Buying a car in the UK?

Question

my husband and i are buying our first car, and looking on auto trader for ones that might be suitable. As we know NOTHING about cars, is there anything that we should check for, ask to see, etc when we veiw the cars?

A friend said for the price we are paying (£1,000-£1600) we should expect up to 60,000m, but thats all we know.

What about Tax? Mot?

Any advice welcome!

Answer 1

I agree with Bramble (above): The money you have is plenty for something decent.

You need to know if fuel economy, running costs, etc are important - If you don't need the car every day, then a larger, less economical car will be a better buy - they're less sought after, so relatively cheap.

Smaller, more economical cars, on the other hand, can be poorly maintained as they are more likely to have been run on a budget.

As above, DON'T chance this on your own - there's no point in me telling you what to look for, or to avoid if you haven't the first clue, and well done for admitting such!

Take a knowledgable friend or family member with you to look at a prospective purchase, or get them to come round & look through Autotrader or Ebay with you to get some likely choices.

Best of luck.

Answer 2

if the car is say 6 years old then mileage should be no more than 72k, on average they say a car does between 10-12k a year...you need to know if the car is taxed and MOT'd, if they have any service history, what work has been done on the car, if it has been involved in any accidents..RAC & AA can do a check on a vehicle regarding that but it does cost....

Have done a quick google and the site below may be useful to you.

Good Luck

Answer 3

You mention tax, MoT etc. which you're not sure of.  Okay, the things that you need legally are a driving licence (obviously), the vehicle must have a valid tax disc, a valid MoT certificate (as it'll be over 3 years old), and insurance for you to drive that vehicle.  You can check on the web for various insurance quotes.

Regarding the car itself, either get a friend/relative who knows about cars to look at it with you, or for a fee the AA and other organisations will check it for you.  Always do an HPI check on it.  I won't bother with all the other things you should check, just take advice from someone experienced in these matters whom you trust.

Answer 4

Heres a quick breakdown of things to look for

Body damage

Check oil and water look for brown deposits

Look for oil leaks

check VIN number against the log book

Buy with as much MOT time on as possible

don't put too much heed on mileage look to buy with 12k miles per year or less.

Get the car HPI checked before you buy to safeguard yourself against hidden history

Don't assume buying from dealers will be safer or better value

Get an AA or RAC inspection done or get someone who know about cars to go with you

Answer 5

Have a look at the Autotrader buyers guide.........

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/buying/...

Answer 6

I always buy my motors from ebay, just bought a tidy transit van 1999 98k for £550, you wouldn't get a deal like that in auto trader.

Find someone who does know a bit about cars to go with you, there must be someone in the family or a friend, at least someone that has had a few cars previously and knows what paperwork you need to sort.

Answer 7

they recon the average person does 10k a year so base the mileage on that so if your buying a 6 yr old car expect about 60k on the clock. check the svc history a car with full svc history is better than a car with none also check the mot life span as these have to be done every 12 mnths. the main thing to check which people miss out is to check the timing belt intervals as this can be costly to replace and you dont want to buy it and find that it needs replacing in 2 weeks time. also if the belt is to snap its a costly affair as you can imagine a lazzy band wizzing loosley around your engine isnt something you want to happen to you!!! good luck in finding your car x x x

Answer 8

You are not going to get much for that price. First check how much your insurance is depending on age where you live etc. could cost the same again and if you cant afford between 40 & 60 pounds a week to run it dont botther. A small Nissan is an ideal start but be very carefull there are plenty of dodgy motor traders about and suggest you dont buy of E - Bay