The best place to buy cars from?

[stripped fred]

I usually buy my cars from aurotrader but have also bought from eBay, friends and other people I know and occasionally at auction. I have bever bought from a dealer as I don't like the way they often treat you like a fool. Just wondering where others usually get their cars. I'm thinking of cheaper cars below say £1000 and the good and bad points of buying from certain places. I knom some of you buy on here too which to be seems quite an honest way to buy a car as it will usually be well described with the good and bad points stated honestly. What are your experiences?

[andy18s]

slow and steady works for me.....

[Timewaster]

I usually buy in a hurry and regret it later.

[spike60]

A combination of slow and steady then when that doesn't work the hurry and regret method!

[Timewaster]

For a proper answer, most of my cars have come to find me. Bloke in a pub that kind of thing.

[spike60]

Joking aside, everyone seems to say how there are loads of good cheapys about but if you're selective it doesn't seem that way. Eldest son and I spent a month looking for non French, non PD engine large hatch or estate up to £1500, it wasn't a good experience. In desperation we got a borked 530D BMW Touring, 6 months+ off the road, 233k and it's new gearbox in the boot....

My Polo was Ebay classified, viewed 1st, Z3 from a friend. Bidding blind on Ebay never ended well for me, -unless I was outbid!

[HillmanImp]

Can't recall buying a bad car on Ebay, I must have been lucky. All of them have been bought blind too.

 

100% of the cars I have got off Gumtree have been shit though (see Xantia Activa). 

[crapcarcollector]

eBay is chocked full of shonky misdescribed landfill.

I tend to get mine from a combination of Auction houses, word of mouth or controversially, dealers 'shitter corners'. In fact my current steed, a 180,000 mile CRV came from a shitters row 3 years ago and has turned out to be one of the best cars I've ever owned.

[Largactil]

Fewer and fewer private sales with newer stuff these days - The muggles just don't want the hassle / are intimidated by some random stranger / trader appearing at their door to knock them down on price. (Plus the fraud risks).

 

Look at Autotrader:

 

421,211 cars for sale

31,470 private ads

389,761 trader ads

 

 

PCP deals abound, and people use the likes of We Buy Any Car to dispose of their motors hassle-free (all be it at absolute bottom book).

 

At the chod end of the market, Gumtree seems a decent source - But when it comes to selling anything sub-£500 it's an open invitation to be besieged by mouth breathers offering £200 and thinking they're doing you a favour.

 

I've bought two cars from here, and enquired about a couple more - Very positive experiences so far. 

 

Word of mouth from friends works quite well too - Picked up a 1 owner '96 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro with 36k on the clock for an absolute song a few years back. (Nice car, but sub 30mpg meant it didn't stay too long). 

[cort16]

I think private sellers on ebay at least attempt to make an honest description 90% of the time as they don't want to bum their rating. You can usually sniff them out from their description/pictures.

On gumtree they tell you the very minimum in the hope you'll come out and see it and not notice it'll try to lock you in the minute you drive to the co-op.

[JohnK]

I keep a regular eye on various different places to see if there's anything interesting for sale.

 

I browse a lot of car forums, particularly the For Sale section, so I pick up a fair few cars from there. Notably my old Y reg 728i, MK3 Escort, both 190E's, current Volvo 740 and previous 318iS have all been bought from forums.

 

I do keep an eye on eBay as well, buy very little through there car wise if I'm honest, although I did pick the 525i up on there. I very much live by the thought process that if its not as described they can shove it up their arse and I won't be taking it home with me, despite claims from sellers that it's a 'binding contract'.

 

Strangely enough, Facebook seems to be a really good source of cars I find. Yes there are loads of wannabe traders and I wouldn't sell on there (180 KWID AND ALF A BURGER 2NYT M8), but if you look closely there are many private sellers who just want shot of a genuine motor at a reasonable price and because Facebook is free, it attracts. I picked the SportKa up from there a fortnight ago and often browse the local groups. Unfortunately though there are many ads on there 'open to offers' and when some chav offers £200 it inevitably turns into a slanging match because he's offended the vendor who wants £1500 for his clapped out Clio.

