Long distance buying help

[macp]

So you are considering buying the car of your dreams but its at the other end of the country.What questions are you asking the seller whether they are private or trade in order to avoid disappointment ?

Thanks for reading.

[AndrewW-G]

Best advice is to find somebody local to the car and get them to inspect it for you, even if you have to pay a local garage to inspect it, a couple of hours labour is cheaper than traveling the length of the country . . .

[steveo3002]

id want silly amounts of high res pictures of everything , if they refuse theyre hiding something

id prob still not risk it , too high a risk of problems

[macp]

Im finding there are very few of the kind of cars Im looking for up here in the North hence the reason for asking.Its grim oop north

[Jellyfishfields]

I live in Aberdeen, most of my cars are bought in England somewhere, so I've done this a good few times.

Just ask lots of questions, i.e.
Condition?
Any accident damage or had any paintwork?
Is the V5 in the sellers name and address? (if private)
Service history?
How long owned?
wheels , tyres?
And all the other usual stuff.
If you do decide to go ahead make it clear it will depend on the car being as described.

The only time this has not worked for me was when trying to buy an E39 M5 last year, I travelled close to 1000 miles round trip, looked at 6 cars and didn't buy any of them, that is the down side. I gave up and bought a new VXR8 instead.
I would say the newer the car the smaller the chance of your time being wasted.

The more you talk to the seller the better idea you will get about both them and the car. Ask them to go round the car and describe it in detail and ask for pics of anything you're unsure of. If they are unwilling to answer anything then avoid.

As for risk, the most you have to lose is the price of the travel, which should not be so much nowadays, especially if you can book a few days ahead, so minimal risk if you ask me.
But you have to be prepared to write off your travel costs if it turns out to be a duffer.

It always surprises me how unwilling people are to potentially save themselves a lot of money, both of the last cars I sold were in as new condition and by far the cheapest in the country yet they still got little response. They usually end up going to a trader that sells them on for a good profit, most of them have no problems with buying over the phone, subject to viewing.

[paintman]

macp said:

So you are considering buying the car of your dreams but its at the other end of the country.What questions are you asking the seller whether they are private or trade in order to avoid disappointment ?

Thanks for reading.

I've bought cars at long distance.
Service history?
Cam belt last changed?
Any body damage of any description?
Any interior trim damage?
Mileage warranted?
Does everything work?
MOT?


And even then expect to be lied to. Looked at one that had been described as 'no body damage' - the nearside looked like Jonny Wilkinson had been practising kicking! Not to mention the wipers not self parking & cigarette burns all over the front seats.
ONLY sure way is to go & look at it yourself. Failing that pay one of the motoring organisations to do an inspection - but you will still need to look at it yourself before buying.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 17th October 11:42

[RizzoTheRat]

AndrewW-G said:

Best advice is to find somebody local to the car and get them to inspect it for you, even if you have to pay a local garage to inspect it, a couple of hours labour is cheaper than traveling the length of the country . . .

If you're a member of the AA or RAC they'll do this for you, dunno how much though

[gareth.e]

ring and say "I'm phoning about the car"

if they say which car.. You pretty much know they're a trader

[MondeoMan1981]

If you are buying on ebay, look at their "all feedback" , see if they have been buying parts for it etc.... could tell you a story...