Buying second hand car privately ?

Hi all,

I’ve never bought a car in the UK.

I’ve seen a Jazz* for sale which looks decent; it’s a little outside the budget but I can stretch a few hundred more.

I was wondering, would you test drive everything before buying? What about insurance? If the car looks good, do you just sign something and then drive away? If one knows nothing about cars, is it better to via a dealership?

Beyond this, any STW tips?

* also, I notice the log book was replaced recently, can that mean anything untoward?

Cheers!

FM

Also interested in this little Yaris

Always test drive. Look at multiple examples to calibrate expectations and quality of individual cars before you buy. Buying from trade gives you more protection/consumer rights but the car costs more – that said any good dealer shall bring a car up to a standard – not always the case with a private sale. At the lower end of the market best to keep some budget to fix faults on a private purchase. You can transfer ownership and purchase tax at point of sale on line – tax cannot pass from one owner to the next.

Log book renewing is a risk but may mean nothing. If in doubt always remember there are other cars. Best to buy the car that you feel 100% confident in.

Apologies for the ‘stream of consciousness’ nature of this post, but I’m about to go to bed. Honda Jazz’s are good cars, especially if you’re a pensioner!

Always test drive!

You can get ‘day insurance’ for this. Or check your current policy for ‘drive other cars’ (you probably don’t have this given you’ve not bought one before?) Drive other cars is more risky as it’s usually third party only.

I wouldn’t read too much into a new log book, probably realised he had lost the old one when looking for it to sell it. HPI check will throw up untoward stuff with regards it’s history (finance, insurance claims, etc)

Dealer should be better, ie more protection if it’s not good, but the hassle involved in sorting any problems depends on the dealer and you will pay for this, private is riskier but generally cheaper as a result. Take a mate who knows about cars to check it over. Or if it’s a lot of money pay RAC/AA for an inspection. Maybe ask the seller for a new MOT?

Generally easy if it’s a good car, hand over the cash, get V5 slip, or do it online nowadays, ring insurance company and tell them what you’ve bought, job’s a goodun. Sort tax ASAP (if transfering online and insurance company update the database pretty quick this can be done fairly soon, but I’ve always driven home and done it a couple of days later no problem. Do not do this with insurance though! Get that sorted before driving anywhere!)

Always, ALWAYS test drive  – longer the drive, the better your ‘feel’ for the car.

I have no experience of Honda cars – other than writing one off about 30 years ago – so cannot comment about build quality, mechanical reliability or electronics.

Definitely test drive everything and consider day insurance for that, and maybe stick with a dealer for extra peace of mind if you’re unsure.

Dealer peace of mind is a bit of a fantasy imho – better off not spending the markup and keeping it as a contingency.

Test drive

Buyer beware

Check the MOT history

Any service history backed up with receipts

If it’s got good quality, matching tyres that’s always a good sign. Mismatched ditch finders mean it’s been run by a cheapskate

Test drive is useful to check how it runs..

I’ve a few credits left for an ‘in depth check’ if you wanna stick the numberplate up, I’ll run a check for you…

DrP

First thing I do is stick the reg in the DVLA MOT checker. It’ll give you a  mileage history, show any mot fails and why, list advisorys. That’ll enable you to build a picture of the cars history and how it’s been looked after.

If your happy with that, proceed to viewing with test drive.

Full service history with receipts/paperwork

Quality tyres matching tyres  is a  positive sign

As others have said, there are always other cars for sale. If you are not happy, move on

Yep, always drive it.

All of the above advice really & I also look at owners forums – yes there will even be one for the Jazz – which will generally have a good database of common issues.  Most will be minor but some will be expensive to put right so it’s better to be armed with that knowledge so you can ask what’s been done about them etc.

Edit:

https://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=12121.0

andrewh +1 Definitely take a more knowledgeable soul 🙂

Take a mate who knows about cars to check it over. Or if it’s a lot of money pay RAC/AA for an inspection. Maybe ask the seller for a new MOT?

Buying private is riskier, you need to be aware of the potential issues…

Potential log book scam, read this:

https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/heads-up-log-book-loan-finance-scam.266418/

No warranty/comeback if it has a fault.

I would always pay for an enhanced vehicle check eg vcheck, not rely on HPI

But it could be fine.

