| Buying a used car can be a perilous experience | | | | has been concluded. If possible, take someone |
| for many because unfortunately there are | | | | who is fairly knowledgeable about cars with you |
| fraudsters and conmen who seek to profit from | | | | when you go to view a potential purchase. They |
| others naivety, and are quite unscrupulous when it | | | | might pick up something that you may miss, and |
| comes to selling cars that are not fit for the road, | | | | they can always give you a second opinion. |
| and in some cases downright dangerous! | | | | Although whilst it is a good move to get cheap |
| Horror stories abound of people purchasing | | | | car insurance you shouldn't always go for the |
| second hand cars only to find they've actually | | | | cheapest car because another favourite trick of a |
| bought a 'cut and shut' - two halves of separate | | | | fraudster is to sell a car on which there is |
| written off cars that have been welded together | | | | outstanding finance at a massive discount. Usually |
| to form a reconstructed vehicle. Needless to say | | | | advertised at market rates, the seller will normally |
| such cars are death traps, and people selling them | | | | offer a big discount for cash. It's easy for him to |
| are breaking the law. Buy a car such as this and | | | | be so generous because he doesn't actually own |
| not only is your life at risk but every penny you | | | | the car, it is the property of a finance company |
| spend on it is likely to be unrecoverable. | | | | who will seek to recover the car or the |
| Stolen cars are often offered for sale along with | | | | outstanding balance from anyone who actually |
| the V5 log books. The first thing a motorist will | | | | parts with cash and buys it in good faith. |
| know about the fact that it is a stolen vehicle is | | | | If you are in such a position motoring |
| when they send the buyers portion of the V5 to | | | | organisations such as the AA offer to check |
| the DVLA and receive a visit from a police | | | | whether there is any outstanding finance on the |
| officer. If you have any doubts you should | | | | car. They charge a fee of £35, but as they |
| abandon a purchase, even if you have paid a | | | | say if it appears too good to be true, it inevitably |
| deposit. Go to a reputable dealer, not a private | | | | is, and that upfront fee could save you a fortune |
| seller who will be untraceable once the transaction | | | | in the long run. |