Some buying advice please

[shandyboy]

Hopefully my current car woes are coming to an end shortly so I will be in a position where I can start to look for a replacement.

I've been looking at MR2's - as it will be a daily driver it needs to be reliable - so the latest one I can find and lowest mileage.

I've found one that sort of fits the bill but wanted to run some things past you guys.

I should point out, I live in Bradford and the seller is in Bradford, so this doesn't get off to a great start! Also, the car was at the seller's wife's home (who was also on holiday so nobody home) - the seller met me there and lives about 10 minutes away, but I don't have an address for him yet. He did have garage keys etc though so I can believe his "amicable split" story.

Although this would be a private sale, he seems to be a "bit" of a dealer as he has this car as he took it in as part exchange for another car he was selling, and also said he'd consider taking mine as part exchange for this one.

The v5c was missing a couple of sections - the two top-right ones - I don't know what they were, but he said it was normal. The registered keeper was also an address in Cambridge! He said it could be anywhere - it's just where the registered keeper was.

How can I be sure it's all above board? Does this sound too dodgy?

The car is pretty rare but strongly priced and without the 3 month warranty of a dealer I want to make sure I make the right choice.

The car itself was nice - although I didn't get to drive it, he took me out in it, and apart from a squeaky rear suspension over bumps (which is apparently common and just needs greasing) it went well.

I've got my local garage booked to give it a once-over later this afternoon - assuming they say it's all ok, what would you do?

The missing sections on the v5c and weird address are the only things making me nervous, but I've only bought from dealers before...

Cheers

[Zetec-S]

It might be all legit, but there's plenty of warning signs to suggest you should walk:

- Missing part of v5c (the top right is the new keepers slip)
- car owned by wife who isn't there
- no address for seller
- registered address 150 miles away
- squeaky rear suspension (who said that was common and only needed greasing?)
- sounds like a driveway trader

[DuraAce]

All that plus its location!

No chance. Run a mile.

[Dimebars]

Run.

And keep running.

[steve-5snwi]

Top right is the traders section, the section below is the new keeper. It sounds more like he is a trader, just check to see if the car is taxed, if it says untaxed on some random date then its likely to be in the trade.

Why don't you just ask him if its in the trade and if he is a trader, if he's honest and says yes it will help his case a little. If he says no there is a good chance he is lying and walk away.

To be honest i would probably walk away, always go with your initial instinct.

[Mexman]

Driveway trader.
No doubt.
When you viewed this car , why wasn't he at work??
Mmmm

[shandyboy]

I think he's definitely a driveway trader - he said the car was a part ex he took in, and offered to possibly take my car as part ex too.

Is he simply trying to avoid having to offer the 3 month warranty a trade sale world offer?

I had a trusted garage look at it and apart from a couple of little niggles they said it looked straight enough...

But if there's any reasonable chance it's dodgy I'll walk away.

[steve-5snwi]

The trade is not legally obliged to provide a warranty but does have to meet its legal obligations for selling things under consumer rights.

[Zetec-S]

shandyboy said:

I had a trusted garage look at it and apart from a couple of little niggles they said it looked straight enough...

That maybe so. But you still need to determine whether the guy selling the car is legally entitled to sell it?

[RSTurboPaul]

Have you checked the VIN/V5/number plates are all matching and correct?

Have you HPI-checked it?

How would you be planning to pay? If you decide to go for it, I would ask to meet him in a CCTVd bank so you can either do the transfer or pay the cash into his account and get a receipt, all on camera in case there are any issues.

[POORCARDEALER]

You are obviously happy with the price the car is or you wouldnt have viewed it.....get the car checked over, if you cant do it yourself take someone who can.....usual due diligence, treat it as a private sale.

[shandyboy]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I am (mostly) happy with the price - it's also the model/version I'm particularly interested in, and I know it has some small issues but then it is a 2006 car and it wont be perfect. The garage checked it over and there were no major issues - other than a creak from the suspension which should be sorted by the time I purchase it, and a slight blow from the exhaust under power (but they said to leave it until it got worse so they could see where it was coming from!)

I'm treating it as a private sale - no warranty, etc etc. The seller has said that Section 6 and 10 of the v5c are present so can be updated to reflect me as the new owner. I'll HPI check it today. (Done - this came back clean)

Is there anything else I should be worried about / check? I've asked the seller if I can meet him at his house to give the deposit and will show him something with my address on and ask him to prove his address just so we're both clear.

The main bit I'm confused about is what actually proves someone has legal right to sell a car - the v5c is the registered keeper - but other than I've given him a load of money what do I have?

Update - no deposit required but if all goes well it might happen later this week - I'm waiting for new v5 for my car so I can part-ex after taking the plate off (how long do they normally take to arrive?) I presume I can't part-ex mine until I have the replacement v5.

[steve-5snwi]

new v5's usually take 2-3 days, ask the buyer if they are happy for you to forward the v5 on when you get it, just ask if he wants to go on the v5 or fill the trade section in, you will then have an official answer to if he is a trader !