New car time...

[Smautf]

I last bought a car in August 2010 (a 2003 Skoda Fabia estate, should anyone care).

Sadly, I think it's come to the end of its practical life - it scraped through an MOT yesterday, but with three advisories, and in addition to the remedial action required to sort those, I'm aware of other looming expenditure (EGR valve, new timing belt, catalytic converter) - all of which will add up to a healthy four figure bill. Value is, of course, <£500.

Being a creature of limited imagination, I think I know what I want - another mildly-used Skoda, probably an Octavia now that the children are bigger.

Apart from Autotrader (I have the app, mostly for gawping at motorbikes, which I find much more interesting), are there any other car sales listing sites or services that people would recommend ?

Suggestions gratefully received !

Chris

[bungeejumper]

Small ads. Local papers. Or just asking your local indie garage to keep an ear out. All good ways of finding sub-£5,000 cars, in my experience.

An alternative way might be to specify "one owner" in an Autotrader search and keep your mind wide open as to what might come up? There really are people who buy new cars and keep their 'family pets' on low mileages for eight years! (A new car is a popular purchase when people retire, for example.) Then again, there are people like me who are lucky enough to buy a good'un and who then keep it for 11 years!

I worry that a seven year old car these days might be just getting ready to dump another expensive EGR valve, diesel particulate filter or cam belt on you. Any evidence you can find that it's been loved and cared for is more important than its age in years. If you can afford a bit more, don't be afraid of high-mileage ex-lease cars, because they've always been serviced to the leasing company's requirements. I bought my 18 month old Toyota with 30,000 motorway miles on it, and it cost me less than half the showroom price because the rest of the world wanted ultra-low numbers on the clock. Its passenger seat had never been sat in. (Mind you, perhaps that was because the first owner was a dangerous lunatic?)

Whatever you do, keep your options open when it comes to brands and models. Just don't buy a diesel if you might ever want to drive in Bristol, because they're going to ban them outright in a couple of years. That's one reason why used diesels are quite good value for money at the moment.

BJ

[redsturgeon]

Gumtree can be useful but I have found Autotrader the most extensive and best if you have something specific in mind.

John

[airbus330]

I have just bought a 2nd hand car using the sites you list. I also found CarGuru really useful for price comparison as it rates cars on offer relative to book value that they calculate. Having spoken to quite a few dealers, they weren't keen on CarGuru as they said it made it too easy for the buyer to know if their pricing was out.
I also used the https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ site to pre check the cars mot record before viewing, it will show all the mots, pass and fail, including all advisories. Then the Blue Button Free car check on https://cartaxcheck.co.uk/ scroll down the page past the invitation for paying for further checks to see the Car Tax RFL amount for a specific registration. This is important because some vehicles,, even though same make and model, vary on the RFL amount in certain years. I was specifically looking for sub £30 rfl as I hate paying tax, which limited me to 66 plates or earlier.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I last bought a car in August 2010 (a 2003 Skoda Fabia estate, should anyone care).

Sadly, I think it's come to the end of its practical life - it scraped through an MOT yesterday, but with three advisories, and in addition to the remedial action required to sort those, I'm aware of other looming expenditure (EGR valve, new timing belt, catalytic converter) - all of which will add up to a healthy four figure bill. Value is, of course, <£500.

Being a creature of limited imagination, I think I know what I want - another mildly-used Skoda, probably an Octavia now that the children are bigger.

Apart from Autotrader (I have the app, mostly for gawping at motorbikes, which I find much more interesting), are there any other car sales listing sites or services that people would recommend ?

Suggestions gratefully received !

Chris

Autotrader. Website filters are excellent.

AiY

[Stonge]

Not a listing site but some stories of problems with Ford engines

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FordEcoboostNightmare/

[earlsgate]

CarGurus is worth trying as it aggregates all the different listings according to your search criteria.and gives important info not available elsewhere(?)

personally I would avoid private buys due to the lack of comeback if the cars is not as reliable as advertised and there is little price difference anyway

there are plenty of ex fleet cars at good prices but carefully check the service history has been entered in the book to protect remaining warranty. some fleets get better treatment than others and places like Halfords, who do a lot of these, will let you know who to avoid and even if it has actually been through their hands. Unfortunately for the second owner, many fleets neglect servicing altogether taking a bet that in the slim chance of a problem they have saved plenty on the ones that didn't

perhaps the most important tool is the copying, and safe storage, of the Dealers Description of the car you intend to buy. This is basically the contract you are entering into and whilst you may never need it gives you plenty of back up should a dispute arise. not sure if recording the mobile phone calls you make to the dealers will back this up but gives you the balance of probability if required.

do not travel any distance before making contact to see if the ad actually stacks up

[JoyofBricks8]

Sounds like your Skoda is just getting started! You at least know the issues with that particular vehicle. I would sort out the safety critical bits and just drive it till it dies- often takes a surprisingly long time to kill a banger car properly. I paid very little for a 25 year old knackered soft top Mitsubishi Pajero, fixed the brakes and lights and then drove it like I stole it for three years. To my surprise it survived all my attempts to trash it. I eventually sold it on for the same as I paid for it. To be fair it had problems with MOT emissions, and the soft top was in a terrible state but as motoring goes it was great fun, super cheap, and my kids never bothered Dad for lifts when I was driving it.

