Sooo.... When You Buy a Used Car.....

Kintarō Hattori

What's the story with paperwork? I'm hoping to see a car tomorrow and have no idea what I should be doing/asking for. Let's say I like the car- what do I need to get from the owner to make it mine so to speak?

Also I know I should really get someone to give it the once over- but I just rang AA Vehicle Inspections and it seems they don't work Saturdays. It's a Ford Ka...... I imagine they would/should be fairly reliable? Heh, are they?

I know the obvious things to look out for are:

A rough sounding engine
Blue smoke out of the exhaust
Lumpy gear changes
Rust
Make sure all the electrics work


I should add I don't have a drivers license, the missus does yet somehow I'm in charge of buying the car. All advice is greatly appreciated.

L-M

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056198864

I wrote up that, may be of some help!

coylemj

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

What's the story with paperwork? I'm hoping to see a car tomorrow and have no idea what I should be doing/asking for. Let's say I like the car- what do I need to get from the owner to make it mine so to speak?

Sounds like a private sale so ask to see the vehicle licence cert./registration cert. and make sure that your man's name is on it i.e. he actually owns the car. If it's someone else's name he will probably claim that he is 'selling it for a friend', this means that he is a dealer so you need to tread carefully.

Field E on the cert. is the VIN (chassis) number, make sure that the car has this number stamped on it i.e. the cert. relates to the actual car you're viewing.

Field J3 on the cert. tells you the number of previous owners so if he claims to be the original owner, J3 should have a value of zero.

If the car is due an NCT soon, bear in mind that you can submit the car for the NCT three months early (six months if it's the first test) so for example if the car was first registered in July 2005, it is due an NCT in July this year but could be submitted for the test now. A lot of people attempt to get rid of cars just before the NCT expires, this can be a sign that the car hasn't been maintained very well and the owner suspects that it will fail the NCT.

If you buy the car, the previous owner has to fill in your name and address on the back of the cert, then both of you sign it and he sends it off to Shannon, they will then send you a new cert. in your name. If he has any sense he should not hand the cert. to you because if he does and you take your time sending it off to Shannon, he will get any speeding and parking tickets that you clock up in the meantime so don't expect him to hand you the cert.

Kintarō Hattori

Great information so far, I'm much obliged for it. Limerick Man had a link in his post where you can check the vehicles registration with the Motor Tax office. I checked and it's telling me that the car was issued a cert on the 15/04/2011.

That's not a good sign I think? They must have bought it, registered it and are now selling it on. What do you think or am I being overly cautious?

cadaliac

Well, the guy could be a dealer. It wouldn't put me off, but you should ask them if they are a dealer or not.
Some other people, take a punt on buying a cheap car, cleaning it up, possibly putting it through the NCT and making a few quid on the deal. It's not uncommon in these difficult times. Just ask and they should put your mind at ease. A dealer has to tell you that they are a dealer if you ask. (there is a legal implication if they don't AFAIK).
As coylemj pointed out, the NCT should be fresh - in this case with a brand new owner, hopefully a dealer.
If not, as in the NCT is about to expire, and the owner is not a dealer, I would walk away. They might claim they know nothing about cars and just want to get rid of it, but it means a bill for you to get it through the NCT.
Now, this is not always the case, but a 5 minute conversation with the owner should tell a lot.

Kintarō Hattori

Thanks, I'll ring them tomorrow and ask. I had rung them earlier in the day to see if the car was still available and got speaking to the owner who was foreign, not that that makes any difference of course. The ad online appears to show the car in a reasonable looking housing estate. There is plenty of time left on the NCT, it doesn't run out until late next year.

So.... they don't sound like a dealer (I'll question them more tomorrow though), the NCT has a good long time left on it and they only registered it last month. Cause for concern?

