Buying a second hand car........advice?

[mikewilkinson1]

Hi Friends.

Some nice fellow has recently plowed into the back of my car while i was waiting at a red light. His car was a nice big SUV. My car, while functioning perfectly, is now considered a writeoff which is quite irritating.

As a result im starting to think about buying a new (well, second hand) car. I probably have a budget of 5g's which i know aint much, but yeah, quite poor atm. A mid 90s corolla is what comes to mind at the moment. The problem is, im not really experienced in this area as my last car was bought off a family friend.

Any of you guys ever gone private? Used car dealerships? Other? Had any luck with private? What things have you done to ensure the car aint going to fall apart? Yeah pretty much screwed without a car so i need to get the ball rolling on this kinda soon. Any help is very much appreciated.

[RobertSmalls]

I see you're in the UK. I don't know anything about the used car market there, but five of your kilo-pounds is $8200USD, which is enough to buy a very nice, low-mileage, one-owner economy car here.

The last car I bought? I bought it out of a junkyard, on e-bay, sight unseen and in non-roadworthy condition. The price was right, so I took a chance.

My other car is still reliable enough at 13 years / 159000 mi, and that's pretty typical of a well-made car. All I can say is, never buy a car with a check engine light on, have a mechanic do an inspection before you buy, get exactly the car you want because you're going to have it a long time, and you'll do fine.

[Piwoslaw]

Read this forum (and similar ones).
Contemplate.
Become an efficiency guru.
Find a car that has an efficient drivetrain.
Look for a body which will be easy to ecomod (wheelwells, kammbacks, bellypans, etc.).
Buy it.
Start a thread. We're here to help you.
Ecomod it.
Take pictures.
Let us praise you

[Ryland]

if you are unsure about what to look for in a car then take a friend along for the whole proses, from looking at the ad's to handing over the money, buying a car directly from the owner is going to give you the best price, buying from a dealer is going to give you a possible warranty, some standards in what kind of shape it's in as they have a check list of things to look at before selling it to you and they are going to charge you for that.
for your budget you should be able to find something that will get good mileage that is only a few years old that is being sold by someone who didn't like the color or something else stupid.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Ryland

for your budget you should be able to find something that will get good mileage that is only a few years old that is being sold by someone who didn't like the color or something else stupid.

What if he didn't like the color of rust in many places? Joking

[MadisonMPG]

Not sure how your insurance works, but you may be able to make them pay you for another car. (exact same car) My dad did this with his Mazda 626, ended up costing the other guy a LOT more money.


Pay attention when you drive.

[Bicycle Bob]

Gosh, what an opportunity to save the car with a full boat-tail!

Regarding purchasing, I've always bought privately, usually with the help of a shade-tree mechanic friend, until I understood his moves. Why not try spending far less than your full budget? Toyotas over two decades old used to cost me $200 CND per year for parts and depreciation, and so far, my old 3-cyl cars seem likely to do the same, if I keep up the rust prevention. A cheap, old car can have a lot of trouble-free miles in it, and if it does need a major repair, another can be found for less. Economical driving styles are good for getting the most miles from the machinery, too.