The Enthusiast's Car Buying Guide
Whilst most people come to us to purchase cars, behind the scenes we of course also have to source our own stock. Our years of experience buying cars has taught us a few lessons, so if you’re on the hunt for your next dream car – or runaround – here’s a few pointers.
Get your emotional support
As car enthusiasts, both on a personal and business level we’ve allowed our emotions get the better of ourselves, and suffered the consequences! So before we get to some kind of car buying checklist, the first tip we’d urge you to consider is to take someone along with you. If you’ve got that mechanic mate, then fantastic, but otherwise you need someone who won’t get so wrapped up in the emotional aspect of the purchase. After all, we buy what we want, not necessarily what we need! Whatever you do, don’t invite the guy who’s just as excited about the car as you are, or is indeed actively encouraging you. Instead, find the friend who’s a pessimist, preferably devoid of personality, positively cynical, and ideally hates the idea of the thing before you’ve even viewed it.
The importance of provenance
This one’s about balance. There is rarely the “perfect” car out therefore unless your budget truly is unlimited. It’s therefore important to decide what are the factors that rule the car in or out – is it colour, specification, maintenance records, mileage, or condition? We can’t blame you for being steadfast on colour and specification, but would urge you to consider that in the long-run – certainly if you want to maintain value in the car – then the factors that generally always been a good car is a low-owner example with detailed service history. Mileage is also (unfairly) of huge importance if you’re looking at a rare, collectable car. Again, from bitter experience, we’ve bought impeccable cars, some very recently restored at huge cost, but the judgement of mileage and amount of ownership means sale prices have been disappointingly, despairingly poor.
Professional tyre kicking
If you’re missing that aforementioned mechanic mate, then if you really think this car is for you, then booking in an inspection is very much worthwhile. Many marque specialists offer this. Worst case, you end up walking away from a car that could have cost you a lot of money, and you will pick up plenty of tips for the next one. A niche example is in the Porsche world, where many insist on over-rev check. Although massively over dramatised, this is focused on checking manual gearbox cars haven’t been over-revved due to a miss-shift during “spirited” driving. By reading the ECU, you can find out if the car has suffered the levels of over-revving that may void a Porsche warranty, or may hide an issue.
In this case, this is where a marque specialist may come into their own versus an AA or RAC inspection which will be obviously more generic, but more readily available. If the above fails, a not terrible substitute would be your favourite detailer. They’re of course experts at noticing if a car’s not straight, had paint throughout its life, and are generally very picky – you can rely on them to find any defects and strike fear into the seller as they look down the side of their pride and joy. Likewise, once armed with this information, it’s important to be realistic. When you get to that level of detail, you will find something, and if you’re seeking absolute perfection, you probably should have bought a new car. Even then, a detailer will convince you to remortgage to sort out of the factory imperfections. It of course varies depending on the level of car you’re looking at, but pretty much every car older than a few years has had some kind of paint, supercars will have scuffed undertrays, and there’s likely to be surface rust on the underneath of a 30 year old car.
Don’t just rely on HPI
Whatever you do, don’t rely on an HPI report the current owner had carried out when they bought the car 8 years ago. You should perform the HPI at the earliest on the day of viewing the car. Whilst it may be rare, fraud does exist, and for the same reason its worth paying an extra tenner on a V Check to ensure there is no major unrecorded damage, which for clarification does not come up an HPI check.
As well as warning you of mileage discrepancies and details such as the car being an import, the HPI report will also tell you if a car has outstanding finance – the reason why its important to check this just before any money is transferred. And whatever you do, you don’t pay the seller the full amount of a car on finance, you always, always settle with their finance company directly. Remember, they are the owners of the vehicle.
The HPI report will also provide you with the car’s VIN number. You should find this matching number underneath the windscreen. If it doesn’t, run away. If you’re also viewing the car at an address that isn’t on the V5, be wary. If you look carefully, a V5C document clearly states it is not proof of ownership.
Checking service history
Blimey, we’re almost 1,000 words in and still going! I guess that’s an illustration that checking over a car isn’t just a case of taking it around the block. We would hope that you’re reading this because you’re passionate about whatever car you’re deciding on. We’d therefore also hope you already know this, but it’s worth reminding you that there is a broad spectrum when it comes to service schedule requirements. With BMWs in particular you have the Running In service to consider, but bear in mind from a resale point of view then seeing evidence the car has been serviced regularly, in-line with the service schedule, can be a big deal. Take your time leafing through that paperwork…