How to get a good deal when buying a used car?
How to get a good deal when buying a used car?
Author
Discussion

p0rcupine

Original Poster:

15 posts

97 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
I am trying to buy a 3-6 years old reliable car with good MPG and five doors, in reasonable condition. So far I tried:
- autotrader, where private sellers either sell complete lemons with almost 200k miles on the clock or want almost a price of a new car. Also saw a combination of huge price and complete banger. Trade sellers do not seem to be any better.
- eBay, where most of listings are from people who buy damaged cars on auctions and fix them in their back gardens with hammer, wood filler from Wickes and painter's roller. Somehow they photograph they photograph them so cleverly that no issues are visible until I spend half a day and £30 travelling by train to collect the car only to see what a banger it is and then spend another £50 buying same day ticket to ride back.
"Minor damage to front bumper" in listings usually means that a car has been hit in front, rear and at least one side, airbags inflated and replaced with a dummy resistor. Saw three cars like that. "HPI clear" means "HPI clear" if you do not check, "cat C" otherwise. Two sellers declared that they are not happy with the achieved price and will not see the car.
- I have been told on this forum that auctions are not a great option for a one-off private buyer.
- Tried to post "car wanted" on Facebook, got a response from a lady who pretendede to be a single mum selling her car because she lost a job who then appeared to be a girlfriend of a professional car reseller.

What are the better places to buy a reliable car for good price?

Edited by p0rcupine on Sunday 24th September 20:38

MildRelish

157 posts

126 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
You've listed most places for buying a used car, except maybe PistonHeads and Gumtree. I'm afraid they're not going to be any different.

Private ads on AutoTrader will be your best bet for a 3+ year old car. As your criteria is very broad you should be able to find a few locally, so viewings don't waste too much of your time.

ZX10R NIN

29,508 posts

143 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Firstly be prepared to travel as you might find a good one isn't that close to you, also remember you're buying a used car, I know it sounds silly but you'd be surprised how many of my clients have gone with the mindset that they're buying a brand new car.

Small problems can be negotiated out of the price, once you have a particular type/types of car then get a rough idea of discs & pads, bushes & any possible small niggly problems that are specific to that car.

Once you've armed yourself with that information you can then look at a car more objectively (example: scuffs on the bumper means minus -£250 off the price) at the car then take it from there, private buyers are few & far between these days but don't be concerned about buying off of a trader (there'll be less coming off the car but they have to make a living too) but that's not a bad thing you can still pick up a good car.

Look for receipts of work being carried out no receipts for me means it hasn't been done & the price goes down, be prepared to walk I know it's a pain but better that than get the wrong one, I would normally have 3-4 that I'd be looking at that day normally going to the one that I liked best first (which normally is the one the furthest away) & go from there.

I hope this helps, what's your budget?

Fastpedeller

4,076 posts

164 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Things may have changed a lot since I last bought a used car 11 years ago, but after seeing all the lemons I realised my best MO was to go for the most expensive (for given make/spec) and work my way down. This may seem counter-productive to getting a good deal, but it seemed to work from 2 perspectives
1) Most buyers seem to chase the lower-priced car, so time is wasted (either phoning or getting there to find it's gone.)
2) You may get a top quality car, and the seller may also drop the price a bit (as he's not had interest due to higher price than others?) Win-win.
I add that I always bought private. The danger is the 'closet dealers' who can sometimes be identified by "I'm calling about the car" "which car?"
or "How long have you owned it, is the log book in your name/address". If those responses, just pass then by.
Good luck.

daemon

38,051 posts

215 months

Monday 25th September 2017
quotequote all
p0rcupine said:
I am trying to buy a 3-6 years old reliable car with good MPG and five doors, in reasonable condition. So far I tried:
- autotrader, where private sellers either sell complete lemons with almost 200k miles on the clock or want almost a price of a new car. Also saw a combination of huge price and complete banger. Trade sellers do not seem to be any better.
- eBay, where most of listings are from people who buy damaged cars on auctions and fix them in their back gardens with hammer, wood filler from Wickes and painter's roller. Somehow they photograph they photograph them so cleverly that no issues are visible until I spend half a day and £30 travelling by train to collect the car only to see what a banger it is and then spend another £50 buying same day ticket to ride back.
"Minor damage to front bumper" in listings usually means that a car has been hit in front, rear and at least one side, airbags inflated and replaced with a dummy resistor. Saw three cars like that. "HPI clear" means "HPI clear" if you do not check, "cat C" otherwise. Two sellers declared that they are not happy with the achieved price and will not see the car.
- I have been told on this forum that auctions are not a great option for a one-off private buyer.
- Tried to post "car wanted" on Facebook, got a response from a lady who pretendede to be a single mum selling her car because she lost a job who then appeared to be a girlfriend of a professional car reseller.

What are the better places to buy a reliable car for good price?
Sadly theres no single answer to that. The marketplace is rife with "private traders" who are botching up cars then advertising them under disposable phone numbers to make a quick buck.

Good retail quality cars are hard to find at a good price because anyone who has one knows they're scarce.

Car supermarkets offer pretty much unprepared cars at a reasonable price. Might be worth a look there?

Being prepared to travel will help, but likewise you could end up travelling further / wasting more time to look at a pup.

Maybe you need to up your budget / lower your expectations in terms of what you will be able to achieve in terms of price? OR broaden your horizons in terms of the car you're looking for?

DSLiverpool

15,736 posts

220 months

Monday 25th September 2017
quotequote all
The hardest scenario is your perfect car with a private seller priced at dealer or above - telling the seller to get real is a diplomatic nightmare.

