Best place to buy Small Car several years old

[MSC_27]

I am looking for small car for my daughter up to about £2,500 price. Something like a Toyota AYGO, Peugeot 107, Citroen C1. Ford Ka, Nissan Micra or maybe bit bigger like Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta. Peugeot 206
Where is the best place to look for one of these. Been to couple of small dealers but they ask over top price. I also looked on auto-trader but there are not many private ads.

[CoolHands]

Ate you new to the internet?

Gumtree & ebay

[MissChief]

CoolHands said:

Ate you new to the internet?

Gumtree & ebay

This. Also Facebook local selling groups can be good but generally auto trader, 30-50 mile radius, price, engine size, search. Buy on condition, service history and MOT Length, not mileage at this end of the market. Also check MOT history.

[MSC_27]

Would you go to 2nd hand car dealers as well - they obviously ask top prices on their forecourt ?

[nmd87]

Have found private sellers best at this price range. Gumtree better as it's free to advertise, meaning you tend to find more private sales vs. Autotrader.

[MSC_27]

Looked at Gumtree and Autotrader - most private sellers seem to want forecourt prices !

[MissChief]

MSC_27 said:

Looked at Gumtree and Autotrader - most private sellers seem to want forecourt prices !

Because they see a car similar to theirs on a forecourt for £1k more than it's worth and think theirs is worth that. Low ball them, they're likely desperate to get rid and the thought of £2k in their bank account now when the car could have been up for sale for three weeks and they've been besieged by 'Izit still 4 sale?' texts and 'I'll come round tonight to have a look m8' along with 'Will you take my 1.2 Corsa and £200?' and no one turns up could mean they just want rid.

[mattman]

Found all the cheaper cars are ending up on the local Facebay Groups and the Facebay Marketplace - no charge for the ad compared to Autotrader and Ebay.

There is a lot of dross on there, so you really have to sort through the crap to find the gems. I picked up an 09 Mini One for my son from Facebay for approx £900 less than the equivalent car on AT/Ebay - seller needed to sell as she had a new car - right time, right place.