Buying a used car

[Goodliz]

Our car is on the way out so we need to get another used car. I'm wandering where people go. We are not flashy and we are not into paying monthly for things (apart from mortgage of course) which means we would have to get something a bit older as we would be paying for it all in one go. Our current one was about 7 years old when we got it and it has lasted us about 6.5 years.

As we don't have a pram anymore we would go for something smaller such as a fiesta, astra or focus.

Can anyone recommend any garages please that are honest etc and are not full of cars for about 10 grand :-)

Thanks, Liz

[hellosailor]

We found it easiest to find the second hand car we were looking for on auto trader, then we got RAC or AA, I forget which one we're with but they both offer this service to members and non-members, to come and do a check which was about 140 quid I think. And when they said it was all fine we went ahead and bought it.

http://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/vehicle-inspections/vehicle-inspections-for-private-buyers/

[melbourne groover]

Loads of cars have forums specifically devoted to their brand and it is a great way of hearing about any recurring problems with a particular type once you have narrowed it down. We made the decision based on the things we needed then weighed up the results from there. It means you can be really specific on auto trader once you know and can jump on the good priced ones. Then we got our regular garage to give it the once over before we bought. Has worked well (touch wood) twice for us now on not particularly new cars.

[Goodliz]

Thank you hellosailer and melbourne groover. Hoping I find something soon as our's is about to pack up!

[Strawbs]

We got ours off here on the forum is 2010. Costs is ?950 and it's been ace! Only two minor things have gone wrong with it costing us ?350 in total. We don't do long journeys and only very much do local driving so a cheap reliable car has been just what we needed and luckily got. Good luck!

[ana maria]

We have used gumtree and edf, both cars were very reliable and unbelievably cheap. Keep an eye here and gumtree, you never know what you will find. Best of luck!

[njc97]

cargiant has such a massive range that they probably have lots that would suit: have a look on their wesbite. Only thing is the service can be a bit "easyjet" - take a number and hang around waiting for a test drive etc.

[hellosailor]

Cargiant do some stuff like tell you they still have a certain car on their forecourt that you enquire about and then when you get there it's not true, they just wanted to get you to the premises.

Also, when we went to look at one car through them, it turned out to be the same model and colour as the one we'd been looking at photos of, but not the same actual car, instead it was in worse condition. They said they 'sometimes used photos of a different car'?er?

prob best to avoid..

[Goodliz]

Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping something cheap and cheerful will come up locally.

[Shaggy]

We really like Kinghams in Croydon. Really nice and trustworthy, excellent service. We got our Subaru from them last year.