By following a few simple rules when buying a second hand car whether it’s from a garage or a classified ad in the autotrader, these few simple steps might save you a pretty penny.

1. Tyres make sure that there is plenty of tread on each tyre don’t forget the spare. Also check for and tears, bulges and splits.
Make sure that wear is even across the tyre as any uneven ware could be caused by other parts starting to deteriorate.

2. Make sure that there are no big marks or splits on the interior plastics as these can be expensive to get replace even more so on slightly older cars. Check the seats for burns and tears as getting seats repaired or replaced can be up to £500 each.

3. Checking the engine bay for any big oil leaks or any split or damaged hoses. Beware of a clean and tidy engine bay as this might mean a problem that their trying to cover up, but it might also be completely clean as that’s how they like it.

4. Electrics check all the switches and lights work as faulty electrical problems can be costly to diagnose.

5. Don’t forget a test drive; the car should break in a straight line without pulling either left or right and the same when accelerating. Listen out for clunks and knocking when going over speed bumps and turning corners. 

6.  Body work check all the panel gaps are the same around the bonnet, doors and boot and smaller gaps could be a car that has been in a accident and has a bent chassis.  Check the boot floor for any unnatural creases this is the sign of a rear end shunt.

7. Check all paper work like service history and mot’s and check if it got any advisors on the MoT, this sheet should be attached to the MoT and will tell you what it was advised on. These will need to be sorted before its next MoT.

Second Hand Car Dealership