MOT History looks good – it had a new one last week.

Hondas of that ere usually suffer from rust so have a good poke around underneath.

If you buy it on the day…

• Hand over cash (or do bank transfer).

• Get a written receipt for your money – detailing car reg, make and model, owners details, amount, paid in full etc.

• Get them to change ownership online while you are there. It takes minutes. But take the New Keeper slip of the V5 with you.

• Sort your insurance before you drive off.

That’s pretty much it.

It’s not over complex and IME you get a feel for who’s a scammer and who’s dodgy.

* also, I notice the log book was replaced recently, can that mean anything untoward?

Where does it say that? (I see the part about the number plates being changed – why would they do that? Why would they bother telling you? Check carefully that the VIN on the car matches the V5 or you could be buying a ‘ringer’.)

The Jazz is really high mileage and (to me) the ad reads like it’s written by a trader, rather than a ‘sensible lady driver’. And why would a ‘sensible lady driver’ tell you about teh upgradez? The previous ‘elderly lady owner’ also managed to clock up 100k miles in 10 years.

Do you live in Salford?

On the face of it, the Yaris is a better prospect, but the MOT history is dire – it’s obviously been run on a shoestring, and has had some sort of headlamp tint applied in the past = “boy racer”.

If you don’t “know about cars”, or have someone you trust who does, I think you’d be safer buying from an established dealer.

Remember: with a private sale, you have practically zero rights. Once you’ve bought it, it’s yours; no comebacks.

The Jazz is really high mileage and (to me) the ad reads like it’s written by a trader, rather than a ‘sensible lady driver’.

It’s nothing on a petrol Honda VTEC engine. And it’s less than 10k/year.

He has done the ‘upgrade’ – if you can call number plate bulbs an upgrade.

And not all old-farts sit indoors doing crosswords all the time! 🙂

If you know little or nothing about cars then get an inspection done by the AA/RAC or similar. Not cheap, but well worth it*. Plus you don’t need to test drive it, so you save on any temporary insurance. Of course you might hate the driving position etc.

*Customer claimed the full cost of a ‘cat’ from the RAC when it fell apart after a couple of weeks of ownership. T & Cs may have changed since.

2 lady owners

Always makes me laugh that one!

OE early model Jazz catalytic converters are like catnip for thieves – may be a concern if you live somewhere urban.

Neither of those cars would fill me with confidence

The jazz is probably ok but it doesn’t look like a Goldilocks car, and that’s really what an old lady pensioner car should be

I don’t like the advert, it’s been properly worked over and rolled in glitter. Number plate lamp upgrade?? Or just replacements for the ones that failed the MOT?

Going through the pics I had to go back and check it was indeed a private sale. It looks like a typical Arnold Clark portfolio of photos

I sold my last 2 cars on gumtree, have a look there too

 reads like it’s written by a trader,

Absolutely agree.

Car might be fine, but something’s a bit off with the advert so I’d move on to the next.

As for the OP’s question – yes absolutely buy privately at this kind of level, but be very fussy about what you’re buying and who from.

OP.

The Jazz V5 was last issued on the 22nd June, was MOT’d on the 25th and it’s now for sale?

I’d dismiss that one

Have a look at Toyota IQ as well as Yaris – I was clacking about in SIL’s with 180k miles on it and it was a great little car. Surprisingly spacious inside.

reads like it’s written by a trader

I don’t know much about any of this but this is a good observation — talking about sills and stuff seemed a bit suspect to me.

At this point, I’m looking at renting, but with UK passport and license but residence in EU country, apparently I need proof of utilities and stuff which I don’t have, which seems bizarre to me.

Maybe I’ll just rent instead.

get an inspection done by the AA/RAC or similar. Not cheap, but well worth it*

I know that I was probably unlucky but…

The only time that I’ve had an RAC inspection on a private sale second hand car, it was given a clean bill of health and yet broke down driving it home. I had to get it taken to a garage by the RAC and it had about £800 of repairs ( in 1996). The RAC refused any compensation or liability as they said it had passed all their tests and the failure- a high pressure hydraulic pipe in the suspension system of a Citroen BX- could not have been foreseen. So treat any report as a bit like an MOT- only as good as the tester for the visual condition on that day

unicorn cars are out there but take time to search out.

