Buying a second hand car isn’t a great deal different to buying a new one so I do not propose to bore the reader by repeating what I wrote in my “Buy Me I’m New” review on buying a new car.

All that I wrote in that review holds good for second hand cars but there are additional points to ponder in the second hand car market.

First of all if that bargain seems too good to be true, then it probably is, so run a mile from it. Never trust the odometer reading, ask for proof. No proof. No deal. It may look terrific all polished and gleaming with a clean interior and a scent of pine in the air but it’s not so good if the clock has been turned back or worse still has been around once. That 35,000 miles reading for a five years old car could mean 135,000 miles. It’s not just the engine and gearbox but the wheel bearings and transmission and shock absorbers and brakes etc. etc. etc. They too have done 135,000 miles. A totally rust free body in immaculate condition is a fat load of good if all the mechanical parts are on the verge of failing.

If you are buying a banger then that’s what you will get and no amount of expertise will alter that fact. I know of one person who has spent his whole motoring career of some thirty years buying very cheap bangers to run for a few months before selling them for scrap and buying another one. In England a car over three years old needs a bona fide MOT certificate to prove that at the time of the inspection it was roadworthy, so a £100 banger with a 12 months MOT should, with a little bit of luck, last at least nine months and you will get £30 back from the scrap yard. Off course this guy I know is knowledgeable enough to fix the banger using scrap yard spares if the need ever arose. Where else can you get motoring for a capital outlay of around £10 per month?

Second hand car sales fall into one of three categories, private, auction and showroom. Although you have to be extremely wary of all three you need to be double wary and knowledgeable in a private or auction sale even more so if the private sale turns out to be a garage owner doing a bit on the side or a ‘friend’ up the road. First of all check that the car is actually owned by the seller and not some HP company. If the car is owned by a finance house, you will lose the car and your money with virtually no chance of getting your money back from the seller.

Should anything go wrong with a private second hand car purchase you have virtually no recourse to recompense unless you can prove deliberate fraud and even then the police are unlikely to look sympathetically on your case unless you happen to be one of many. And even then your chances of getting your money back are from nil to not at all.

So before contemplating a private second hand car purchase decide first if you really do know your stuff about cars or is it something that you say you do but know in your heart of hearts is not true. This is the time to be honest with yourself and hang the street cred. As it states in the ancient Chinese proverb that I have just invented, “Better a low street cred than an empty wallet and no car.”

Inspect your prospective purchase thoroughly and in full daylight and if you can’t or don’t know how to, hire someone who can, like the AA or RAC. Better still hire them anyway even if you are the world’s greatest expert on second hand cars, because if they give you the go ahead and say it’s a good buy etc. and it turns into a ‘lemon’ you can sue them confident in the knowledge that you would win. The chances of a private seller being able to accommodate a credit card transaction are nil so you are risking actual cash.

Buying from an auction is even more fraught with danger as only limited inspections are allowed and off course you would need to inspect more than the one car. But there are bargains to be had at auctions especially the larger ones. As in all auctions beware of getting out of your depth because the car that you want is also wanted by someone else. DON’T GO ABOVE YOUR LIMIT. However you will be able to pay by credit card so it does give you some protection even if the car does not belong to the declared owner and is owned by some HP company or the owner has made false declarations when putting it up for auction.

Even a seemingly reputable second hand car dealer has been known to bend the rules just to shift a car so you need to do a little bit of research first by trying MouthShut or asking around. If you have a friend who got a good deal from a second hand car dealer then consider that company. Here too if the bargain seems to be too good to be true then it definitely is. Even with a second hand car dealer whose reputation has never been sullied by sharp practice it might be better to call in the AA or RAC or a specialist to inspect your choice before parting with your money or rather credit card details.

A second hand car with the correctly filled in service manual, repair receipts and old MOT’s will cost a little bit more but it will tell you something of the history of the car. Beware of the nicely polished car with low mileage and no service history. Beware also of the car that has just passed its MOT a few days ago. Unscrupulous car sellers can get a car through its MOT where you would not be able to, making the MOT valueless. A car that had its MOT three or four months ago indicates that it has probably been in use since then.

Good luck in your search for that perfect second hand car. Just remember the title of this review –Caveat Emptor – Let Buyer Beware.