Do you ever fear buying the wrong car?

[AlexNJ89]

When I'm considering what car to by next, I'm almost obsessive about it.

I need to know the car fits my needs and I will enjoy owning it.

What are the consequences?

If you buy from a dealer it could cos you a few grand, if you buy private and sell private within a couple of months you will probably lose next to nothing?


How much do you fear making the wrong choice?

[Xcore]

Nah as you can always sell and buy something else

[AlexNJ89]

Xcore said:

Nah as you can always sell and buy something else

So if you bought a car private, ran it for a month and decided to sell it with one extra previous owner I guess there's no harm done.

[Pericoloso]

AlexNJ89 said:

So if you bought a car private, ran it for a month and decided to sell it with one extra previous owner I guess there's no harm done.

Be honest to the potential next owner why you're bailing out so quick and lose a few quid ,not the end of the world.

[jimPH]

Not at the time of buying, usually a few weeks later.

[Mexman]

No, but I sometimes fear I have sold to the wrong buyer.

[Turn7]

Wrong car ? No, bad example of the car I want - fk yes.....all the time. Hate buying cars.

[jimPH]

Tu be honest, the last car I bought I've been really pleased with. The car I bought for my wife, was brilliant.

The other three cars I bought for myself, I could have done better. Though I don't think I'll get another Westfield like the last one, that was a great car and I'm sad I sold it, but I hardly used it.

I like to think I've learnt my lesson, from now on, it's got to be new, low mileage, good condition with thoroughly researched options and a good look underneath with an exemplary service history.

[Mr Tidy]

I bought the wrong daily in 2018, so I replaced it with a better option in 2019. OK I lost some money on it, but can live with that because I much prefer the replacement!

I usually start thinking about my next car as soon as I buy one, in the hope I will get it right - but that hasn't happened with my weekend car yet. Maybe because I've hardly used it for the last month.

[TurboBlue]

"Regrets, I've had a few, too few to mention."

There is always a reason why you bought it in the first place; assuming you remain a rational being its just a matter of being able to hang on to the original thought and get pleasure out of it.

[ZX10R NIN]

I never worry about getting the wrong car but I am thorough because I don't want to buy a bad example.

[Welshbeef]

Do you mean buying a lemon rather than the wrong model etc?

If it’s about which car then test drive the different ones/ before you buy then choose. Job done.

If worried about buying a lemon PAY for an AA or independent specialist who focus on that car to come along with you for the test & full inspection. You could also demand& pay for an MOT which would give you its road worthyness

[AlexNJ89]

Welshbeef said:

Do you mean buying a lemon rather than the wrong model etc?

If it’s about which car then test drive the different ones/ before you buy then choose. Job done.

If worried about buying a lemon PAY for an AA or independent specialist who focus on that car to come along with you for the test & full inspection. You could also demand& pay for an MOT which would give you its road worthyness

I don't mean buying a lemon, I mean buying the wrong model.

So the specific example I had in mind is I would love a BMW M6, but some reviews and owners have said it's too fast to enjoy, by the time you get above 3rd gear and 3k revs you're at license losing territory which sounds awfully boring to me.

Then the consequences are that if you bought Approved Used you'll definitely lose money, buy private you'll lose a bit of money plus have to explain "I bought it a month ago and don't like it".

[cerb4.5lee]

I've made the mistake of buying the wrong car a couple of times(it wasn't really the cars fault just poor decisions on my part).

First one was my E61 520d Touring...because I wanted something much more economical than my X5 4.8iS. I really liked the car but I absolutely hated the engine and I never bonded with it.

Second one was my E92 M3...I decided to try the one car does it all approach(I won't do that again now) and I swapped both my Z4M Roadster and 520d for it. It was a massive mistake and the M3 just didn't suit my commute(I got very frustrated with not being able to enjoy its performance). So I went from loving it on the test drive to almost hating it using it everyday.

Both nice cars in isolation for sure but neither of them suited me personally at the time.

[Pothole]

Mexman said:

No, but I sometimes fear I have sold to the wrong buyer.

Unless the sole reason for that is because you might have got more from someone else, I find this even more ridiculous than the OP's "fear". MTFU, FFS.

[Pica-Pica]

I keep my cars for years (last E36 was for 19 years. I take ages to decide what next. I went from wondering between a BRZ, Forester, Golf, Cayman. Eventually got a 335d, after my wife got so fed up she said ‘just get what you want, I’m fed up with all this shilly-shallying’). I don’t regret it one bit - I used to wish I had the space and money to have several cars, in current circumstances, that wish is redundant.

[Pericoloso]

In August 1984 I sold my first RS2000 ,it wasn't a good one and then bought a decent Scirocco GTi MK1 ,quite a rare car.

Didn't like it and before 1984 had finished bought a better, one owner RS2000

[Pica-Pica]

Mexman said:

No, but I sometimes fear I have sold to the wrong buyer.

Ha! Whether you jest or not, I agree. When we sold our house down south, we had 8 viewers lined up. One woman, about 60 had a clear air of property speculator/developer about her. We sold it to a young couple about to get married and start a family. We can now see their Facebook posts enjoying the house as a family now.

[Welshbeef]

AlexNJ89 said:

I don't mean buying a lemon, I mean buying the wrong model.

So the specific example I had in mind is I would love a BMW M6, but some reviews and owners have said it's too fast to enjoy, by the time you get above 3rd gear and 3k revs you're at license losing territory which sounds awfully boring to me.

Then the consequences are that if you bought Approved Used you'll definitely lose money, buy private you'll lose a bit of money plus have to explain "I bought it a month ago and don't like it".

Every car except extremely slow cars break the 70mph in 2nd gear so given that in any car in the U.K. you can only use the full revs in 1st and second (just)
3rd in an M6 is over 100mph at the limiter you wouldn’t be doing 5k revs in 3rd at 70mph so not getting all the horses.

Buying M6’s privately is a £30k cash to a stranger with zero warranty and who knows it might be money laundering /fake car.
Buying used approved get you 2 years bumper to bumper warranty. Always fresh MOT always tyres above 3mm and if a service is due within xk miles it’s done. Ditto discs is too thin they are changed.

[ZX10R NIN]

AlexNJ89 said:

I don't mean buying a lemon, I mean buying the wrong model.

So the specific example I had in mind is I would love a BMW M6, but some reviews and owners have said it's too fast to enjoy, by the time you get above 3rd gear and 3k revs you're at license losing territory which sounds awfully boring to me.

Then the consequences are that if you bought Approved Used you'll definitely lose money, buy private you'll lose a bit of money plus have to explain "I bought it a month ago and don't like it".

The simple answer to that is to test drive one, to fast to enjoy is subjective, no you won't exploit the cars full potential on the road when you're going to the shops but you can say the same for most modern hot hatches but make no mistake they'll be times when you will fully deploy everyone of those ponies & exploit the handling as long as you're happy with this then get the M6.

I have cars/bikes where you can't use all the performance on the road but I can exploit their potential on the road & they all have character at low speed that makes them enjoyable too & for me that's the key ingredient with a performance car, one of the best for me at this mix was my GranTurismo Sportline.