I bought a Berlingo a few years ago which was the ultimate unicorn and I’ve sold three cars recently for single female friends that were both excellent condition/genuine cars that sold for market values.

At this point, I’m looking at renting, but with UK passport and license but residence in EU country, apparently I need proof of utilities and stuff which I don’t have, which seems bizarre to me.

Have you looked into insurance if you did buy? I don’t know, but could imagine that not being a UK resident might complicate matters.

Roughly whereabouts are you?

Also OP, if you’re looking at that kind of age and price (or lower) – the Fiesta mk5 was a brilliant little car and has a reputation for being very reliable.

There are generally loads of them and they can be priced a bit lower than Toyotas or Hondas.

Who buys new plates for their old runaround a few weeks before selling it because they ‘look a bit tired’? That’s a bit of a red flag for me.

The vast majority of ‘private’ sales on Auto trader are traders in my experience. When I was looking for cars it wasn’t uncommon to see them disappear from Gumtree and then reappear at twice the price from a different seller an hour later. The genuinely good deals are snapped up by traders within the hour.

If you get to the point of getting a phone number for a ‘private seller’ Google that number and see if it comes up against previous adverts for cars.

the ad reads like it’s written by a trader

As an “elderly lady”, I too often talk about LED numberplate upgrades and paint details…

The car might actually be fine but the seller is either a dealer or a kid.

OP: have a look at this seller on eBay. He seems to focus on “boring” Toyotas of the type you’re looking for.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/387116227029?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=VPEBKRpqTWW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=cT8UWKDCSK2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Dealer peace of mind is a bit of a fantasy imho

On this,

Buying a used car from a dealer, your statutory rights are the same as when buying new.  It has to be of satisfactory quality, obviously taking into account age and wear.

Buying privately, caveat emptor.  You have no rights beyond the car having to be roadworthy and it actually being theirs to sell.

But in the real world…

Dealer peace of mind is a bit of a fantasy

User car dealers are infamous for ignoring consumer rights and basically being, slippery, lying toerags.

Not all car dealers are cocks – I could name you three in Derbyshire who I’d have no trouble recommending.

Possibly the ad was written by a car enthusiast relative of the elderly lady… perhaps a son who persuaded mum to upgrade to LEDs??

It doesn’t read quite like a trader to me, but it’s not an elderly woman either.

There are plenty other cars out there, if something seems a bit off, move on

hmm, good advice!! Thanks all, interesting read and good to know my suspicions weren’t too far off, esp. with the Jazz.

I’m likely going to rent because I can get a modern UP or similar for about a grand with largely no worries/stress, and don’t have to worry about getting rid of it after.

As for the cars in your links,

It’s a hard pass on the Jazz for me, there’s too many red flags.  An “elderly lady” doing north of 10k miles a year?  Bull ****ing shit.  Owned by an old lady whose grand/son was masochistic enough to want to rag the tits off a Honda Jazz for 15 years, perhaps.

The Yaris, eh, it’s a Yaris.  It’s hard to get excited about but it looks clean and it’s very low mileage for its age (3000/year).  For the asking price I’d be inclined just to go for it, if it turns out to be a pup you’re not going to be £20k out of pocket.  My primary concern here on the the back of 2+2=5 would be that the clutch isn’t sodded.  I’d also be considering when the next big service is due.

We had a yaris like the one posted, bulletproof.  It was written off in a no fault accident, the ins co paid exactly what the ad price is.

Check for rust though, ours was garaged and pampered, regular services etc.  I still see loads being driven around so there’s loads of life left in them.

Thinking back, in 16 years of ownership it only ever had oil changes, tyres and filters.  No advisories, mostly analogue so v little to go wrong.

There are plenty other cars out there, if something seems a bit off, move on

This is the best advice on the thread, really.

Always, ALWAYS be prepared to walk away.  Other cars are available and nothing focuses a seller’s mind better than their prospective buyer going “thanks for your time, bye!” and heading for the door.

Having now read the advert, avoid. Too many things just don’t ring true and the price is daft for the mileage.  It’s a <£500 car.

A real little old lady car will have <60k on it -they do exist.