Private vs. dealer

When you’re buying second-hand cars, some people will tell you to go to a dealer, others will try and convince you that you should try and find a private seller. The same sort of arguments you hear when you rent a flat… go through an agent, you have more protection! Rent through a landlord, they won’t rip you off half as much! In the end, it’s down to luck of the draw…

There are benefits to buying through a dealer: they might do guarantees, they should have premises that you can return to if there is a query or dispute and a private seller might genuinely miss a problem if they don’t know much about cars and you might find that you suddenly have an expensive problem on your hands. But of course, dealers generally charge more and there seem to be more and more ‘private dealers’ who – and this is just my opinion – I would avoid like the plague!

We saw three this weekend and last, and they were all as bloody dodgy as each other. One operated out of a housing association car park (but we didn’t have his address, he could have lived miles away), another one operated out of a private car park (see above) and the third rented space from a car wash / valeting firm. All of them had mobiles – no landlines, and frankly if the cars they were selling were animals, you would have them put down.

We’ve bought our new car through a private seller. And I have to say, there was a lot about the transaction that I felt comfortable with – we knew his address, landline and mobile, he had genuine reasons for selling (he is upgrading – his new car arrives on Weds), he wanted a good price, but he wasn't out to rip anyone off, he liked the car and had looked after it really well…

I’m not saying one is better than the other and regardless of where you buy the car, make sure you check it over properly (if you’re not confident, take a friend / parent / partner), make sure all the documents are in order, do an HPI check* and finally - and this is really important! - trust your instincts!

*A HPI check can be done through the RAC/AA/Green Flag and you give them the registration of the car and they check that it hasn’t been reported stolen; that is doesn’t have outstanding finance on it; that it hasn’t been written off in an accident and that there are no mileage discrepancies… worth doing and Green Flag of whom I am a member only charge £25.