Need a new car (dealer v private)

mozattack

Hi all,

VW Polo died so need a new car but only have a budget of €3,000.

The cars we are looking at are usually 2003/2004 Corsas, Polos, Fiestas with 50,000 - 60,000 miles on em.

There is a Corsa for sale in the local dealers with a 3 month warranty but I am told that only extends to "engine and gearbox".

I was told by a neutral dealer to go private because the "engine and gearbox" warranty is largely useless as there is little chance an eight year old car would have such a fault and if they did you should notice same when doing the test drive.

I am very weary about going private but on one hand it seems the same, more or less.

Any advise for me (please).

Anan1

Buy privately, it's much safer for the unwary. When you buy privately you get to meet and assess the car's owner, whereas dealers at this end of the market are generally sharks.

si_guru

For €3000 you are going to get a much better car privately.. MUCH better.

bazz26

And out of that choice the Fiesta is probably the least one to give you trouble.

carface

Anan1 wrote: »

Buy privately, it's much safer for the unwary. When you buy privately you get to meet and assess the car's owner, whereas dealers at this end of the market are generally sharks.

In fairness Anan1...How can you advise somebody unwary that its safer to buy from a private seller based on an assessment of their backround. There are plenty of genuine private sellers who could be considered sharks in their own right. With cars getting more complex and expensive to maintain/fix the motive for selling on privately may not be to the benifit of an unwary buyer. Warranty is a pain in the hole for anybody in the trade but is part and parcel of the job. So when advising the unwary to buy private you should also add and explaination of caveat emptor.

Anan1

carface wrote: »

In fairness Anan1...How can you advise somebody unwary that its safer to buy from a private seller based on an assessment of their backround. There are plenty of genuine private sellers who could be considered sharks in their own right. With cars getting more complex and expensive to maintain/fix the motive for selling on privately may not be to the benifit of an unwary buyer. Warranty is a pain in the hole for anybody in the trade but is part and parcel of the job. So when advising the unwary to buy private you should also add and explaination of caveat emptor.

You've answered your own question there - buying privately allows the buyer to meet and judge the character of the owner. Many buyers know very little about cars but are good judges of people. For a €3000 car i'd be advising caveat emptor wherever they go - I certainly wouldn't be buying from a backstreet dealer in the expectation that they'll look after me if something goes wrong.

coylemj

carface wrote: »

In fairness Anan1...How can you advise somebody unwary that its safer to buy from a private seller based on an assessment of their backround. There are plenty of genuine private sellers who could be considered sharks in their own right. With cars getting more complex and expensive to maintain/fix the motive for selling on privately may not be to the benifit of an unwary buyer. Warranty is a pain in the hole for anybody in the trade but is part and parcel of the job. So when advising the unwary to buy private you should also add and explaination of caveat emptor.

As ANan1 said, most people are better judges of character than they are at sizing up a car. Meet the seller, ask questions about service history and whether the car spent most of it's time doing school and shopping runs or on motorways. You will quickly figure out if you're being fed BS and you can walk away.

A warranty from a small-time dealer is worth SFA. At the level of the market the OP is talking about you are far better off buying from the previous owner and cutting out the middleman who is adding nothing to the transaction.

Ali ababa

+1 for the private seller. <snip>

carface

Anan1 wrote: »

buying privately allows the buyer to meet and judge the character of the owner. Many buyers know very little about cars but are good judges of people. For a €3000 car i'd be advising caveat emptor wherever they go - I certainly wouldn't be buying from a backstreet dealer in the expectation that they'll look after me if something goes wrong.

We will have agree to differ on some points.
a you assume private sellers are all honest people.
b you assume the general public are good judges of character/people.
c you assume all cardealers/garages are dodgey or sharks.

It may come as a shock to you the amount of " looking after " smaller indepentant dealers do for their customers regardless of their budget.

coylemj

carface wrote: »

a you assume private sellers are all honest people.

No, we are not. The advice is to suss the guy out by asking lots of questions, that will allow you to filter out the people spinning BS because there's something to hide. And by asking to see the registration cert. you can establish that the guy selling the car is the actual owner and not a part-time dealer or someone selling for a 'friend'.

There are dishonest people out there masquerading as private sellers but with a bit of common sense you can easily flush them out.

carface wrote: »

b you assume the general public are good judges of character/people.

If you're that naive that you can't tell a crook from an honest Joe then you definitely shouldn't go near a small-time dealer.

carface wrote: »

c you assume all cardealers/garages are dodgey or sharks.

No, it's just that at the level of what the OP is looking for (budget 3K) there is nothing that a small-time dealer is adding to the transaction so you are better off cutting him out and buying privately.

barura

Man, I remember ringing up a dude about a Polo when I was getting my current one. Did the classic "You have a car for sale?" and he said "Which one?" I laughed and said did he do this on the side or something as the car was pretty straight from the advert online, he explained he was a mechanic etc. etc. In the end, the car was sold but in fairness I was dealing with stuff in the 400eur mark...

For 3000 I'd be a little more wary buying in private. I'd definitely be doing a full history check in that case and be sure to get a full service history, which I would then ring up the garage to confirm and then someone to confirm that the garage is legit! Ringing up your insurance company to see if it's been crashed would also be smart.

carface

coylemj wrote: »

No, we are not. The advice is to suss the guy out by asking lots of questions, that will allow you to filter out the people spinning BS because there's something to hide. And by asking to see the registration cert. you can establish that the guy selling the car is the actual owner and not a part-time dealer or someone selling for a 'friend.

Thats your opinion but its not always fact within the last month i have sold two cars on behalf of genuine private sellers ( one lady has emigrated,the other on behalf of an elderly lady who husband the registered owner has recently passed away). Both purchasers were made aware upfront that they would not be meeting the registered owners or visiting there homes and would be viewing the cars at my premises. You are right to be wary as there are speculators types masquerading as private sellers out there but its very unfair to tarnish every legitimate independant car dealer as such.

If you're that naive that you can't tell a crook from an honest Joe then you definitely shouldn't go near a small-time dealer.

In the real world I do meet lots of " naive " people who get caught buying off private sellers who dont disclose the genuine reason for selling their car on the private sale market. These " naive " unwary people often pay well over the odds for somebody elses problems. When the question is put to people " How do you get caught " their defence is they felt embarressed or intimidated into purchasing so as not to waste the sellers time.

So in my opinion there is as many " sharks " out there on the private sale market as you feel there are in the motortrade.