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Hi there.
I am looking to buy a used car (budget circa £10,000). Not knowing ANYTHING about cars or engines, I have been looking at inependant local dealers who have been around for several years, and franchised dealers such as Audi, Ford, etc - in my attempts to limit risk.
With the local dealers, most of the window stickers say '1 owner from new' which suits me well. But when I ask further this always seems to mean ex-lease.
Case in point. - I found one recently that was spotless, indestinguishable inside from brand-new despite over 60k on the clock (2007 reg).
I was very keen, but when looking at the paperwork it was ex-lease. I googled "ex-lease buying guide" and a lot of people seem to think that these should be avoided like the plague, or, at the very least be much cheaper than book price (this car was a fraction over).
I told myself this wasn't a problem, but looking at the lease history I noticed the car had done a lot of it's miles in very short periods - hence the good inside condition?
For example - in the first 6 months it did around 9,000 miles - then in the space of 18 days it did just over 10,000 miles! Then some months later it did 18,000 in around 2 months. I don't even do that in 2 years :)
So my question is - should this hard usage deter me? The log does show that it had good services right after each big drive.
Or would you be better with a slightly older car, but with less miles and a more traditional "one owner from new" scenario - I have found this to be the case in most Audi dealerships.
I would really appreciate some advice - this car hunting is driving me crazy.
Edited by mike1976 on 11/05/2011 at 14:41
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