Buying a used car? Do you know what you need to look for?

When you buy a used car from a reputable dealer you can be fairly confident that everything is above board and as it seems. It is highly unlikely that they’ll try to deceive you or supply you with misinformation, as you have legal protection under The Consumer Rights Act.

However, this does not apply to private sales, meaning you have less legal rights. This means you cannot necessarily trust all the information you are given, making it is highly recommended you do some thorough checks on a used car before buying privately. So, just what should you be looking out for?

Full MOT History

An MOT consists of a test of a car’s roadworthiness, safety and emissions as well as comprehensive check of all other aspects of the vehicle. If a car has a full MOT history, you can be fairly confident that it has always been in a decent condition, which allows you to determine whether or not the asking price is reasonable.

If a car has missing MOT history (see here), or the MOT history indicates that it regularly has lots of work done on it, it is probably one to steer clear off. Not only is it likely to cost a lot in future repairs, but its safety may also be compromised.

Service History

Going hand in hand with an MOT history is a cars service history, this will indicate how well the car has been cared for, along with something of an insight into how reliable it is. If you see a on each service the car has lots of work done on it, or regular work on the same part of the car, this could indicate that something is not quite right with the vehicle.

Ideally, if you are looking at a vehicles service history, you also want to see that the servicing has been carried out by the dealer, or a dealer approved garage. If this is the case, you know that only genuine parts have been used when servicing the car while you can also be confident that the work has been carried out to a good standard.

Running Costs

You should also remember that the costs associated with buying a car do not end at the point of purchase (and we don’t mean insurance and road tax either). Cars can cost an arm and a leg to run, especially if you have a long commute to work and back on a daily basis.

A background check on a used car can also give you a detailed insight into approximate running costs, which include fuel consumption, servicing and even repairs.

Other factors to consider

• A history of damage – Amazingly a fairly large proportion (just under 5%) of vehicles that have their backgrounds checked have a history of either being written off due to theft or damage and then refurbished to be sold.
• Plate changes – If something doesn’t quite line up in the car’s history and you can’t figure out why it may have had its plates changed to hide something in its past. Around one car checked in every five has had at least one plate change.
• Stolen – There are a huge number of cars stolen every day in the UK, with daily additions to the Police National Computer you want to make sure that you don’t end up buying hot property (we mean literally!).

We hope you have found this article useful, and if you would like to investigate the history of a prospective used car you can run a thorough car check at regcarcheck.co.uk.