS payments on a weekend?
 
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Ok I am very close to going ahead with this and want to run a HPI check on the car. Can anyone recommended the best way to go about this. I see there are many companies offering this service at different prices all of which offer different services. Are some better/more reliable than others?

One other thing I found out today is the car was registered in Jan 04 and the current owner is the 3rd owner. The car has done 40kish miles and I’m just wondering if I should be suspicious of what to me sounds like a lot of owners in the cars short life. Maybe I am just being paranoid but am open to opinions.
 
You will find that most convertibles have a higher number of owners than their hard top counterparts, dont worry about it. Judge the car on condition and its SH. People buy them for the summer and then sell them on, thus a higher owner turnover.

I still think it would be much better to go down with a friend, preferably someone with experience of the type of car you are buying.
 
Well I am gonna fly down with my Dad and check the car out. That way i have backup and two drivers for the trip home.
 
Well it seems like a good purchase for what the car is. I has a nice spec and low milage and the guy is getting an MOT done on it on Thursday. I have managed to agree a price of 11500 for it when he was originally looking for 12995.
 
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