Looking to buy a used car for under 3k

[fendertele]

I'll be honest i've been putting this off as I have no experience in buying a car or would have no idea what to look out for to make sure im not buying a lemon or being ripped off etc.

Anyone got any advice/tips to help me find something.

Only requirements would be cheap to run, looks semi decent had a eye on a KIA Ceed if that helps give you an idea of what I think looks decent.. Also used to like the look of the honda civics.

Thanks for any tips.

[Ian Geary]

Morning,

There's some well known phrases, many of which I've ignored

- don't buy the first you see
- don't buy a car at night
- buy on condition over age
- take someone with you who knows about cars

If you're thinking of buying from a trader, u would try and get some first hand reviews of them (rather than anonymous internet reviews)

I spend .onths agonising over a particular model to buy, so if you're not too fussed I would just start looking at auto trader, eBay, Facebook etc and get an idea of the market price.

Then start to look at miles, options, conditions etc and see if any stand out as too high (or low)

I would also suggest running the mot history of any potential purchases through the .gov.uk, though all this seems to show is that everyone apart from me seems to wait until their tyres and brakes fail an MOT before changing them....


I hope this helps

Ps plenty of people manage to buy cars successfully every day.

PPS Don't be scammed into paying before to have the keys /v5 signed over etc

[fendertele]

Hey thanks yeah I really don't have any preference but then this is most likely down to my lack of knowledge with cars that im not that fussy and unfortunately I don't know anyone that is clued up with cars to help me with this either.

You mentioned Auto trader is this a better option than buying from Arnold Clark or the likes ?

[fendertele]

This one would do look like a good price etc ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108085...

[mistermatty]

Well i am selling a 3k car and its been advertised for 24 hours with NOT one viewing as yet despite the press and everyone telling me its a sellers market and decent cars are flying out ?

[ninjag]

7th Generation Honda Accord 2.0 EX petrol.

Lots of toys, built in Japan and the engine is pretty much bomb proof.

[imck]

I see from your Auto Trader search you have selected Diesel.
Do you need a Diesel? Usually if you do more than 15K Miles/Year.
Problems with some Diesels if you only do a lot of short Trips.

The Ceed is a decent Car. Good Space and drives OK.
My old 2008 1.6 Diesel is now with a Colleague on 200K with very few problems.

The 2009 on Astra is good as an everyday Car.
1.4 Turbo or 1.6 Petrol.

[ZX10R NIN]

First thing that you need to consider is that you have to be prepared to travel, you'll only do it the journey once (hopefully) & if it's a good one you'll enjoy the drive home.

Secondly if there's not a receipt for it, then it hasn't been done.

If you're after a diesel you need to be doing trips that are 20-30 minutes in length anything over 10k a year & you'll be fine but remember that at this price point clutches & cambelts are something you'll have to consider be they petrol or diesel.

For me the Astra GTC SRI is a great pick:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108126...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108015...

Diesel

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108126...

2.0d Elite 165 Auto

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108126...

[LightningBlue]

It might help if you can say how long you've been driving otherwise some might post cars that are very expensive to insure if it's a first car. Ceed's and Civics are probably a decent option. For the Civic the 1.8 is a better bet than the diesel, it's very frugal and should be more reliable, and there's a 1.4 as well which might be more suitable for insurance. I had a 2007 Type S GT about 10 years ago and there's a few things to check - check the roof blinds work without getting stuck, check folding mirrors work, check the windscreen wipers rest in the correct position, check for a creaky clutch pedal and check if the CD player works (if original). All those went on my car and were common faults, post 2010 facelift cars should be better and should be in budget. You can tell them by a revised grille and interior plastics. Toyota Yaris or Auris would be worth looking at too

[fendertele]

I'm not a new driver but I don't have any no claims bonus and the reason I had went for Diesel is due to never driven a petrol learned/passed in a diesel, first car was diesel etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions having a look through them now

[SCEtoAUX]

From your location I would buy this:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108086...

Toyota/Petrol/Manual and has a very good MOT history (which can be checked online for free - nice low miles, MOT history agrees)

It won't go wrong because it is a Toyota and at your price point I would always being looking at a private sale (which it is). You can (in my opinion) tell a lot about the car by meeting the owner.

[georgeyboy12345]

If you live in Glasgow, then it's worth knowing they'll be introducing a LEZ, which will likely mean you'll have to pay a daily charge to drive a diesel, so I would avoid one! Same for many large cities in the UK.

Going to a dealer like Arnold Clark, you might not necessarily get such a good deal, but I'd be extremely wary of buying from a private seller off autotrader unless you know what you are doing, as you are essentially on your own if anything goes wrong. The best thing to do is select trade sellers as the seller type, then have a look at what ratings the dealers have, how many reviews they have had. Check that the dealer has a proper premises, website, and landline number and they are not some dodgy type just using their mobile phone and selling off their driveway. It's also worth searching companies house for the dealer, look at how long the business has been set up, if it's just a few months old, it's a bit more of a risk than a company that has been trading for 20 years. Google the names of the directors to make sure they haven't been up to any dodgy business. Make sure you can get the reg of the car and check the MOT history on the government website, make sure it's a reasonable length and look for anything really bad that is has previously failed on. Also, look for things the dealer might be offering such as warranties, fresh MOT, service when you buy, etc.


Here are some good ones I could find

Honda Civic 1.4 i-VTEC Type S
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107145...


Hyundai i20 1.2 Classic
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106173...


Kia Rio 1.25 Air
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107215...


Mazda 3 1.6 TS2
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108116...


Seat Ibiza 1.6 Sport
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105142...


Suzuki Swift 1.5 GLX
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108116...

[Ryyy]

imck said:

I see from your Auto Trader search you have selected Diesel.
Do you need a Diesel? Usually if you do more than 15K Miles/Year.
Problems with some Diesels if you only do a lot of short Trips.

The Ceed is a decent Car. Good Space and drives OK.
My old 2008 1.6 Diesel is now with a Colleague on 200K with very few problems.

The 2009 on Astra is good as an everyday Car.
1.4 Turbo or 1.6 Petrol.

When you say the 09 on astra, is there any difference from the mk5s before then? I had an 08 1.6 and it was a right bag of crap. Saw it the other week in York funnily enough but idk how its not dead.