How to Buy a Car in the UK: Checks, Costs and Paperwork

Buying a car is mostly a paperwork and inspection job. The enjoyable part, choosing which one you want, takes an afternoon. The part that decides whether you have made a good buy or an expensive mistake is what you check before you hand over the money.

We see the mistakes afterwards. Cars come into the workshop within weeks of being bought where filler is lifting on a rear quarter, where the paint on one wing is a shade out from the rest of the car, or where a bumper has been stuck back on with the mountings snapped off. None of that was visible to a buyer who did not know where to look, and all of it was visible to somebody who did.

What does a car actually cost to run in the UK?

The purchase price is usually the smaller half of what a car costs you over three years. Work out the running costs before you set a budget, not after.

If you are financing the purchase, compare the total amount payable rather than the monthly figure. A longer term always looks cheaper per month and always costs more overall. Check whether a personal loan works out better than the dealer's PCP or HP offer, and be clear on whether you actually own the car at the end.

Should you buy new, nearly new or used?

For most buyers a car that is two to four years old represents the best value, because the first owner has absorbed the steepest depreciation and the car still has plenty of life left.

Fuel type is a separate decision. High mileage motorway drivers still tend to do well out of diesel, short urban journeys suit petrol or hybrid, and an electric car makes most sense if you can charge at home. Check whether the car meets the emissions standards for any clean air zone you drive into regularly, because that cost is easy to overlook.

Where should you buy a car?

Each route trades price against protection. The cheaper the source, the more the inspection is down to you.

Buying from a trader gives you real rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The car must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, and if a fault appears in the first thirty days you can reject it for a refund. A private sale carries none of that. If the seller did not lie to you, faults are yours.

What checks should you run before you view a car?

Do these from your phone before you spend time travelling, because two of them regularly kill a deal outright.

• MOT history. Free on gov.uk using the registration. It shows every test, every advisory and the mileage recorded each time. Look for mileage that jumps around, repeated advisories for corrosion, and a car that has failed on the same item several years running.
• Vehicle history check. A paid check reveals outstanding finance, insurance write off categories, plate changes, colour changes, scrapped markers and theft records. Outstanding finance is the important one: if the loan is not settled, the finance company still owns the car and can take it from you.
• Write off category. Category N and S cars can be perfectly sound if repaired properly, but they are worth noticeably less and can be harder to insure and resell. If the seller has not mentioned it, ask why.
• Advertised price against the market. Compare like for like on mileage, year, trim and history. A car priced well below everything similar usually has a reason.
• Recalls. Manufacturer recall checkers let you enter the VIN to see if outstanding work is due.

What to look for when you view the car

View in daylight, on a dry day, on level ground, and never in the rain or under artificial light. Water hides paint defects and a forecourt spotlight flatters everything.

Start by walking the length of the car from each corner and sighting down the panels at a shallow angle. Reflections should run straight and continuous. Where they wobble, ripple or step, the panel has been repaired or replaced.

• Panel gaps. They should be even and consistent side to side. A bonnet or boot gap that tapers, or a door that sits proud, usually means structural work.
• Colour match. Look at the car in the open, then again with a door open so you can compare the outer skin to the shut face and the inner wing. Metallics and pearls are hard to match, and a wing or bumper that reads slightly different is a repair.
• Overspray. Check the rubber seals, the underside of arch lips, black plastic trim, badge edges and the window glass. Fine speckles of paint where they should not be mean the car has been resprayed and masked in a hurry.
• Filler. Tap along the lower doors, sills and rear quarters with a knuckle. Filler sounds dull compared with steel. Ripples visible in reflections on a rear quarter usually mean a thick repair underneath.
• Rust. Look at the arch lips, sill ends, door bottoms, boot floor, around the fuel flap, and the tailgate seams on estates and hatchbacks. Surface bubbling under paint means corrosion has started from underneath, and it always spreads further than it looks.
• Stone chips. A motorway car will have them on the bonnet and front bumper. It is not a fault, but chips left bare start rusting, and it is a fair thing to raise on price.
• Tyres. Check the depth across the full width of all four, plus the spare. Uneven wear across the tread points to alignment or suspension problems. Different brands on the same axle suggest corners have been cut.
• Alloy wheels. Kerb damage is common and inexpensive to put right, so use it as a negotiating point rather than a deal breaker. Look closely at diamond cut faces, where lacquer failure shows as white blotching under the surface.
• Glass and lights. Chips in the windscreen in the driver's line of sight fail an MOT. Condensation inside a headlamp unit means a failed seal.
• Interior. Wear on the driver's seat bolster, steering wheel and pedal rubbers should broadly match the mileage. A damp or musty smell can mean a blocked drain or a leaking screen seal.
• Under the bonnet. Look for oil around the rocker cover and sump, coolant staining, a mayonnaise like deposit under the oil cap, and fresh underseal or paint on inner wings that could be hiding repair work.

