Car purchase ..private or dealer?

We have found two Smax that are within budget, one is private and one is a dealer.

Both have same engine.

The private one is fully loaded with touchscreen sat nav, panoramic roof, xenon headlights and leather interior and 32k on the clock, obviously has no warranty etc.chap has agreed a price of £13.4k

The dealer one is boggo titanium spec but still a nice car but without the features of the one above, 12k miles which isnt a lot, it will have its service and comes with 12 months warranty and breakdown cover(coming from a honda dealership) this one is £14.6k but could come down.

Which one would you go for ??

Longest car purchase ever.

yes it is isnt it !!! thanks for the input 🙄

Buy private and if anything goes wrong you’re stuffed. Buy from a dealer a dealer and you have *some* protection.

For the kind of money you are spending I’d personally go dealer. Buyer protection on £12k + is worth more to me than toys.

Cheers

Danny B

To be honest thats the way im swaying to be honest !!

Its just that the other one is very nice !

However if I went for the private one I would pay for an AA or RAC inspection on it for piece of mind!

I’d buy private as when you’re in the poverty spec car you’ll wish you had all the extras. Buy a warranty yourself for piece of mind.

I’d buy the private one assuming equal age and spend 300-400 quid on a warranty with warrantydirect or similar if you’re worried. Don’t pay loads for an aa inspection, they don’t do that much! Pay your local garage to have a look if you are worried.

Sorry the are both the same age on a 10 plate.

here is dealer one………

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201306137259589/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/petrol/price-to/15000/price-from/14000/model/s-max/make/ford/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/ox106dh/keywords/titanium/page/1/radius/1501?logcode=p

I havent got any pics of the private one as the advert has disappeared

The AA / RAC checks contain that many caveats about how if anything goes wrong its not their fault I wouldn’t bother.

90% of it is stuff you can do yourself (fluid levels etc).

The most important thing you can do (both private and dealer) is check the car’s MOT history. This is now all online and you can quickly spot clocked mileage etc.

Cheers

Danny B

Mot history check is good for most cars but these are too new. Looking at the specs private all the way for me if you get a good feeling off the seller.

Why did you decide against the Motorpoint one?

Are either/both a ‘good’ price?

Another thought, how are you paying – as if I’m selling privately I want cash. A dealer otherwise will be happy with cash/cheque/card/transfer etc.

I’m guess you sold the Mazda – what did you get in the end?

And only buy a thirsty petrol (while I run petrol cars few others seem to want them) if you’re going to keep a long while, otherwise it’ll be hard to sell.

We are moving up north and will not be travelling to parents as much now so mileage will be under 10k a year!

If I could find a decent diesel with the same mileage for the same price etc I would be tempted but I had a cmax diesel a few years back and it gave me nowt but trouble !!

Why did you decide against the Motorpoint one?

Which one was that mate?

Sorry the are both the same age on a 10 plate.

In which case 12k is too little mileage – implies lots of short trips. Even I’m managing more than that despite the car spending most days sitting on the drive (which isn’t how most people do low mileage).

12k seems too low for a 3 year old car.

If the seller of the better specced car seems a decent bloke with a decent house (nice people have nice cars) get that one.

I really don’t see what you get by going to a main dealer, apart from paying more and them trying to sell you more stuff. Certainly the car will be no better just because its from a dealer.

As above buy a warranty if you really want one, last time I looked they were £200 ish.

The chap selling the one privately is a foreign fella that has lived in London for the past 20 years. he has sent me photos of the service history(full) and also his original invoice from when he bought it last year!

This is it……….

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/renton1/photo1_zpsd2e61605.jpg

Where can you buy a decent warranty then ?

Think RAC do a warranty package. Alternatively I’d say chat too Ford.

If the better specced one has a fsh and everything else I’d say drive it before you make any decisions. I’ve been stuck before on dealer cars that have gone sour and the dealers haven’t honoured the warranty period given.

I always buy privately, but always do my homework first. What goes wrong with this model? Which models share the same toys and do they go wrong?