 

I never use Autotrader these days - I find particularly the trade ads are just duplicates of what I can find on eBay and very few private sellers due to their extortionate prices. I maybe should try using Gumtree based on what people have said here, but it generally looks like a huge jumble sale on the odd occasion I go on and again, there's a massive 'cheap shit' garage near me who clog up the first 3 pages of Gumtree with duplicates of their eBay listings.

 

If I'm looking for something specific then Car and Classic is always a good bet too.

[Aston Martin]

Norman?

[eddyramrod]

Since moving in where we are now I've bought:

Peugeot 406 by tramping round the dealers asking for a cheapie, and got a bloody good car;

Blazer, tipped off about a Gumtree ad, almost wish I'd never seen the thing;

Cherry, from here, excellent car, sold here too;

Tacuma, another search of local-ish dealers for something more suitable than the Blazer, and considering it's a blob, very pleased with it;

Volvo 940, from here, and again, sold on here, another excellent car;

MR2, blind off ebay, brilliant little car, sold to my mate the moment he saw it because he just fell in love (and still loves it 9 months on);

Mercury, another Gumtree tipoff, been brilliant until the recent issues and now I'm just frustrated.

 

So buy from Autoshite sellers!

[Largactil]

I maybe should try using Gumtree based on what people have said here, but it generally looks like a huge jumble sale on the odd occasion I go on and again, there's a massive 'cheap shit' garage near me who clog up the first 3 pages of Gumtree with duplicates of their eBay listings.

 

 

 

I'd avoided Gumtree like the plague till recently - A mate who wheels and deals a bit advised it's sometimes worth a look over eBay / Autotrader.

 

I've been looking at getting a new modern recently, and fancied a Vulva V70 - Specifically an R Design one with the D3 engine.

 

Cheapest on AT / eBay was around the £8k mark - I went to look at one on Gumtree for £7k on a 2010 plate, and found the seller to be extremely honest and upfront about the paintwork and any minor mechanic issues.

 

Didn't buy it in the end, as I found it a bit dull to drive, but was a reasonably positive experience, despite the 6 hour round trip I had to rural Aberdeenshire to go look at it.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Autotrader for newer stuff. My 2010 5 series came from a genuine private seller . He'd had it as a company car, then bought it off lease company when he set up on his own, then ran out of money to finish his house build.

Seemed legit all handbooks etc had his name as driver and he was living in static caravan on his own front drive- seemed upset to be transferring all his crap from BM into 51 plate Passat.

Gaylander 2 also private seller from Autotrader, posh giffer withBristol 403, pre-war Alvis and a garage full of old motorbikes- spent longer looking at those than at the Land Rover.

CLK came from brothers neighbour.

e30 found me, friend of a friend.

Rover 600 from AngryDicky's Dad via AS.

Arosa ,gumtree from nice old giffer lady who knocked off an extra £100 because my daughter was so polite!!

Jag from mental retired Colnel type with a flagpole in his garden, a 4x4 Bedford CF and a security system involving mantraps and cross bows.

Just realised I don't buy cars so much as decide if I like the seller.

Nice people sell nice cars.

[Alexg]

I don't think it makes any odds which classified you browse, Gumtree, ebay, Autotrader; as slippery mouth breathers tend to frequent all of them. I've not bought from http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/but imagine it's like the others; don't believe everything you read, down scale expectations by 17% before viewing, and don't be afraid to walk away if something niggles.

[EssDeeWon]

Here.

[vulgalour]

All these posts and not a single mention of Cavcraft!

 

I'd also strongly recommend RobT Motors of That-there-Lahndan for providing quality motors for £almostfree.

[andy18s]

I've had a couple off Billy but most of mine have come from Farcebook groups as there are some decent cars out there

I have just linked a nice Cavvy for sale on the Egay tat page

The current Disco came from South Wales,which meant catching a 5am train down!

[Spiny Norman]

All the best cars I've bought in recent years have come from very local searches on Gumtree ads, the current Volvo I walked less than a mile to pick up.
I have a very efficient BS detector which weeds out 90% of the shit before I even go and look at it so if you can bear to trawl through all the home trader ads and mongspeak there are some good honest motors out there.