[PrincessB]

[quote]Being a creature of limited imagination, I think I know what I want - another mildly-used Skoda, probably an Octavia now that the children are bigger.{/quote]

Off topic - I'd rather like a Yeti. If I won the lottery, I'd buy one in the most uninspiring colour I could find and have a full electric conversion done on it nothing silly, about 300hp would be fine around town.

I do like them, small footprint, high driving position, considered boring, yet as a raised estate/jeepish thing capable of moving real stuff there is little not to like. There are some performance ones, I don't know the model range well but there appears to be a 1.8 petrol turbo 4x4 version which has to stand out as a pretty good stealth car.

Back on topic.

I like Autotrader.

Dial in the car you're after and add the keyword 'owner'. Select private only.
This will return all of the vehicles that have not changed hands too many times.

You can postcode search, but don't use your own postcode. Use the postcode for the chemist (there's always a chemist in nice areas) in the poshest areas that are an easy drive away.

As an example, I live near the M25 not far from Windsor or Heathrow. A 20 mile search from my postcode would flag up cars in the places I could spend all day driving to. Looking up the chemist in some nicer bits further west would chop chunks of grotty London areas out and include some leafy lane areas where a nice lady has used the car for the school run and shopping, had it serviced every year and never crashed. As a replacment new car forces sale, they just want it to go to a good home.

If you can find a one owner car as a private sale, you'll know it really is 'one careful lady owner' as her name will be on the log book.

You've got time, get the cash ready and be ready to pounce when the search finds one of those one in a million cars that is just that.

B.

[Hardgrafter]

Chris,

I bought a used Octavia (2016 1.4TSI SEL DSG) from a local Skoda dealer two years ago. Only a year old, 13k, but £7k less than new. It is the best car I have ever owned. One of the interesting points was that it was ex rental, which means it actually had a full size spare tyre. Something to consider when buying. Now that the new Octavia is being built, there should be good discounts on the old model.

[Smautf]

Chris,

I bought a used Octavia (2016 1.4TSI SEL DSG) from a local Skoda dealer two years ago. Only a year old, 13k, but £7k less than new. It is the best car I have ever owned. One of the interesting points was that it was ex rental, which means it actually had a full size spare tyre. Something to consider when buying. Now that the new Octavia is being built, there should be good discounts on the old model.

Well, that's reassuring - I've just put a deposit down on a 2016 1.4TSI SE L manual Octavia which is being sold close to my in-laws in Bristol. Although it has sensible wheels - 16" - there are only four of them, which was the only negative on my personal check-list. Like you, I would much rather be carrying a spare, but I am told you can get one from Skoda for £100 or so.

Thanks to everyone for their input !

Chris

[DrFfybes]

Like you, I would much rather be carrying a spare, but I am told you can get one from Skoda for £100 or so.

Thanks to everyone for their input !

Chris

I can see the comfort in having a spare, but 2 of our cars don't (nor have room for one) and I don't even think about it.

In nearly 40 years I've used a spare tyre 3 times, and all of those have been from small leaks discovered on the drive where I could have re-inflated the old one and driven the 2 miles to the repairers, but chose to use the spare and repair at my leisure. I've never needed one at the side of the road, and AFAIK neither has MrsF.

If you have breakdown cover then you should not get completely stranded, and unless you live way out in the sticks help/recovery is not too far away.

In 1 car I thought about replacing the spare wheel with an LPG tank, 100,000 miles later I wish I had done!

Paul

[scotia]

I can see the comfort in having a spare

Just occasionally, it can be very comforting. A couple of years ago when travelling from Surrey to Central Scotland, I shredded a tyre on the motorway near Warwick. The RAC responded within 10 minutes, and I was back travelling North on a full sized spare within half an hour.
However I admit that my previous on-the-road puncture goes back at least 40 years!

[Gaggsy]

My current car doesn't have a spare but so far I haven't had to test the can of squirty stuff provided instead.
My previous car had one - a Skoda Superb. A tyre blew at 70 mph on the M1 and it was pretty much shredded. Try as I might I couldn't get the wheel rim off to change it and had to call out the breakdown service. Apparently the rim had practically welded itself to the hub (something to do with different metals) and it took an awful lot of huffing and puffing and hammering and kicking to get it off. I could never have done it.
An older car than that also had one. When a tyre blew on a motorway in France I tried to change it myself. The wrench provided with the car to remove the wheel nuts actually broke before the nuts would move. I had to be towed. It took a 6ft scaffold pole to provide enough leverage to get the nuts off.

The moral of the story? If you have a blow out you shouldn't rely on being able to change the wheel yourself even if you have a spare. Would you even want to put yourself at risk changing a wheel on a busy road?

[kiloran]

Like you, I would much rather be carrying a spare, but I am told you can get one from Skoda for £100 or so.
Chris

Don't forget that you will also need a jack and a brace, and somewhere to stow them

--kiloran

[MyNameIsUrl]

Like you, I would much rather be carrying a spare, but I am told you can get one from Skoda for £100 or so.
Chris

Don't forget that you will also need a jack and a brace, and somewhere to stow them
--kiloran

Can't speak for Skoda, but I got a 'spacesaver spare wheel kit' for my Ford for £94, which contained everything needed to fit in the wheel well, including wheel, jack, wheel brace, screw-in clip to hold the wheel in place. Everything, in fact, except the tyre, which was another £36.

[tea42]

Keep an eye on the owners club website and Ebay. People replace sets of alloys for flash ones. I bought a complete set for my Mitsubishi for £250 with decent tyres, then flogged three for £100 each as spares and kept one as my spare. So, end result was free spare and £50 profit!