If you find repaired damage, it does not automatically mean walking away. Well repaired accident damage is not a problem. Badly repaired damage is, because it usually comes back as lifting paint, rust or a panel that will not line up. If you are unsure, we can look over a car and tell you what the bodywork has had done to it. Our vehicle body repairs team spends every day identifying exactly this.

How to test drive a car properly

Drive for at least twenty minutes, on a mix of roads, and turn the radio off.

• Start it from cold if you can. Many faults only show on a cold start, and a seller who has warmed the car up before you arrive may be hiding one.
• Listen for knocks over rough surfaces, which usually point to suspension bushes or drop links.
• Brake firmly from speed on a clear road. Pulling to one side or a pulsing pedal means brake or steering issues.
• Take your hands off the wheel briefly on a straight, level road. Drift suggests alignment or accident damage.
• Try every gear, including reverse. On an automatic, feel for hesitation or a jolt between shifts.
• Test everything electrical: windows, mirrors, heated seats, air conditioning (it should blow genuinely cold), infotainment, parking sensors and cameras.
• Check the dashboard as you start up. Warning lights should illuminate and then go out. A bulb that never comes on at all can mean it has been removed.

On anything more than a few thousand pounds, an independent inspection from a motoring organisation or a trusted garage is money well spent. It costs a small fraction of the purchase price and gives you either peace of mind or a strong negotiating position.

How to negotiate the price

Know the market value before you make an offer, and give a reason for the figure you name.

Search current listings for the same model, year, mileage and trim, and note what they are advertised at rather than what a valuation tool says. Then build your offer around concrete points: two tyres near the limit, a major service due, a cambelt approaching its interval, kerbed alloys, a cracked bumper or missing service stamps. That turns haggling from a game into a conversation about cost.

Be polite, be prepared to walk away, and stay quiet after you make an offer. Ask what the price includes, since dealers often have more room on extras, a fresh MOT, a full tank or a warranty than on the headline figure. Check for manufacturer offers on new and nearly new stock, such as deposit contributions or low rate finance, and treat part exchange as a separate negotiation so the two figures do not get blurred together.

What paperwork do you need to buy a car?

You need the V5C logbook, evidence of servicing, the MOT certificate if the car is old enough to need one, and a written receipt.

• V5C registration certificate. Check the seller's name and address match, and that the VIN and engine number match the car. When you buy, the seller notifies the DVLA of the change of keeper, and you should receive a new V5C in your name within a few weeks. Never buy a car with no V5C at all.
• Service history. Stamps, invoices or a digital record. Invoices are more convincing than stamps because they show what was actually done.
• MOT certificate and history. Cross reference the paper record against the online MOT history.
• Receipt or sales invoice. Names, addresses, date, price, registration, VIN and mileage, signed by both parties. For a private sale, write two copies and both keep one.
• Insurance. Arrange cover before you drive away. It is an offence to drive uninsured, even for one journey home.
• Vehicle tax. Car tax does not transfer with the vehicle. The seller gets a refund for full remaining months and you must tax the car in your own name before you drive it, using the new keeper slip from the V5C.

Pay by bank transfer or another traceable method wherever possible, and for a private sale, complete the transaction at the address on the logbook.

What to do in the first month of ownership

Get the car onto your own maintenance footing straight away, rather than waiting for something to go wrong.

• Book a service if the history is thin or the last one is more than a year old, and change the oil regardless if you do not know when it was last done.
• Check tyre pressures, tread depth and the age codes on the sidewalls. Tyres over about six years old can be hard and cracked even with plenty of tread left.
• Note the next MOT and service dates in a calendar, and start a folder for every invoice. A complete file adds real money when you sell.
• Deal with cosmetic issues early. Stone chips and kerbed alloys are cheap to put right now and expensive later, because a chip that reaches bare metal will rust and spread under the surrounding paint. Small marks are exactly what our scuff and scratch repair service is designed for, usually in a few hours and often at your home or work.
• Give it a proper wash, decontamination and a coat of wax or sealant. It is the cheapest thing you can do to protect the paint through a UK winter.

If you have just bought a car and want an honest opinion on its bodywork before you spend anything, send photos through our quick quote form and we will tell you what needs doing and what can wait.