Step 3: TALK TO FRIENDS
Talk to other car owners you see in the street, tell them you’re thinking of buy a car like theirs and ask about fuel consumption and reliability.
Step 4: COMPARE PRICES
Try not to get a car that has been driven over over 100,000 miles as they will need a little more attention and maintenance than a more modern car.
Get a local paper and see what is on offer, you will usually find that a Friday is a good time to look for used car prices. You will want to have a drive to local garages and dealers within a reasonable distance of where you live.
Step 5: ARRANGING A CAR LOAN OR CAR FINANCE
If you have been Refused Car Finance, then you can check out our online used car sales section, or compare personal loans in our loans section.
Step 6: THE TEST DRIVE
Always take the car for a test drive.
Make sure you test drive the car for at least 20 minutes, so you can be sure you are comfortable with it.
Take it on to a motorway or dual carriage way so you can open up fully. See how much it smokes when you use the throttle, all cars will smoke a little bit but it should not smoke after 2-3 seconds of going up through the gears, but if you get to 5th gear and it’s still smoking then you could have problems.
Before the car is moved for the test drive open the bonnet and check the engine is cold, always test drive the car from cold!
If when the car is first started it takes 2-3 turns of the key to start it could need a service and or parts changing. When you sit in it make you test all the buttons, electric windows and radio.
Step 7: THE NEGOTIATION
Always negotiate face to face, as you will see if the sales person (or owner) is trying to hide something.
Never try to negotiate over the phone, as any information given out could be denied later. Sales people will only try and bring you into the garage anyway.
Always stick to your budget.
If the car price, warrantee and finance deal is agreeable to you, say to the sales person that you want a coffee and 5 minutes alone to talk to your partner. Make sure that you are both happy with the deal. This five minute pause could save you from weeks of nagging later, or from spending thousands of pounds on a car which is not really suitable.
If you are getting a car loan from the dealer, always try and get road tax, warranties and a tank of fuel included in the finance.
Step 8: WARRANTIES
Always look at what the warranty doesn’t cover, as some warranties aren’t worth the paper they are written on.
If the warranty is a good one it should clearly state what is not covered.
Always try and get a better warranty if you are buying a second hand car from a dealer. They normally offer you the bronze warranty try and get at least silver as they normally go up to platinum. But remember that even platinum will not cover every single thing on the car.
If the dealer is confident in the car he should give you a 6 month warranty.
Again most importantly ask when the cam belt is due to be changed and try to get them to include it in the service that should be done before you pick the car up.
Also make sure if something does go wrong, the faulty part is replaced and has a new warranty.
Step 9: EVERYTHING IN WRITING
Make sure you get everything in writing.
Any work that was promised to be done will be done i.e. paintwork, dents removed, radio code and all other agreed items.
Get the service history if you can.
Step 10: GETTING THE KEYS
Most modern cars have central locking which uses an electronic key they can cost hundreds of pounds to replace. So make sure you get two keys and keep one in a safe place.
