Here are some car-buying tips, including what to consider and what to avoid, that were highlighted during discussions with the Telegraph’s Honest John at the Festival of Motoring
1. Do your homework
Whether it’s a new or used car, Honest John recommends finding out as much as you can, from a wide variety of sources. He said: “Find out as much information as you can because buying a car is the second-biggest purchase people make after a house.”
2. Choose your car carefully
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Honest John says: “The most important thing is what do you want the car for and what are you going to use it for?”
3. Trust your gut feeling
If you’re buying a used car stick to your guns and be careful not to get sidetracked into buying the wrong car.
Honest John says: “If there’s something iffy about things you know. Your body’s telling you there’s something wrong, it’s something that you’ve developed over the years. So don’t be talked into something by a clever argument. If you feel it’s not right, walk away.”
4. Consider the whole cost of ownership
Buyers should look at the bigger picure when choosing a car, and keep in mind the long-term costs involved.
Honest John says: “It’s not just the car, it’s the repayments if you’re borrowing money, it’s the fuel economy, the insurance, servicing costs, the likelihood of something going wrong, and what it’s going to cost you if it does go wrong.”
5. Make sure you get a discount
Don’t be ashamed to haggle hard at the showroom, because big discounts are the norm at most car showrooms.
Honest John says: “Discounts of about 20 per cent on the list price are very common now. Ask for it, but do your homework first, as you’ll be dealing with a professional salesman who is probably a much more skilled negotiator than you.”
6. Don’t spend thousands to save a few pounds
It’s easy to get obsessed with one aspect of a car’s running costs, and buyers should be careful not to.
Referring to the effect that a car’s [UK vehicle tax rate] has on its running costs, Honest John muses that: “People will spend thousands to save £20 a year.”
7. Think of depreciation in terms of money rather than as a percentage.
Depreciation is one of the biggest costs that motorists have to bear, so it should be factored in as part of the car’s overall ownership costs.
“You have to think not of the percentage depreciation figures, but of the actual money you will probably lose over the period you have the car. And that’s a sobering thing to do,” says Honest John.
8. Don’t buy a diesel if you’re a low-mileage driver
If you only drive short distances it’s best to go for a petrol rather than diesel model, Honest John says, because a diesel particulate filter doesn’t have time to become properly efficient and can cause major mechanical problems.
He said: “The diesel particulate filter is supposed to absorb the smoke [a diesel engine generates on start-up] and burn it off later in the car’s journey. But if there is no ‘later’ it doesn’t get burned off and the diesel particulate filter gets clogged up. And then all sorts of other horrible things start to happen.”
