Buying first car(Not a what car)

[Opara]

Hi, i'm looking at buying my first car and am looking at the sub £1k category mainly Peugeot 306,Fiestas etc.

I've mainly been looking at private ads but i'm wondering what to do when I see one I want.As it's my first car I don't hold any insurance so a test drive is out the window and I don't know much about mechanics.I'm also unsure of things like V5's, logbooks etc.Also is it worth doing an HPI checks on a cheap car?

Can anyone help me out with the do's and don'ts?

Cheers

Edited by Opara on Sunday 3rd July 17:17

[FezzaDude]

this has some useful info: www.whatcar.com/car-advice

also I would always get a HPI check regardless of age/value of the car. Its a small price worth paying.

[FraserLFA]

FezzaDude said:

I would always get a HPI check regardless of age/value of the car. Its a small price worth paying.

For a fiver, i'd always get one!

[Opara]

Cheers lads, I thought they were around £20, at least that's what Brewer said.

[FraserLFA]

Even so, it's worth it rather than buying a £100 car that's going to cost you more to get fixed, or just result in you scraping it and losing your hard earned money. If you're not confident in your spanner wielding ability, The AA will give it a thorough check for about £100. Again, worth it if the car is worth a few 100 quid or more.

The v5 is self explanatory. It's all written on there.

Finally, if you can't get insurance for a test drive, ask the owner to take you for a spin and listen to knocks or rattles, and give it a thorough test (IE going through all the gears, reving it a bit)

I'm sure others will have different advice for you, but that's just what i'd do in your position.

[Ilikebeaver]

When I sold my 1st car to someone else for their 1st car they got me to drive them in it for a few miles so that they could see that it drives ok.