If you are buying a second hand car you want to know as much about it as possible and buy from a reliable source. Companies that submit themselves voluntarily to regulatory bodies certainly put themselves at the head of the field. A car dealer happy to be involved in trading standards associations and the Financial Services Authority certainly pass the first test. There are some others.
Quality
You need to be certain that the information that you are seeing about a car is correct. The mileage is particularly important. If there has only been a single previous owner there is not too much history to trace but there is a service recognised by Trading Standards for a mileage check and seeing your seller happy to use that service will be reassuring.
Every vehicle that is being offered for sale should have gone through a thorough examination of both the mechanics and the body so that it is ready for a new owner. The initial inspection will be done when a vehicle first comes into stock but it will be rechecked before the buyer comes along to collect it.
Guarantees
You should be looking for a warranty of as much as 90 days. It is a backup to the work that will have been carried out before you drive the car away. You should look at exactly what that covers and of course you can still expect any remaining period of the manufacturer’s warranty to still apply.
You may also be able to get breakdown cover and that is something for you to discuss in more detail.
Finance
With competitive interest rates it makes sense to get finance so that you are paying for the car over the period that you are running it. Most good car companies will have links with reputable finance houses and even if they do receive a commission for introducing clients, that is not really any cause of concern. You do not have to take these services and can compare the quotation with others if you so wish. If you have had any problems in your credit history it may cost you slightly more to get approval.
When you buy a used car you want to have peace of mind. A good company will have a car’s records stored on computer and there will be no nasty surprises. The warranty covers any period where that could possibly happen anyway.
Companies are never going to jeopardise a good reputation just to sell a car; it simply does not make sense. They can be very selective once their reputation has been established and you can certainly benefit from that selectivity.
If you take a look at The Car People you will see plenty of cars worth consideration in most price ranges. You can read through the pages at your leisure with no sales pressure. Even when you make contact to ask your questions you will then be left to think about things without any pressure to proceed. What have you got to lose?
Image Credit to bluemoon197511
