Questions to ask a private seller

gimpotronitus

Hi all,

I will probably be buying a second hand 2005 diesel honda accord this weekend from a private seller. The last time I bought was new in 2000 so I have no experience of buying second hand. I will be bringing the car to a honda garage to get it checked out on the day. My question is: what would you guys recommend be the questions that I should ask to the private seller and what are the most important things to check for? Advice greatly appreciated.

thanks a lot,

- Paul.

gimpotronitus

Sorry, I should add that I will be the 3rd owner of the car. thanks.

irishpartyboy

I would imagine the garage would do all the required mechanical checks on the car... so apart from that, its very useful to be able to run the Reg # on the Garda pulse system. Easily done if your have a Garda mate.

I nearly bought a car last summer, looked ok, ran the reg, only to find out it had been stolen and crashed a few months previous. I don't even think the guy who was selling it was aware.

Also if you need to verify there's no finance outstanding, otherwise its not the guys car to sell technically. You'll probably need to know someone in the motor trade to check this out.

rebel.ranter

I would ask the seller:

What's your best price?

Has the car ever been crashed?

Is there Finance outstanding?

Where have you been getting the car serviced?

Do you have the service book (look at it)?

Why are you selling?

Can I see the Vehicle Registration Certificate (get him to fill it out there and then)?

Also check the car out on http://www.cartell.ie for some of the info too.

ZiabR

rebel.ranter wrote:

I would ask the seller:

What's your best price?

Has the car ever been crashed?

Is there Finance outstanding?

Where have you been getting the car serviced?

Do you have the service book (look at it)?

Why are you selling?

Can I see the Vehicle Registration Certificate (get him to fill it out there and then)?

Also check the car out on http://www.cartell.ie for some of the info too.

Yeah they are all the most important questions.

Mc-BigE

rebel.ranter wrote:

I would ask the seller:

What's your best price?

Has the car ever been crashed?

Is there Finance outstanding?

Where have you been getting the car serviced?

Do you have the service book (look at it)?

Why are you selling?

Can I see the Vehicle Registration Certificate (get him to fill it out there and then)?

Also check the car out on http://www.cartell.ie for some of the info too.

before asking for his best price, do your research on the net, carzone, autotrader.ie, etc. but bear in mind that most cars are overpriced on those websites so pick a below average price of all the cars on display. Then with that knowledge ask the question, and always respond with "thats a bit steep" or something like that, never nod you head or agree with the price there and then, there's always room for haggling with the seller.

Atomic Pineapple

rebel.ranter wrote:

Also check the car out on http://www.cartell.ie for some of the info too.

just what exactly do you get from cartell.ie for paying the top price and is it reliable, can you get any info on imports from the uk on it?

rebel.ranter

I would go with http://www.hpicheck.com for UK imports.
For the newer Irish stuff cartell.ie should tell you about the finance outstanding issues & whether it was stolen.