Anyone sussed a technique ?

nobrakes

3,641 posts

216 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
DSLiverpool said:
The hardest scenario is your perfect car with a private seller priced at dealer or above - telling the seller to get real is a diplomatic nightmare.

Anyone sussed a technique ?
Sometimes you just have to swallow it.

Then, enjoy the car.

p0rcupine

Original Poster:

15 posts

97 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
nobrakes said:
Sometimes you just have to swallow it.

Then, enjoy the car.
Hm... are there any better techniques?

PositronicRay

28,216 posts

201 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
The best way is to buy an unpopular car, that you don't really want. That way you don't mind walking away!

p0rcupine

Original Poster:

15 posts

97 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
The best way is to buy an unpopular car, that you don't really want. That way you don't mind walking away!
I asked for better techniques, not worse ones.

PositronicRay

28,216 posts

201 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
p0rcupine said:
PositronicRay said:
The best way is to buy an unpopular car, that you don't really want. That way you don't mind walking away!
I asked for better techniques, not worse ones.
You'll get a great deal though, is that not what you asked?

danlightbulb

1,051 posts

124 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
There seems to be a genuine issue with cars in the 3 to 6 year old range.

I visited about 5 local car supermarkets last weekend because I had nothing else to do so went for a browse.

All of them were selling almost exclusively 1 to 2 year old cars.

80% of the cars on the forecourt were small to mid size hatchbacks. Only 1% were decent sized estates.

90% of the larger cars were 1.6 diesels or thereabouts.

A couple of the sites had a couple, and I do mean only a couple, of older cars. 4 years old, nothing older and nothing worth looking at.

Having visited the 5 largest used car places I knew of in the area, I had no idea where I could go next to look at used cars a little older.

Given the sheer volume of 3 to 4 year old cars that must be coming onto the used market from finished lease deals and pcp's, where are they all??

When I last bought a car from a used car place, about 10 years ago, there was lots of choice of 3 to 6 year old cars. Places like car craft (which folded a few years ago) had loads of cars to choose from.

Edited by danlightbulb on Wednesday 27th September 00:26

nobrakes

3,641 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
p0rcupine said:
nobrakes said:
Sometimes you just have to swallow it.

Then, enjoy the car.
Hm... are there any better techniques?
Probably.

My point was that at some stage if you see your perfect car and the seller knows it's a great, rare spec or model, and isn't that desperate to sell, then you have to ask yourself how much you want it, and cough up.

Obviously you could show the chap how much similar cars are at dealers. Or just buy the car from the dealer, if you can find one selling similar...



Edited by nobrakes on Wednesday 27th September 00:33

nobrakes

3,641 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
p0rcupine said:
PositronicRay said:
The best way is to buy an unpopular car, that you don't really want. That way you don't mind walking away!
I asked for better techniques, not worse ones.
You'll get a great deal though, is that not what you asked?
Ray has a point though. If you are prepared to have a bit more of an open mind about the car and not " must be white, must have M sport badges, must be an S Line spec, must not be beige, etc.", you can use these facts against the seller to say you reckon it's over priced and won't sell quickly because x, y, and z, but I'll offer you £ less.

If you are going to hold on to it for a long time you can get a newer car for similar cash, but you have to sell it/trade it cheaper later too. E.g. A manual E class.



Edited by nobrakes on Wednesday 27th September 01:39

nobrakes

3,641 posts

216 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
If you are going to travel to see a car, you don't have to tell them that you are doing so as it can make you look too keen. Or, tell him you bought a return ticket.

I had an Autotrader alert set up for mine. It popped up on a Sat evening at a dealer 4 hours drive away. I went in 15 mins after they opened on the Sunday morning and told him I'm looking for a car, just passing en route to see relatives, and wondered what he had on his books.

I told him my budget was 3k less than what I knew the car they had just posted was on at, so that I could take a sharp intake of breath when he mentioned it.

I stifled my interest, asked about others, then went back to "mine". I offered 3k less. He gave me a better deal than I'd estimated on my trade-in (same maker - Merc) and took 500 off the screen. I said I'd could stretch another 500, then stuck to my guns - his branch manager eventually said ok.

I hadn't even seen the car as it was hadn't arrived at their premises.

They won as the car was shifted before it touched the ground.

I think it was 5 or 6 year old. The car was still subject to viewing and test drive. Mrs Nobrakes had been briefed to say she hated it even if she loved it, incase there was an issue. The next weekend I saw it, had a piece of trim replaced then collected it the week after.

I had also compared Merc dealer prices with car supermarket prices - Merc was very competitive.

steve-5snwi

9,626 posts

111 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
Decide on the car you want first, when you find it there is no right or wrong deal, yes sometimes private people want retail money for cars, sometimes certain cars don't always fall in to a one price for all, £100 off £1000 off does it matter, the best deal is finding the car that you want, everyone wants money off but surely if it's the perfect car then whatever price you pay is the right one ?

Besides you can always make an offer, they will either accept, counter offer or tell you to do one.

Webber3

1,228 posts

237 months

Wednesday 27th September 2017
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
also remember you're buying a used car, I know it sounds silly but you'd be surprised how many of my clients have gone with the mindset that they're buying a brand new car.
Sounds like webuyanycar ;-). They know they're buying a used car and start by offering less than it's worth, but that offer is based on the car being 'as new' which of course they never are. So they go on to knock money off for every little fault. Genius biggrin.

If people buying privately want a car with no wear and tear then they actually need to go out and buy a new car. I might point that out next time I try selling privately.