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Buying a second hand car

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By *og-Man OP   Man
over a year ago

somewhere

Seem to remember some advice on here before but can't find it.

Want to buy a small second hand car for someone but weary of the pitfalls of buying off small car sale showrooms and the likes of Done Deal

What's the pitfalls and whats the best advise from anyone that either does this normally or works in the trade

Thanks

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By *asual777Man
over a year ago

i travel all over

Historically I would have gone to car giant or similar in the U.K. and brought it over myself . There are also a good few people nationally who would have done this for customers and delivered value . That value has now disappeared to an extent through Post brexit VAT charges I think .

Recently I have used carsIreland.ie and compared prices with done deal . I only use trade . I am not an expert on cars personally so tend to get an engineer i know to do a pre purchase check for 150 quid . The process is smooth enough and it’s hard to overpay if you do your price comparisons

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By *s LollyWoman
over a year ago

The pub then supermacs ...

I was very lucky a few months ago to buy a car off a fellow fabber who had a few for sale he deals on a small scale.....

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By *og-Man OP   Man
over a year ago

somewhere


"I was very lucky a few months ago to buy a car off a fellow fabber who had a few for sale he deals on a small scale..... "

Think i was your first breakfast meet after you got it...he has men blocked as far as I remember

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By *ichael McCarthyMan
over a year ago

Lucan


"I was very lucky a few months ago to buy a car off a fellow fabber who had a few for sale he deals on a small scale..... "

Jaysus, I mus geh de nuuumber for yer dealer off ya buh..

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Pay for the green check on the car with donedeal. I checked out a 141 Mondeo with it. Had advertised 116000 kms. When I done the check it was recorded to have 126000 miles. When I rang the seller and mentioned it to him, he hung up, took down the ad and put it up a few days later with a different number. So beware!!!

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By *ohng69Man
over a year ago

athenry

Go to a small garage where its usually the owner you're dealing with. They will give you a better deal and, if genuine, will stand over it if someone goes wrong. Steer clear of the bigger garages where you only deal with sales people whose only motivation is getting commission from sales. Do your research and settle on your budget before going anywhere.

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By *s LollyWoman
over a year ago

The pub then supermacs ...


"I was very lucky a few months ago to buy a car off a fellow fabber who had a few for sale he deals on a small scale.....

Think i was your first breakfast meet after you got it...he has men blocked as far as I remember "

Jeeze that's right more like a 4hr brunch in the end

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By *oghunter33Woman
over a year ago

on the hill NordWest of

There's bit of luck involved if you go with donedeal but you cut out the middleman. Defo do a car check, there's various sites to do so, costs around 20quid per car. What worked for me was low mileage, only 1 to 2 previous owners, not older than 10 to 12 years, recently passed nct.

First car I bought I thought I struck gold, one lady owner, low mileage and her partner a aviation engineer serviced it. Turned out he did some arts and crafts with the electricity of the car and it was a write off after 12month. I haven't used that airline since. Second deal was what felt like a really shady deal in a dark Tesco car park with two eastern European lads. It felt all wrong but it turned out a bargain that I drive up to this day, again only one lady owner (a nun). How the two lads got to sell the car is a mistery up to this day but it was all legit.

If you know a mechanic get him to do a quick check when test driving.

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By *eth TVTV/TS
over a year ago

Mid Meath


"Historically I would have gone to car giant or similar in the U.K. and brought it over myself . There are also a good few people nationally who would have done this for customers and delivered value . That value has now disappeared to an extent through Post brexit VAT charges I think . "

The UK government recently changed the way in how they applied VAT on the resale of used cars, from levying it on their mark up to now paying it on the entire sale price. As NI dealers carried a lot of imported fleet motors, it has added a lot more to their prices. Of course, Brexit has added extra €€€ to the equation too.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Buy clean. Low mileage.I always look for like new in a second hand car. Normally would buy from a dealership to get a little warranty. You'll might pay a little more this way than going private but I found it's worth it .

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Definitely look for nct..

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By *ofusplusCouple
over a year ago

Limerick

Be careful of the 'low mileage' cars. We were buying a car once and noticed that it had been clocked. The mileage on the clock was LOWER than the last noted mileage in the service book. The garage hadn't bothered cross-checking and were so morto that they got me a great deal on a newer car the following day. The business didn't last too long after that not surprisingly

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I have actually just completed this today. I have been looking over last 5 days. My tips would be.

- filter for dealerships only on DD (DoneDeal)

- If the car is imported, ask dealer do they have access to car history outside of Ireland

- If they do not, ask them can they use 'cartell.ie' to get history. This happened for one car I was checking that was imported and sold in Ireland in 2018. When dealer checked cartell, it logged that the car was 'damaged' in UK. It had passed two NCTs and previous services spotted no issue, but it was a deal breaker for me.

-Stick to used cars that are not imported. If the dash clock is in KM you know it's not been imported. If it's been in MI it's been imported.

- Avoid cars imported from outside UK and EU. Jap imports can give issues with keys and immobilizers.

-Choose a car with an immobilizer

-if car has short NCT (out in 5 months for example), ask dealer if they will run it in for full NCT as part of purchase, they can do this.

-Ask for full service to tie in with new NCT.

- Ask to see previous NCT and service history reports.

- Check Google reviews of registered business. The garage I dealt with had all fantastic 5 reviews and comments in the hundreds and when I met the owner I understood why.

Choose a dealership)/garage closer to your location. If there are issues, you don't have far to go.

Be willing to pay that bit extra for quality, that goes for both car and the dealership.

