Pistonheads and Autotrader and ebay

Id say if bidding on a car from auto trader you must go and see it before buying. The pics could have been taken 6 months ago.

Id use Auto Trader.

all the above, also i usually check the car enthusiasts forums, you usually find cars on those have been very well cared for.

Buying from enthusiast forums can lead to hugely exaggerated pricing.. Buyer beware.

I still find the best place to buy cars is from the Auto Trader, bought a couple recently for members of the family, you can haggle the price down, look at the car before your buying and not go through all the nonsense of Ebay.

With the economy the way it is, its a buyers market, if someone is asking £2000 for the car you want, dont be afraid to put a silly offer in first, like £1500-1600, go away if you have to, give them your number, you never know once someone stews on it what they will do for the cash.

If your not in a rush you will get a real bargain.

Not in a rush at the moment as my finances are such that I can just about afford it, but itd zero everything. Not sure if I want to do this as Id like to have SOME money in reserve.

How much do you have?

Dont NEED a new car, my micra is ok. But the reasons for swapping/upgrading:

Had the micra for 7 years - It was a great first car, nice and small and nippy, but more (boot) space would be quite a bonus at the moment
Due for service/tax/mot/insurance etc August time.
Its at the age where things are starting to go wrong, last year it needed a wheel cylinder replacing
The extras the Mazda have are nice, though admittedly most newer cars have them. My micra has a radio that is half broken and aircon which does nothing but suck power from the engine. The TS2 has climate control which works (and given that I spend summer days in the field, being able to cool down in the car at the end/at lunch is nice indeed!)


About the only things currently against getting a new car are the fact that I will be needing to take it down dirt/sand/gravel tracks for fieldwork, and the above mentioned cutting it fine on the finance side of things.

The amount of money I have...is flexible in the sense I have some shares I could sell and get an extra £2k from, but Id rather not. My car Id hope to get £1500-£2000 for (52 reg 1.4L micra, done a bit less than the avg mileage and has had regular services), all in all I should be able to afford £8k outright with a bit of reserve cash, or go a bit higher/lower and get a new car on finance or something, which is something I dont really want to do. Started a new job and get paid a month after I hand my time sheet in, so next payday is end of July, cutting it fine in the sense of trying to swap cars and save on the micras tax etc.

Aye. Went to a dealership On friday on my lunch. They had a silver TS that was a year old and had hardly any mileage on it for £8k. Theres not much difference between the TS and TS2 other than traction and climate control, cd changer and slightly bigger wheels. I would almost be tempted if it wasnt silver. I figure though the bigger wheels, no matter how slightly bigger, would be a bonus, and climate control is nice too.

Will have to see about heading out next weekend if I have the time to look around with my parents, thatll be...fun.

Meh, its silver though haha. I cant stand silver cars! Only thing thats worse are the ones which are bright yellow/pink etc.