Dealership v private seller

Darryl_1983 · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:27

Buying from a dealer at £4k, means it'll not be a main dealer. It'll most likely be a bloke picking up cheap cars at auction and selling on from either a lock up unit somewhere or his back garden/garage. They'll offer an AA warranty or similar, but you'll have to pay for it.

With these types of sellers, they make the cars look as nice as possible, but don't really touch them mechanically.

I'd buy private at this kind of money, If you've got £4k to spend, then maybe budget £3k for a car and save the remaining £1k to fix any problems that might pop up over the first few months. If you buy the right car £1k will fix just about anything.

Also I'd avoid autotrader, and the dealers on there are as above generally, eBay is about the best place to pick up cars privately. Can also try Gumtree.

I also prefer to meet the owner of the car and talk to them about the car, you'll be able to make a decent judgement on how well they've looked after the car in most cases.

Nasher · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:39

I always look at the MOT history online now as well. If there has been anything more than a few minor issues or consumables like tyres/brakes, don't even bother. Anything suspension, steering, rust related can be someone trying to offload a financial time bomb.

Kuros · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:52

I can agree with the above, one of the cars I was looking at failed two years in a row on bald tyres. If someone can't check and get them sorted, it gives an idea of the owner.

Jamesyboyjim · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:54

pepsilol said:
Well for starters I imagine they start removing engine covers and undertrays.

Speaking of mot's and under trays, why do some mot testers put these as advisories?

The missus' car always gets two minors, one for the engine cover and the other for the under tray hiding visibility to the engine underneath. I've seen these advisories on other cars I've looked at buying, so I know it isn't just the fussy testers round here that do it

tom_e · 25 Oct 2016 at 11:55

Because they aren't allowed to remove anything to check underneath therefore they're just covering themselves by saying "Well it could be ****ed under there but the undertray was in the way".

Kaka · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:11

I normally go by the history and condition of the car, regardless of whether it is from a private seller or dealer.

On Holiday · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:20

MOTs can be fairly sketchy/dodgy.

Akagi · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:21

tom_e said:
Because they aren't allowed to remove anything to check underneath therefore they're just covering themselves by saying "Well it could be ****ed under there but the undertray was in the way".

Quite right.

MX5's for example have undertrays and arch liners and bits which conceal nearly everything under the front of the car. These get noted as advisories for years, and then when someone takes the plastic covers off, they discover that unbeknown to them, their chassis rails have gone totally rotten and are full of holes, and every pipe, suspension component, and mounting point in sight is 50% rust.

Were the trays not there, they would have failed years beforehand.

Its not a bad idea to remove your undertrays before taking the car for a test, unless you're trying to hide something.

Nasher · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:27

Yea a lot of new cars don't have trays at all, not even under the engine. Which is good and bad. Good because MOT can check it, bad because everything will rust quicker

Akagi · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:32

I've only had two cars with them on, the rest have been missing.

In some cases it was good. I've had advisories for leaking pipes and things before, which I can then fix easily. If there were plastic panels in the way of the pipes, it would never have been noticed and brought to my attention.

Semple · 25 Oct 2016 at 12:47

It's a task i absolutely hated doing when i bought my last car. Unless you're completely not fussy with what you buy, then i'm sure you could pick something up over a weekend. But if you know what you're looking for, and you've done a fair amount of research, you'll get a rough idea of the market rate for the age/mileage/condition of the cars you're looking at.

I bought my last one from an indy dealer, as they actually had quite a good price. Had it checked over, and a very thorough test drive by a family member who's a mechanic. It also came with a 3rd party 2 year warranty, so all in, it was right in range of private sale prices.

So dealerships indy and main can be worthwhile, it's just better to do your research and have a rough idea of what the car you're looking at can go for.

At the end of the day, the high end dealerships you're paying the higher price so that you can view the car in a well lit showroom and speak to the sales guy dressed in a suit.

ci_newman · 25 Oct 2016 at 13:07

ennogs said:
Excuse my ignorance here

A vehicle check with the RAC before buying the car is

£99 for a basic check

£189 for a comprehensive check

£239 for an advanced check

What would the RAC check that a £40 MOT wouldn't check?

An MOT is a test for being road-worthy, not whether everything works.

A/C doesn't work? Not tested on an MOT
Failed / failing head gasket? Not tested on an MOT

Jamesyboyjim · 25 Oct 2016 at 13:28

Everyday's a school day!

I think next year if I remember I'll remove both trays. We intend to keep the car for as long as possible so knowing about any issues underneath will obviously be a good thing. But at 4 years old with only 61,000 on the clock, it should hopefully be fine for a while yet

ttaskmaster · 25 Oct 2016 at 14:41

All dealers are out to screw you.

All private owners are clueless idiots who haven't looked after their car, and/or want the same money they spent kevving it up even though it's only worth £200...

But if a dealer is the only one with the vehicle you want... whaddya gonna do?

Darryl_1983 · 25 Oct 2016 at 15:04

Jamesyboyjim said:
Everyday's a school day!

I think next year if I remember I'll remove both trays. We intend to keep the car for as long as possible so knowing about any issues underneath will obviously be a good thing. But at 4 years old with only 61,000 on the clock, it should hopefully be fine for a while yet

If you're that concerned about it take it to a garage for a check over.

MoT inspector isn't going to look at much under the tray anyway, just bushes and boots, etc, and whether any of the cats have been removed. May get a comment about leaky gearbox or engine.

MissChief · 25 Oct 2016 at 16:23

When I was looking for the current steed there were half a dozen all at dealers down south who were all asking for £10k or thereabouts and would have meant a minimum 200mile journey. I bought privately through gumtree, travelled 20 miles to view it, it was exactly as described and I bought it for £7800. You pays your money and you takes your chances but on newer stuff there's little to go wrong and ALWAYS HPI check it and now that you can check the MOT history online too it can give you some bargaining power.

sigma · 25 Oct 2016 at 18:46

Begbie said:
I had an MOT done, toke it to a specialist to get the tracking done. Had two leaking shocks, two inner track rods about to go, a ball joint and a track rod gone.

MOT is a pretty basic check.

Unless the MOT person was blind those items should have been picked up...

Tom_ed1987 · 25 Oct 2016 at 19:18

sigma said:
Unless the MOT person was blind those items should have been picked up...

Yup, although you also have to consider that many cars sold with '12 months MOT' have one in paper only, issued by a dodgy mate, & haven't actually been inspected.

Personally the only type of seller I'd recommend you purposely avoid is the small part time dealer/at-home trader.