 

[Negative Creep]

I would say on here, but the chances of it being local may be slim (especially as every single car for sale seems to be in Scotland lately)

[cort1977]

I tend to buy from used dealers, not the best on price but less hassle than dealing with mouth breathers.  

 

Generally been OK although I did once buy a Cat D 206 (I was young and foolish) but I was able to offload that through Gumtree or something at book price to someone else who also didn't check the history...

 

Definitely agree that a well written ad inspires confidence, if the seller can't even spell the car right they are not likely to be good to deal with.

[purplebargeken]

Here first and foremost. Then eBay. Never tried dealership shite corners, hmmm. 

[Junkman]

Since the last cars ever built are 30 years old next year, supply is drying up rapidly.

So they should be bought up at a faster pace, than I seem to demonstrate lately.

Contrary to this, to not own a portable telephone one doesn't have to buy anything

and to get rid of a telly requires it to be thrown in the street, so I guess everything

evens out in the end.

[strangeangel]

I've had two cars from this very forum, no complaints at all

[stripped fred]

A variety of sources then! I think I need to broaden the outlets I currently look at. I've never bought off Gumtree or facebook but might have a look and also dealer's shite corners which i never knew existed. I thought dealers just put anything they don't want through the auction. I can see the logic in the for sale sections of forums too as they are a bit similar to on here in that they probably have some integrity and don't want to piss everyone off by selling them a dodgy car. Also they are more likely to be enthusiasts. One other point is that I've realised that I seem to buy pretty much the first car I see. I think I'm going to be a bit more choosy and look at a few more examples when I buy the next one if I don't know the owner or its history. Thanks anyway, it's good to know how you acquired your chod.

[Cavcraft]

Chester.

[eddyramrod]

Re dealers' shite corners: I think timing is the key.  A pitch full of 2-7 year old cars won't want a 17 year old 406 hanging around for long, so if you're in the market, go and ask, and keep at it.  You'll be there on the right day eventually and get "well there is this thing, came in this morning, you can have it for 300..."

 

Unless the trader was bullshitting me and he'd had it 6 weeks...!

[gordonbennet]

Just realised I don't buy cars so much as decide if I like the seller.

Nice people sell nice cars.

 

That's the absolute truth of it, if you strike a rapport with the seller you're almost there.

 

I advertised the Hilux on the bay, it was a very genuine motor which we had intended to keep till it died, but circs changed no longer needed and we sold at 3.5 years...it had oil changes at 3k miles or so and it had been professionally rustproofed...the usual dreamers and barely literate mongs and fuckwits tried it on, so obvious were they that they didn't even get the address to come look, then a trader from up Harrogate texted an offer, i texted back with a different offer and we met at £15k, very fair price for both of us and what i wanted all along.

 

We spoke on the phone that day for about 20 minutes and you know when you've 'met' someone you feel right at home with, well that was it.

 

He bank transferred £15k over without even seeing the car and sent one his lads down on the train to collect, the bloke didn't even inspect or test drive it...got a phone call later from the man thanking me for an excellent car and deal.

 

There are still genuine decent honourable people out there, in a way it's probably easier now to spot them cos they're so bloody rare now that they stick out a mile.

[sporty-shite]

I like to keep my options open, so will look anywhere I can if Iooking for something. Although from experience, I've found forums (especially here) to be good, along with Facebook, surprisingly. Granted, it takes a bit of bullshit filtering, but it can be done. Still look on Autotrader, but it's mainly traders selling shit. Ebay, and particularly links from the tat thread have been fruitful, and finally, Gumtree.

 

For selling, the forums and facebook are first, for ease and free advertising. Gumtree is second, although after the debacle with the MGZS*, I always use an anonymous PAYG phone number. If I'm paying, it's desperate usually ebay first.

 

 

 

*Got a text saying simply "£150 scrap". When I politely asked what he was talking about, he replied "you have a car for sale my mate told me". When I told him to jog on, as it was a taxed and tested decent motor, he got all arsey, giving it "Don't forget your address is on the ad" and "you won't have a car to sell".

 

That reminds me, I've still got his number. Need to have some fun with that.........