Buying a car at night

[captainaverage]

The rule of thumb is to not examine a car at night but what if seller agrees to take the car to a well lit petrol station or such place with a fair bit of light. Is it still a bad idea?

Car seems to have a very good history.

[sosidge]

Viewing at a petrol station is not a good idea either!

If the car is worth buying, it is worth seeing during the day at the seller's own property. If the seller is not keen on doing this for you, tread carefully.

[captainaverage]

sosidge said:

Viewing at a petrol station is not a good idea either!

If the car is worth buying, it is worth seeing during the day at the seller's own property. If the seller is not keen on doing this for you, tread carefully.

Is this because I'm still likely to miss things out in a petrol station due to lighting or that it's not outside the sellers house?

We will be going back to the sellers house during the purchase.

[ericmcn]

too much crap can go on at night time

viewing under glare of a petrol station is not ideal either

just wait until day light hours.

that is all.

[ZX10R NIN]

Don't do it you'll miss something, just wait until you've got a day off if it sells before that you just weren't meant to buy that car.

[Emanresu]

I've bought a car in daylight before, looked perfect. Then when I parked it under an orange street light outside my house it highlighted that a door was a different colour.

[rallycross]

If you know what you are doing no reason not to buy in dark/wet taking it to a brightly lit Svs station works ok not as good as daylight but can be done have done So many times. You don't want to miss out do you?!

[steve-5snwi]

rallycross said:

If you know what you are doing no reason not to buy in dark/wet taking it to a brightly lit Svs station works ok not as good as daylight but can be done have done So many times. You don't want to miss out do you?!

I agree, there is always the horrible feeling when you see it dry and clean the next day. Don't forget to check the driveway for oil stains.

Oh and I did buy one with a frosty roof once, we had to pdr 10 dents out of the roof

[Trabi601]

Emanresu said:

I've bought a car in daylight before, looked perfect. Then when I parked it under an orange street light outside my house it highlighted that a door was a different colour.

Glad I'm not the only one - this was a silver Alfa 155. Looked lovely on the car lot, only cost me 700 quid. Coming back from the pub that night, I noticed the rear passenger door and 3/4 panel were mis-matched to the rest of the car.

Just tried to forget about it, but then noticed the sanding marks under the paint when polishing it.

Did me well for nearly 30k miles over the next 12 months and I sold it for nearly as much as I paid for it.