Buying Used Privately

Buying from Someone You Know

How well do you know this person, and how well do you know the car?

You wouldn't be the first to buy a disaster zone just because someone in the family was selling it. Nor would you be the first to overlook faults because you didn't want to upset Uncle Albert and Auntie Gwen and your entire mother's side of the family.

So think about this very carefully. Obviously, if the car is literally being given away, take it. It it's being offered to you at a knockdown price, make sure the price is knockdown by looking it up in 'Parker's Guide' or the 'What Car?' used price guide. If the price is merely a fair price, weigh up what you know about the car against what you're being asked to pay. How long has the owner owned it? Is the mileage genuine? How often was the car serviced? Is there anything wrong with it? How much will the faults cost to put right?

I accept you may have private reasons for giving too much for a car to an impecunious, elderly or sick member of the family. It's a diplomatic way of helping them out. But otherwise you should not let your relationship with the seller colour your judgement. The car is a purchase you are going to have to live with and if it proves to be a money pit you'll have to live with that too.

Buying Used from an Advertisement or Website

Websites are an excellent means of finding out how sellers are pricing the car you want. So in addition to buying 'Parker's Guide' and 'What Car? Used Car Price Guide', check the asking prices for the make and model you're after on www.autotrader.co.uk. This incorporates its own search engine and lists the model by asking prices at progressively greater distances from your postcode.

Once you find the car, first you need to establish the status of who you are buying from. If he is a trader, he is required by law to put a 'T' or the word 'trade' in his small ad. Don't be put off if he has. It gives you rights you do not have against a private seller; in fact the very same rights you have when buying from a swanky, carpeted car showroom.

To try and get out of this, some low-life 'home traders' try to hide the fact that they are traders. So when you call a number in the advertisement which does not contain a 'T' or the word 'trade', say you are calling about "the car"�. A private seller is unlikely to have half a dozen parked up and down the street, so will immediately know which car you mean. A trader who has more than one car will have to ask you, "Which car?"� But even if there is only one car for sale, the seller could still be a small-time trader.

So your next question should be, "How long have you owned it?"� (You may well feel the vendor squirming at the other end of the line.) Anything less than six months should then prompt your next question, "Are you a private seller or a trader?"

If the answer to this is something evasive or a final admission of trader status, ask yourself a question. Do you really want to deal with someone who has already lied in his advertisement?

Assuming from now on we are dealing with a genuine private seller rather than a trader, you need to establish some more facts about the car. First, concentrate on content of the advertisement.

By '55 reg' does he mean 2006/55 or 2005/55? Which 'model year' is the car? For example, a 2005 model '55' reg Focus could be the original shape, but a 2006 model had received a glamorous facelift, even if it had been registered in November or December 2005.

Ask how many previous keepers are listed on the V5 registration document, and add that number to the vendor for the true figure. Ask if the advertised mileage is genuine, and if the answer is 'Yes', ask how the vendor knows it is genuine.

By now, you'll be starting to feel the measure of the person you are dealing with and your instincts will be starting to work. Trust these instincts. They are what you were born with and have developed through your life to protect yourself against danger.

If you're happy about the car and the person selling it, make an appointment to view. Unless the car is something rare and really special, don't be rushed into a hasty twilight or nocturnal encounter. You want broad daylight and you don't want rain. Rain is the most effective disguise for a chameleon colour scheme, paint chips and a host of other defects.