I’ve owned a fair amount of car sales over the years, and at this present moment in time I find myself having to seek out a good deal on yet another car as my current 15-year old car has failed its MOT.

Normally I would have just had the repair work carried out but it’s got to the point where my car spends more time with a mechanic than it does with me, plus the cost of the repairs to fix the MOT failure would cost about three times the value of the car!

Over the years I have learned quite a lot about the motor industry, the various tactics salespeople employ, as well as absorbing a great deal of knowledge about how to take advantage of any great sales offers.

Are you thinking about buying a car soon? If so, you will probably be aware of the fact that there are loads of different places you can go and buy a car from! The one you go to is, of course, down to your personal choice, but before you part with any cash, let me give you a few hints and tips when it comes to buying your car privately, from an independent dealer or franchised dealer!

Buying privately

People that sell their cars privately generally want to make as much money as possible on their cars because of the lower trade-in values offered by dealerships. It is important to bear a few points in mind if you are thinking of buying a car privately:

  • No legal comeback - cars are pretty much “sold as seen” when you buy from a private seller, and it doesn’t matter whether the car you buy is worth £500 or £5,000, if you think you’re getting a good deal on your car you might sometimes end up with a “lemon”;
  • More scope for negotiation - although you can negotiate on price with dealers, you are generally going to get more scope for negotiation when buying from a private seller, especially if you sense they are desperate to sell the car (although be cautious if this is the case, as there might be a hidden agenda in play here).

Buying from independent dealers

There are literally thousands of independent dealers spread out across the United Kingdom, with some such as hyundai cars for sale offering real value-for-money on the cars they sell. Prices won’t be as cheap as what you could buy privately, but you will be benefiting from the knowledge that car dealers have a legal obligation to sell cars that aren’t dodgy or not legally theirs to sell.

Some of the larger independent dealers will offer facilities such as finance, servicing and extended warranties, with many customers taking advantage of these value-added services when they buy their cars.

Buying from main dealers

A lot of people opt for buying cars from main dealers, but in my experience they aren’t particularly any better (in terms of value) than buying from the indies. It’s also worth noting that franchised main dealers are only aligned to one or more specific marques, so if you head over to a BMW main dealer, for example, don’t expect them to have stock of Vauxhall cars.

Author's Bio: 

Narendra is a freelancer writer and passionate blogger..