Simple things I’d check:

The oil level,
The oil inside the oil filler cap,
The current fluid levels,
That the tyres are all the same or at least in axle pairs,
Does the underside of the car look clean? an oil leak will soon show itself and likely won’t be tidied underneath.
Do all the panels look the same colour under a high intensity bike light?
The panel gaps on every panel, are they consistent?
What condition are the wheels in, this is often a good sign as to how the car has been treated
EVERY switch in the cabin. Do the windows drop at the same rate?
Is the aircon cold? If not, don’t accept the “it just needs a regass” excuse, get them to do it as it might be something significantly more expensive,
Have any of the windows been replaced? If so, by whom and for what reason?
Does it brake straight and true from 40mph with no hands on the wheel?
Does anything rattle on the test drive?
Has anything been repaired by the dealer? Why? When? is it warranty work and still covered.

There’s more, but I’ve got to get back to my transfer report…

N.B. I am quite picky when it comes to cars….

How is a titanium model ‘boggo’ or ‘poverty spec’? I thought it was above Ghia i.e. pretty near the top of the tree in terms of equipment?!

I like buying private but I’d be getting nervous at the money you are talking! I’d be thinking about getting a signed statement from him listing all known faults (if any) as then if anything comes to light that he would reasonably have known about you do get a chance of some comeback after the sale. Even though its a private sale he cannot mislead/lie to you about the condition of the car…but you have to ask the questions in the first place!

spooky boggo as in standard titanium spec and not having sat nav, panoramic roof etc

I guess buying private you have no comeback ?

Two words: Logbook loan.

Dealer for me

So every private seller is a scammer and all dealers are honest? 🙄

All my cars have been bought private, as with buying bikes do your research.

My dad viewed a private car for me recently. He printed off a long checklist (from Which I think) then just went through it with the seller. Happy with the saving against dealer prices, which I’d estimate at 15-20%.

Most of my cars were bought privately. If the car has a logbook loan it wpnt show on HPI and it wont be covered by HPI.

The only thing you can do (with any private purchase) is get the seller to sign a printed doc ‘this is my car/no money is owed on loans etc, unaware of pre-existing mechanical issues etc’.

As the V5 is NOT proof of ownership.

If subsequently the car hasa loan attached you can then pursue the seller….but then can they pay?

If they sign it is good mechanical and you find a recent bodge there is a legal comeback. You can take them for costs/misrepresentation.

Nowadays I’d rather travel 200miles for a top car/deal from a dealer.

Thats a good tip that actually Hora cheers!!

To be honest if someone tried to rip me off for that amount I would fire bomb their house!! 😈

cars from a dealer the same age etc are £1500 more

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1091076

Be patient. It’ll pop up.

What if there is an issue on the enhine? 13k is alot of money

FYI. Titanium is the “Sport” Version of Ghia. Titanium X and Ghia X are both the top of those models. Coming with the full luxury in the Ghia and Sporty stylings in the Titanium.

FYI. Titanium is the “Sport” Version of Ghia. Titanium X and Ghia X are both the top of those models. Coming with the full luxury in the Ghia and Sporty stylings in the Titanium.

Not quite true….

The smax never came in Ghia trim.

The trims available are….

LX

ZETEC

Titanium

Titanium x sport.

A titanium x is a normal titanium with the x pack option added.

X pack includes Panoramic roof, leather, alcantara seats and 18 inch alloys.

Titanium x sport is the top of the range sports model.

Regards

Steve

**** me , do you trust ANYONE hora ?

all cars are taxis with logbook loans against them if they are for sale privately

all your forks are broken when you buy them

all your frames ride terribly.

**** me , do you trust ANYONE hora ?

all cars are taxis with logbook loans against them if they are for sale privately

all your forks are broken when you buy them

all your frames ride terribly.

😆

all your forks are broken when you buy them

no all forks BREAK after I’ve had them. Maybe I should change my login to Cyncal-hora

Go Private then get a warranty. http://www.moneyexpert.com/vehicle-warranty?affiliateid=426&campaign=MEXPPC-G-WAR&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=MEX%20-%20Vehicle%20Warranty%20-%20Search&utm_content=Keyword%20-%20Ford%20Warranties&utm_term=ford%20warranties&utm_match=Exact&gclid=COCmmvW4lbgCFQ3KtAod6y0ATw

Dealers make a good margin on all cars, especially second hand. I will also agree on the too low mileage point, DPF and DMF nightmare which may not be covered by a dealer warranty anyway..

AS others have said not everyone is out to scam you..

Buy the private one, your milage per year is low, it will be a very low milage car when you sell, it has all the toys & thats nice its also 1k less, win win. As previously suggested you can buy your own warranty if you wanted, thats all dealers do in most cases anyway.