Look for minimum 3 months engine and gearbox warranty. If you can get full car warranty even better.

-Dont rush it. Do your checking and just like Fabs,if you have a bad gut feeling then walk away.

Hope this helps.

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By *og-Man OP   Man
over a year ago

somewhere

Thanks Fran....lot of work in that

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By *oey4somefunMan
over a year ago

Dublin/Drogheda

As someone who works in the trade, I can say just be careful and do your homework. If you want peace of mind buy from a dealer and this way if something goes wrong you have a better chance. If buying from DD or private bring a mechanic. Also just because a car has nct doesn't mean its 100%, things can be missed in the test and clocked cars don't fail. If you want I can check a car for you. Hope this helps.

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By *ubal1Man
over a year ago

Newry Down

I have ascertained that you are a man of long and extensive experience in many aspects of life, as I am too; but buying a pre- owned car is of the trickiest purchases to get right without being taken as I ha been on several occasions.

There are a lot of first class second hand cars in England, but the import duty could be a problem in the republic.

Second hand cars are being reported to be expensive at present; an expert report from a genuine independent expert is very advisable as are the checks for outstanding finance and the insurance check to ensure it has not been written off.

I would go for one of the most reliable makes, such as Toyota and Subaru, and avoid Peupeot as they often have electrical problems.

Electric cars and hybrids are probably overpriced at present, but it depends on whether you are looking for a runaround or for longer journeys.

I would avoid private sales, unless you can source a very low mileage car, with one elderly owner who is giving up driving.

You come across as a shrewd and astute guy; I think you will make a sound decision in this regard.

A test drive over a bumpy road with your expert can help you avoid the lemons, that I sometimes failed to do in the past due to naivete and inexperience, and in one case using an expert who was getting a large fee from the vendor, who off-loaded a clocked vehicle that had been thrashed as a delivery car in England and then re- registered in the north.

Car vendors can be complete crooks as many of the horse-traders were in the past! Good hunting!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"Seem to remember some advice on here before but can't find it.

Want to buy a small second hand car for someone but weary of the pitfalls of buying off small car sale showrooms and the likes of Done Deal

What's the pitfalls and whats the best advise from anyone that either does this normally or works in the trade

Thanks

"

Toyota

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By *dfabMan
over a year ago

Dunboyne

[Removed by poster at 17/03/22 02:05:23]

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By *dfabMan
over a year ago

Dunboyne

Anyone confirm that if a car was sold from new in Northern Ireland, not mainland Britain, then you don't have to pay VRT when bringing it south?

I know that British import options are gone basically because our genius government closed the door on it by hiking taxes but I heard recently that sold from new in NI can be brought here for nowt.

Likely a fairytale but no harm asking

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By *eth TVTV/TS
over a year ago

Mid Meath


"Anyone confirm that if a car was sold from new in Northern Ireland, not mainland Britain, then you don't have to pay VRT when bringing it south?

Likely a fairytale but no harm asking "

It was a fairytale. VRT is due on all cars that are entering Ireland and requiring a reg plate, be they new or used.

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By *dfabMan
over a year ago

Dunboyne


"Anyone confirm that if a car was sold from new in Northern Ireland, not mainland Britain, then you don't have to pay VRT when bringing it south?

Likely a fairytale but no harm asking

It was a fairytale. VRT is due on all cars that are entering Ireland and requiring a reg plate, be they new or used. "

Thanks for that. Just have to burst my doddery mothers idea now

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By *al2001Man
over a year ago

kildare

Buy a red car

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By *clcCouple
over a year ago

Athlone/Dublin

Go electric

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By *clcCouple
over a year ago

Athlone/Dublin

[Removed by poster at 17/03/22 09:19:01]

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By *oghunter33Woman
over a year ago

on the hill NordWest of


"I have actually just completed this today. I have been looking over last 5 days. My tips would be.

- filter for dealerships only on DD (DoneDeal)

- If the car is imported, ask dealer do they have access to car history outside of Ireland

- If they do not, ask them can they use 'cartell.ie' to get history. This happened for one car I was checking that was imported and sold in Ireland in 2018. When dealer checked cartell, it logged that the car was 'damaged' in UK. It had passed two NCTs and previous services spotted no issue, but it was a deal breaker for me.

-Stick to used cars that are not imported. If the dash clock is in KM you know it's not been imported. If it's been in MI it's been imported.

- Avoid cars imported from outside UK and EU. Jap imports can give issues with keys and immobilizers.

-Choose a car with an immobilizer

-if car has short NCT (out in 5 months for example), ask dealer if they will run it in for full NCT as part of purchase, they can do this.

-Ask for full service to tie in with new NCT.

- Ask to see previous NCT and service history reports.

- Check Google reviews of registered business. The garage I dealt with had all fantastic 5 reviews and comments in the hundreds and when I met the owner I understood why.

Choose a dealership)/garage closer to your location. If there are issues, you don't have far to go.

Be willing to pay that bit extra for quality, that goes for both car and the dealership.

Look for minimum 3 months engine and gearbox warranty. If you can get full car warranty even better.

-Dont rush it. Do your checking and just like Fabs,if you have a bad gut feeling then walk away.

Hope this helps.

"

Jaysos Fran, I admire your 2nd hand car buying skills but that's way to complicated for a simple girl like meself. I do it more kinda fab style: select based on gearstick pics and stats and then straight for a test ride.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"

Jaysos Fran, I admire your 2nd hand car buying skills but that's way to complicated for a simple girl like meself. I do it more kinda fab style: select based on gearstick pics and stats and then straight for a test ride. "

We are still talking about cars..... right DH

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