I'm sorry to be asking so many questions. I've never bought a car before and this will really make an unbelievable difference to my other half. Currently she has to get a train and then a bus to work which takes 2.5 hours altogether. Driving from our house to work will take her just 25 minutes. I really need to get this right and not buy a sh!tbucket.

coylemj

You mentioned that you don't have a driving licence so I'm going to make an assumption that either you can't or don't drive, that probably means that you know very little about cars in general so maybe you should ask a reasonably intelligent friend who does have a licence to come along and look over the car and maybe take it for a short test drive.

You don't need to be a mechanic to spot obvious faults like uneven wear on tyres, blue smoke coming out of the exhaust, discolouration in the coolant tank, the pedals looking more worn than they should be for the mileage on the clock and check under the bonnet and in the boot for evidence of a crash repair.

If I was you I would not do the inspection by myself, bring a friend and let him give the car the once over while you negotiate the price down!

Kintarō Hattori

Indeed I don't have a car. My folks never drove and anyone in my family who does lives overseas, the kids (adults now) who stayed here never quite got around to it. As a result all my close friends don't actually drive so I can't call on anyone. That's why I was thinking about getting an AA inspection done. What do you think of these?

It is utterly stupid that herself drives but wants me to get the car for her. I could argue the logic of this thinking but I quite like nagging to be kept to a minimum.

flutered

run the number thro carchech or similar, it costs 35 lids but it could save you a boodle, i had a deal done just at the last minute i checked it out, only to be told that it was registered as a taxi.

coylemj

flutered wrote: »

run the number thro carchech or similar, it costs 35 lids but it could save you a boodle, i had a deal done just at the last minute i checked it out, only to be told that it was registered as a taxi.

Agree but I'd look at the car first, you can't be paying out to check every car that you might be interested in.

I was about to make an offer on a car for sale only two weeks ago, it was the exact match of exterior and interior colours I was looking for and the service history looked good. However when I asked to see the vehicle registration cert. the guy selling it said he didn't have it and then admitted that he was 'selling it for a client' but denied that he was a dealer. I said I'd think about it, went home, went to motorcheck.ie and paid the 12 euros fee, discovered there was finance outstanding on it!

OP, how old is the car and what's the claimed mileage? When you look at the car, ask to see service receipts and ask them if they have the report sheet from the last NCT, that will have the mileage recorded.

Kintarō Hattori

coylemj wrote: »

OP, how old is the car and what's the claimed mileage? When you look at the car, ask to see service receipts and ask them if they have the report sheet from the last NCT, that will have the mileage recorded.

Will do, thanks once again. It's 13 years old and the reported mileage is 82K. They say they serviced it recently, so hopefully they'll have those details.

delly

I wouldn't worry about the issuing of a cert recently, its a transfer of ownership that would raise alarm bells. It often happens that people haven't laid eyes on there cert since they bought the car, then many years later while preparing to sell they have to get a new one issued.

_Conrad_

delly wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about the issuing of a cert recently, its a transfer of ownership that would raise alarm bells. It often happens that people haven't laid eyes on there cert since they bought the car, then many years later while preparing to sell they have to get a new one issued.

I had to do that just last month in fact. Put two cars up for sale, went looking for the reg certs, couldn't find one, so off to the motor tax office to get a new one, so had a brand new crisp cert, but had owned the car for 2-3 years

Kintarō Hattori

Should I ask him anyway why it was only registered last month? See if it's a genuine reason or if the question leaves him a little flustered?

flutered

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Should I ask him anyway why it was only registered last month? See if it's a genuine reason or if the question leaves him a little flustered?

all the more reason to spend 35 lids, it is not much compared to the price of the car and possible/probable future bills, it would be interesting to see if the owner lives in that estate where the pics were taken, my hunch is no, if so beware.

L-M

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Should I ask him anyway why it was only registered last month? See if it's a genuine reason or if the question leaves him a little flustered?

Was there a new cert issued or was it transferred into a new owner?

coylemj

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

They say they serviced it recently, so hopefully they'll have those details.

