Good Advice: Buy a Used Car from a Dealership
March 8th, 2010Buying a second hand car is a tall order, especially in Britain where it appears every street you stroll down has motorcars parked with A4 sheets stuck to windscreens with a selling price and a clichéd bullet pointed sales pitch. Caveat emptor can’t be exaggerated enough should you be hoping to a purchase a used motorcar in the UK.
That’s why it’s strongly advisable to get a second hand car from a licensed car dealership. An authorised dealer will thoroughly check every second hand vehicles passing into their forecourts by a squad of industry trained mechanics. To add to that, the trained team will be able to maintain your motor after the sale has been made, perform MOTs, exchange car parts, and basically guarantee the car is working in tiptop shape all the time. To put it another way, a licensed dealer ought to offer a one-stop shop for all your vehicle’s needs. Ponder over the model of the vehicle you hope to buy and then look for an approved dealership in your area - e.g. bmw used cars: if you’re based in London, such a search would give you the Stephen James dealership (BMW and Minis) amongst other dealers.
Then think about purchasing a vehicle from a private individual. One has absolutely no guarantees in regards to getting help for potential issues you may incur with the car. After the sales agreement has been finalised, the individual selling the car isn’t going to be responsible for any future issues. It’s then your task to find a car mechanic who can do fix/repair your car, and hope you haven’t been duped as you get back the results of your first MOT (that’s if it doesn’t have troubles prior to the MOT being due!). Irrespective of how much due diligence you pay toward looking for a car, it’s always vulnerable to being duped. An individual seller has zero reputation to lose. An approved dealer does - and therefore will never put on the line its own reputation by dealing unsound second hand vehicles.
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