New car advice

I am back in the market for a new car. Got my eye on a new shape Civic. Was searching my local dealers, and found this.

Honda Civic 1.8 Sport

Just been to get a look at it, and it's in decent nick, has privacy glass, and a stainless steel exhaust fitted. Engine bay was tidy, seemed to run well, etc. But I have major reservations about it. The speedo shows 24,000 miles, which seems very low for a 2006 registered car. I thought that might be fair enough, might have been an old person's car, or someone's second car. Salesman tried to tell me there was a full service history, but when I checked, there was a service carried out in 2007, and the second service was in February this year. Bit of a big gap there. And it clearly isn't an old person's car, as it has the outline of a Mugen logo etched on the window, coupled with the stainless steel exhaust.

When I stated my doubts to the salesman, he told me that all the cars are checked and they will verify the mileage, etc, so if it is found to be wrong, we can claim for mis-selling. But how can you find out if it has been clocked if I buy it? There's every chance it is genuine, that the mileage is accurate, but I wouldn't like to buy it and find it actually has about 60,000 miles on it, when I am being sold it as 25,000 miles covered.

Is there a way to tell? I love the car, and I'd buy it tomorrow, but my gut tells me there's something not quite right. Thoughts?

Before I bought our car, I got a HPI check as the mileage was so improbably low (12 years old and under 30k miles) but it was legit, and was corroborated by the service history - was just owned by some old boy who did 2k miles per year for the first 7 years!

http://www.hpicheck.com/

Been trying to get them down on the price, but they are not moving on it, so think I am going to forget about it and look elsewhere.

If there's any doubt, there's no doubt, thats what I stick to when buying something that looks dodgy.

Was thinking that if I bought it, then checked the V5 and reg against the MOTs that the DVLA have on file, then can get the mileage recorded at time of being MOT'd. Apparently the VOSA check turned up as the mileage being right, butI asked them to come down £300 on the price and they wouldn't, so time to walk away.

Good call Scot, coming from a background in the motor industry at a corparate level, never never never trust a sales man.

•1. Check the condition of the tyres. Don’t forget tread depth and side-wall damage. If a tyre has uneven wear, it could be a sign that the wheels are not correctly aligned.

•2. The steering wheel should rotate smoothly from lock to lock without any unusual noise or vibration.

•3. The gears should engage easily and smoothly without any grinding with the clutch fully depressed. A weak or extremely stiff clutch pedal could be a sign of worn components.

•4. The engine should idle smoothly and rev evenly. Check the oil dipstick and the inside of the oil filler cap. If you find a brown sludge, walk away – the engine is damaged and will need expensive repairs.

•5. Check the exhaust doesn’t produce lots of blue smoke when you rev the engine – this shows sign of excessive internal engine wear.

•6. Check the body work and underside of the car for rust. Look at the exhaust system, does it look like it needs replacing soon?

•7. Be suspicious of a very clean engine bay. Has it been cleaned to hide something?

•8. While under the bonnet, look for signs of flaking paint and rust around the panel joints at the front of the car. This could denote repairs after crash damage.

•9. Does the wear on the interior of the car match the mileage on the odometer? A low-mileage car with very worn seats and pedals could have been clocked.

•10. Open and close the doors to check they work correctly, and examine the rubber seals for signs or paint, another indication of crash-damage repairs.

•11. Look down the side of the car to see if all the panels and bodywork line up smoothly. Be suspicious of wavy panels or cars with uneven gaps between panels.

•12. When on a test drive, the brakes should feel responsive and provide adequate stopping power when travelling at speed.

•13. Check all items work correctly, including electric components. This should include windows, sunroofs, seats etc.

Vehicle History Check - http://www.autochecknow.co.uk/?sc=382&bcd=a5a6eWHA0709XXWCxAN1


Whether you're buying from a dealer or private seller, make sure the used car you're considering is, in fact, what the seller says it is.

Independent traders sometimes pretend to be private sellers. When phoning about a car you've seen advertised as a private sale, you should always say: 'I'm phoning about the car you have for sale.' If they ask: 'Which car?', you should be on your guard.

Ask the seller questions about their time with the car, why they are selling it, and check that they're actually the owner, or that they have the owner's permission to sell.

If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is, so be suspicious.

Ask for the car's registration and VIN (vehicle identification number) before you view, paying for a vehicle history check is a good idea, because it will reveal if there is any outstanding finance on the car, if it has been written off, etc. It's vital that you carry out this check before deciding if it is the right car for you.

If buying privately, arrange to view the car at the seller's house – this way you can be more certain the car isn't stolen. Never agree to meet in a remote or quiet location and always bring a friend with you. Don't take large amounts of cash with you, and ask the seller to show you an accepted form of identification, such as a passport, to verify they are who they claim to be.

Check the V5C registration document (the vehicle's logbook) with the DVLA on 0870 2400010 to ensure it's genuine. Don't even think about buying a car without a V5C.

Compare the data from your research and the V5C with the car itself – make sure it all matches. Most cars have the VIN stamped onto a chassis plate under the bonnet, or directly on the chassis, as well as a visible etching on the bottom-left edge of the windscreen. Some manufactures also use tamper-proof VIN stickers inside door apertures and on large body panels. If some, or all, of the numbers don't match, you could be looking at a stolen car.

Examine the service history, and note the locations of the garages that have carried out work. Does this data match the rest of the car's history? Also, check invoices to see if any other work has been carried out.

Don't agree to let the seller post missing spare keys to you at a later date – a spare key can be used to steal your car when it's parked at home.

Brilliant bit of advice there mate.

Wow not much that hasn't been covered by Duncan. My helpful advice is to google the car. If you're like me, you might stumble upon an enthusiast group/forum which will help you tremendously. You might find yourself a real life community and they can help you save tons of money on repairs and even mods. I joined one for my Explorer. Other than that just:

-Start it and listen for unusual noises.

-Obviously take it for a drive and look for major things. If its at a decent price, I wouldn't worry too much about little things or easily changed things. Be worried about serious internal problems.

-Like Duncan said, check every and all fluids. If oil and coolant is mixing to make a weird syrupy-slop, it's a cracked block and engine is ruined. Otherwise, take a good flashlight and look around for extremely wet spots. You'd also be surprised how petty oil changes seem to be for people.

-And just basically look around the car. If you can, I would jack it up and spin the wheels as overall suspension or steering work gets expensive FAST! However, that strategy usually only works for a private seller.

Lol, Duncan pretty much summed everything up, so no point in overstating everything. Lastly, it all depends on how much you plan on spending and how much give or take you can handle. I mean personally, I wouldn't let something like brakes or body work stop me as I enjoy working on cars, however, it always depends on the car you're planning to buy. Obviously if its a newer car, don't buy it to fix it up. If it is a bit older, I'd say 7-10 years, expect some work to be needed. Buying a car isn't scary at all if you know what you're looking for.