[Closed] Car buying: private vs dealer

I know there is more protection buying from a dealer

Hahhahahhahahhhaahhhhaaaaaaaa

Sorry sir, that's wear & tear and not covered by the warranty.
Sorry sir, that's electrical and not covered by the warranty.
etc.
etc.

Buy private. Especially if the current owners seem like decent folk. I generally try to buy all my cars private if I can but it's getting harder.

Could go either way. With a 'premium' car like a Mini Cooper I'd be looking for a private sale from a nice house and with 4 decent matched tires.
Basically you want a car that's been maintained regardless of cost as opposed to on a shoe string. House and tyres are the best chance you've got of spotting this!

My thoughts too. Sadly she's wanting to meet in a car park.

Sadly she's wanting to meet in a car park.

I don't see that as much of a problem. Just ask to see the V5C...it'll have her address on there 🙂

Dodgy car park meet, I'm out.

As others have said I'd much rather buy from a private seller. Dealers don't actually seem to do much to prep the cars so you just end up paying a premium for a sort of warranty if you can be arsed to chase. Certainly at 4k I'd be going private.

I've noticed over the years that many so called private sellers are actually dealers anyway

She wants to meet in car park because she's a cautious middle class respectable lass who's read up on how to sell a car privately.

Or maybe not.

She wants to meet in car park because she's a cautious middle class respectable lass who's read up on how to sell a car privately.

Or maybe not.

He should be able to discern this from a chat on the phone with a few polite questions expressing his own concerns.

I much prefer to buy private, for value as well as meeting the previous owner and sizing them up.

They're not asking dealer kind of money are they?

She's OK to confirm her address and show V5, so all good. It's cheaper than dealer, maybe 10%

Now to read up on oil leaks....

If she is a single woman it’s smart of her not to meet you at her house.

At that price point I’d say private all the way. Dealers just give the car a good valet and buy a warranty insurance policy after “checking the car”

Is it an S? They like a drink of oil. Find a bumpy road and listen for knocks, nothing too much to be worried about but useful to negotiate.

Cheers, not an S.

Good and fair point Andy. A3'd be nice but twice the £ and 100+miles away.

We brought a golf GTD 2013 privately 8 months ago. Even though it has a VW warranty covering the car, VW are being less then helpful as we didn't buy through a dealer. If we brought it from a dealer then we could return it. We will never by private again as you have no comeback. We are now looking at taking legal proceedings against VW.

From your other post you're not the most knowledgeable car buyer. Which ever you go to look at then have a third party check it over such as AA or RAC. If you're buying private then you can still purchase a warranty for peace of mind.

I bought from a dealer once, and quickly found the "AutoProtect" warranty to be completely useless, and seems to be mainly a tool for the dealer to shirk all responsibility for sorting any issues.

I ended up going to small claims court. Dealer paid up 2 weeks before hearing (engine rebuild due to failed cambelt).

Bought all my other cars privately, though I've found it increasingly difficult to find much for sale privately (that isn't a dodgy dealer in disguise).

My guess is people just hold onto cars until they get an expensive problem like DMF (but car remains driveable) and then trade it in??

depends on your appetite for risk and your ability to solve the issues your self.

I know my way round a car or two. Every time i go to a dealer and start crawling round under the car with a torch they seem to get nervous.......

I usually end up starting at dealers and finding nothing i like so going private.

Ive only been stung once - and that was listening to the wife who really wanted a golf - and had her heart set on one we found that on paper looked really good - it was from a respectable middle class house , 4 matching tires, new exhaust front to back - full service history (all from the same garage all done in the same green pen i later notice - my spidy sense should have caught that earlier)

Shame it was v5ed and sold by the mother of the house but when in fact it was driven by her 17 year old son. It drove perfect on the test drive , didnt smoke. When warm on the motorway it drank oil like an old tractor.

You must also check service history, and perhaps even call the local service agent to verify, and check cars history on the system (assuming its gone back to mini to have its services done)

Is it me, or are private sales becoming rare these days.
Just bought a 64 plate Golf DSG Tdi for the Mrs and could I find anything worth buying private? - could I heck.

Also finding that private sellers are increasingly wanting as much as the dealers!

Currently looking for the obligatory STW Octavia Estate but not surprisingly private sellers are thin on the ground for what is a fleet vehicle. Also looking for a first car for a teenager, so Polo, Fabia, Ibiza etc and whilst there's more of them they're not abundant. It's not the fun I remember when younger!!

Sorry sir, that's wear & tear and not covered by the warranty.
Sorry sir, that's electrical and not covered by the warranty.
etc.
etc.

A [i]dealer[/i] warranty is generally the same as the warranty provided on new vehicles (though typically for a shorter period) so should be solid.

An [i]independent[/i] warranty generally isn't worth the paper it's written on, as you say.

Why not buy from a dealer and trade in your existing car (the one with the broken wipers)??

Is it me, or are private sales becoming rare these days.

Yeah, it's even worse with vans.

Is it me, or are private sales becoming rare these days.

I'm looking for a Fiat 500 for daughter #1 and may end up getting a [new car] dealer friend to buy one for me from an auction.

Is it me, or are private sales becoming rare these days.

Yep. My theory is that as most people seem desperate for the latest number plate they buy new on PCP then hand it back at the end of the term.
All those cars end up going to auction and being bought by 'dealers' who wash them and advertise them with £1000 profit.

Is it me, or are private sales becoming rare these days.

If your looking at the nearly new market then yes your right - but thats as stated above most folk choose to pay monthly to rent their car.

once you get down to my usual haunt - the 8-10 year old used but not abused looking for the one with the well looked after past thats got a few dents and dings and is thus cheap and i dont care when my neighbours bin falls onto it....

theres plenty for sale privately

A dealer warranty is generally the same as the warranty provided on new vehicles (though typically for a shorter period) so should be solid.

An independent warranty generally isn't worth the paper it's written on, as you say.

He won't be buying a £3k Mini from a dealership.

Once bought a Golf from a huge house in a lovely village in Wiltshire. Owner basically said it was his wife's old car, he'd bought her another, here are the keys, go and give it a test drive!

We bought it and paid cash. We must have looked honest, what with a few week old baby and an old breadvan Polo!

Buy the seller not the car.

craigxxl - Member
From your other post you're not the most knowledgeable car buyer. Which ever you go to look at then have a third party check it over such as AA or RAC

The one where I can't fix an issue that's flummoxed 2 Smart dealers and an auto spark? 🙄

Well I bought it, read up and did all the checks, no os recalls and seems looked after, drives well.

It's no Smart Roadster though, in that it's modern and dull, but it's not immobile 😀

Thanks for the help!

At £3k I'd be looking at private since dealers at this end of the price bracket are possibly more dodgy. With more expensive cars (and everyone has their own definition of that that is) I'd be buying from a dealer or well know specialist.

Couple of mates are serial car buyers. Only cars they've had real issues with are from dealers.

They say folk only trade cars in when they become problematic and don't want to deal with a punter face to face.

Yes stealer dealers they’re and if there are faults, manufacturer doesn’t want to know and guess what neither do the dealer of course.

Waste of time and stressful dealing with deceitful dealerships, as for motorcycles this x1000%

I would go private for a 3k Mini, but do your research they are good cars but you need to know what to look for most 2nd hand dealers won't know anything about them.