Don't believe anything that isn't documented, especially dodgy looking stamps in the service book. If it was serviced recently ask to see the invoice/receipt.

Some people are good at the sales talk, they have the knack of being able to tell a pack of lies and through charm and guile they are believed, this is how independent dealers are able to offload heaps of sh1te on unsuspecting punters, some of whom believe the guy simply because he's 'in the trade'.

Wear your cynic's hat when listening to the sales pitch.

Kintarō Hattori

Well that sucks a little. Two people were going to have a look (a paid look) at two different cars for me but it hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it will. I rang the AA and they quoted €330 to have a look at a car worth around the €1000 mark.

Mods- am I allowed to ask for help on the forum here? I would pay someone to have a look at it with me. Is €330 on the mark or am I being too cheap in expecting less? All I need right now is a cheap little run around for herself to get to work and two cars fit the bill.


Edit: I should add one is in the city centre and the other is in Ashbourne.

delly

An AA check is pretty comprehensive, but I would see it as costing too much for the value of car your looking for.

Regarding looking for somebody to have a look with you, thats up to the mods, but it happens a fair bit I would think.

Kintarō Hattori

Anyone?

slinky2000

In my opnion, a car for a grand or under you take it or leave it. Go and have a look, make sure it's in decent condition, ticks all the boxes you need it for, drives reasonably well, got some NCT etc.

I wuldn't worry about service documentation for cars under 1K. This is just me though, I know many wouldn't.

I wouldn't bother with a AA check. If you want to do a check just do a NPI check and it should come up with most things you would want to look out for. http://www.cartell.ie/

Go and have a look, if you feel there's sometihng funny going on, walk away, there'll always be other cars for under a grand.

Kintarō Hattori

I spotted a nice tidy looking Micra on DoneDeal on Friday last. On Saturday I went to see the car. The chap seemed a little bemused that I couldn't take it for a test drive so I observed! What can I say..... the engine sounded grand, gear changes appeared smooth. There was no damp anywhere and all the panels looked OK. The VIN number matched that on the registration docket. He drove the car on the motorway, we hit 100kph and there was no sign of any wheel wobble.

He had the car NCT'd a few days before selling it, so we don't have to worry about that until 2013. I offered him a bit more and he drove the car out to Balbriggan bringing the total to €1100, which is fair considering it has 75K on the clock and some tax left on it.

The missus was thrilled. She wasn't expecting to see a car outside the house when she got back from work. This will save her over three hours per day in journey time.

There are one or two drawbacks. The radio/cd player doesn't give out any sound. I'll get a new unit in the near future and change that. The glovebox is banjaxed.... the drawer/lid whatever you call it needs to be replaced. Are these expensive and/or hard to fit?

Ardennes1944

are you sure its the cd player thats the cause and not faulty wiring behind it?

L-M

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

There are one or two drawbacks. The radio/cd player doesn't give out any sound. I'll get a new unit in the near future and change that. The glovebox is banjaxed.... the drawer/lid whatever you call it needs to be replaced. Are these expensive and/or hard to fit?

I wouldn't pay more than a fiver for one! And as above take out the radio and have a look at the wiring (you don't need to be an expert for this. Just make sure there are no cut wires etc. If that fails then try get another radio with the same connections and plug it in to see if it is the radio.

Nice colour! And best of luck with it, they're more or less bullet proof.

Kintarō Hattori

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

are you sure its the cd player thats the cause and not faulty wiring behind it?

Heh I have no idea but I'll have a look and see if I can do anything.

Ardennes1944

on older cars it is usually very easy to remove the cd player/radio. usually wedge it out with a flat screwdriver, slide it out. on a car that old, is it very possible that some muppet has totally fecked up the wiring for the speakers and radio with a mass of connectors and black tape so i hope for the best

subway

check the fuses for the radio, if its aftermarket it may have blown something.
ring a breaker for the glovebox door, should be just a couple of screws holding it in.