If taking more road trips is one of your goals for this year, then the first step is to buy a suitable car. Buying a used car is often your best option since brand new cars will lose their value quickly and there is often much more choice available. When buying a used car, there are steps that you can take to save money and make sure that you are getting a vehicle that you can rely on for those long journeys. 

How to Buy the Car

The first factor to consider when buying a used car for road trips is how you are going to finance your purchase. You can buy a car outright with cash; however, this isn’t often feasible for many people, especially as the price of cars is rising. If you want to get a used car that is still fairly modern and new, then a finance agreement might be the better option for you. Head to ChooseMyCar where you can find out more about financing your next car purchase and get a quote for your monthly payments. You can use the quote tool on the ChooseMyCar website by entering the amount you want to borrow to pay for your car, how long you want to repay for, and your credit rating. 

Choose a Trustworthy Trader

Most people who buy used cars will purchase their car from a trader or dealership. However, some dealerships are not always going to have your best interests in mind. If this is the route you want to take when buying your next car, you should look for an established company with a good reputation. Ideally, the dealership or trader that you purchase from should have a trade association sign or evidence to show you that they follow the Motor Ombudsman’s code of practice, which means that you will have the support of a trade association if anything goes wrong. 

Check the Car’s History

Whether you are paying in cash or buying your new car with a finance agreement, you should do some simple checks on the car to make sure that it doesn’t have any sketchy details in its history. The last thing that you want is to buy a car that has had major repairs that you are not aware of, a car that is being sold illegally, or a car that the previous owner still owes money on. You can check the details of the car using the free online vehicle information checker from the DVLA. To do this, you will need the car’s registration number, make and model, mileage, and MOT test number. 

Get a Private History Check

The free checker from the DVLA will only offer so much information, so it’s a good idea to run a private history check on the car too. This is something you can often do quite cheaply. A private history check, also known as a data check, usually costs no more than £20 and can provide you with further information about the car’s mileage, whether or not it has been in any serious accidents in the past, if there is any outstanding finance on the car, if the car has even been written off, and if the car has been reported stolen. 

Inspect the Car

Before you commit to buying a car, you should arrange to view it in the daytime. Ideally, you should pick a dry day to do this as it can be harder to spot damage in wet weather. You can use sites like the RAC or AA, where you can find checklists of what to look out for when you go to view a used car to buy. Be sure to ask about the service history of the car and take it for a test drive. If you are buying from a dealership, they will usually have insurance that will cover you to drive the car. But if you are buying the car privately, you will need to make sure that your own car insurance policy covers you to drive somebody else’s car. During the test drive, you should take the car on different types of roads for at least fifteen minutes. Try to get on a motorway, if possible, to test the car out at a higher speed. 

Get an Expert Opinion

If you have a friend or a relative who is a car mechanic or simply knowledgeable about cars, it’s a good idea to take them along with you to the test drive and car viewing. Having an extra set of eyes and ears with you when you go to view a car you are interested in buying is always a good idea, as they might spot issues with the car that you might have missed. 

If you want to explore more, buying a used car can be a great starting point. Keep these tips in mind to get the best car at the best price.

B xx

Disclosure this is a collaborative post