Buying second hand car from dealer or private?
Discussion
I have done both. It depends on so many things. How much money is involved. How reliable the car is likely to be, How common or rare the model is. Age of the car. Whether you are buying a car you can easily afford, or whether you are stretching yourself.
Last year I bought a car privately because it was an old car, it was the exact colour I wanted which was not a commin colour, it was in amazing condition and the price, though low was largely irrelevant to me. It if blew up on the way home, I'd be able to afford to repair.
That was for a special car. A weekend fun car. If I was paying maybe £40,000 for somthing a year or two old, Orr even older, I would feel comfortable buying from a dealer, preferably a manufacturer. "Normal dealer facilities" and all that. You have a level of protection in law plus you are more likely to be dealing with a dealer who has a reputation, something to lose if things get nasty for some reason.
I speak from experience where a dealer replaced a used car I bought even though he did not have to. It was about reputation. I bought a 2 year old car that developed a minor fault, a broken boot lock. I noticed in the cars history a part had been ordered but there was no bill for fitting it. I called the previous owner who told me the car had been involved in a fatal crash and that he sold it after it had been fixed to a dealer and never actually saw it when repaired.
Somehow it had got back into the franchised dealer chain and sold to me.
No questions asked the dealer apologised and got a replacement car.
Long story but I hope it illustrates the pros and cons.
You takes your money.......
Last year I bought a car privately because it was an old car, it was the exact colour I wanted which was not a commin colour, it was in amazing condition and the price, though low was largely irrelevant to me. It if blew up on the way home, I'd be able to afford to repair.
That was for a special car. A weekend fun car. If I was paying maybe £40,000 for somthing a year or two old, Orr even older, I would feel comfortable buying from a dealer, preferably a manufacturer. "Normal dealer facilities" and all that. You have a level of protection in law plus you are more likely to be dealing with a dealer who has a reputation, something to lose if things get nasty for some reason.
I speak from experience where a dealer replaced a used car I bought even though he did not have to. It was about reputation. I bought a 2 year old car that developed a minor fault, a broken boot lock. I noticed in the cars history a part had been ordered but there was no bill for fitting it. I called the previous owner who told me the car had been involved in a fatal crash and that he sold it after it had been fixed to a dealer and never actually saw it when repaired.
Somehow it had got back into the franchised dealer chain and sold to me.
No questions asked the dealer apologised and got a replacement car.
Long story but I hope it illustrates the pros and cons.
You takes your money.......
In part I think it depends how confident you are of assessing a car from a short drive/good look and how long you intend to keep the car.
A. You don't want to buy a car which is already knackered.
B. If you keep cars a long time then a few months warranty (or not) at the beginning makes very little difference.
The key thing when private buying is to "walk away" if anything isn't right. At the end of the day if it was an easy fix or a cheap fix, the seller would have fixed it!
A. You don't want to buy a car which is already knackered.
B. If you keep cars a long time then a few months warranty (or not) at the beginning makes very little difference.
The key thing when private buying is to "walk away" if anything isn't right. At the end of the day if it was an easy fix or a cheap fix, the seller would have fixed it!
I buy 5+ year old cars under 10k that a normally not mainstream, but I'll buy from whoever has what I want at the right price.
If I do buy from a dealer (normally smaller place) I just treat it as a private sale and do all the same checks... I know it could be an uphill struggle trying to get stuff sorted so I satisfy myself on the cars condition before handing any money over.
Edit to say, because of the above I'll never pay a 'premium' just to buy from a dealer, infact on my last car I told them I was coming a long way, so would be a long way to come back with any issues so give me it close to the trade price and you'll not see me again. They knocked £1500 off and already keen price. Result
If I do buy from a dealer (normally smaller place) I just treat it as a private sale and do all the same checks... I know it could be an uphill struggle trying to get stuff sorted so I satisfy myself on the cars condition before handing any money over.
Edit to say, because of the above I'll never pay a 'premium' just to buy from a dealer, infact on my last car I told them I was coming a long way, so would be a long way to come back with any issues so give me it close to the trade price and you'll not see me again. They knocked £1500 off and already keen price. Result
Edited by philmots on Sunday 25th January 11:05
sorin1987 said:
Is it better to buy a second hand car from a dealer or from private owner? Some of my friends say you can get cars a lot cheaper from private while others say that is better to buy from dealers since many of them offer 6 months or 1 year warranty.
What do you guys think?
As above, depends on the age of car, price, etc.What do you guys think?
A lot of private sellers these days seem to think their car is worth very close to what a dealer would ask.
The car will most likely be a common type. Honda Civic 2009 or 2010 1.8 orFocus Mk 3. I found a few on autotrader with good miles and service bistory for 7500£.
This will be my first car in UK since I just moved bere a year ago. I have bought 3 cars in the past since where I come from second hand car dealers are very rare
This will be my first car in UK since I just moved bere a year ago. I have bought 3 cars in the past since where I come from second hand car dealers are very rare
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