Five Checks To Carry Out When You re Looking To Buy A New Car

By : Steve Carr    
If you're a fan of cars or you're experienced in the car buying process, you're likely to know what you should be looking for when buying a car.

For many other people, however, you could put two cars side-by-side, one that works great and one that doesn't and as long as they look aesthetically the same, it's unlikely that many people would be able to tell them apart.

To ensure that you don't buy a car that's going to end up costing you a fortune, carry out the following five checks before you hand over your hard earned money.

1. Take it for a test drive - if you're reading this and thinking "isn't this a given?" you'd have thought it would have been, but there's still a substantial amount of people who don't take the car for a drive before they get it.

Even if it's brand new, you should still have a test drive, as apart from the fact you might not like the way it drives, not every car that comes off the production line is perfect.

2. Look in the more unusual places - OK, so you've taken the car for a test drive and it looks fine both inside and out.

Before you sign on the dotted line, however, have a look round the car at some of the more unusual places; those that that you wouldn't necessarily think of looking at.

On the floor behind the front seats is a good place to check internally, in and around the wheel arches is recommended externally and don't forget to have a look in the boot.

3. Carry out a HPI check - simply put, if you're buying a second hand car, you need to carry out a HPI check on it.

Costing just under 30 pounds, the check will report back on everything from whether the car has any outstanding finance on it right through to if it's been written off by an insurer.

Everything might come back clean and the car could be fine - or it could be the best 30 pounds you ever spent as it returns information on the car that could end up costing you a substantial amount of money.

4. Research any model specific issues - if you've got your eye on a certain car and know that you're going to go looking for that specific model, it's worthwhile having a look online to see if there are any known issues with the exact model that you're after.

This might be a little difficult if you're wanting to buy a car from, for example, Jeep dealers, as they aren't as popular as other manufacturers in the UK, but you should be able to find at least one or two specific points that you should be keeping an eye out for about every vehicle.

5. Look at the same car elsewhere - if you've taken a car for a test drive and something doesn't feel or sound right but the salesperson is writing it off as normal, try and take a drive in the same car from a different dealer.

If the noise or feeling isn't there, you know it's specific to that previous car and if it is there, you can barter with each dealership, playing them off each other to ensure you get the cheapest price for the car.