If you are happy to buy second hand car parts for your vehicle then you may be able to save yourself a huge chunk of money compared to prices for the brand new equivalent.
There are risks involved when looking to buy a second hand car part and unless you buy a refurbished one or off a dealer you may find that you have no warranty or even guarantee that it is going to work. Not only do you have to consider the risk of it being faulty, but also ensuring it is the correct part and fitment for your vehicle. Many people will not take back second hand parts because you have purchased the wrong one, it may be that you are then stuck with it.
If you can, always get a mechanic to check over the part or to at least confirm it is the correct one before agreeing to any purchase. Ask the seller if you can have any sort of warranty as even if it is only 30 days, it may be enough to see any intermittent faults.
If you are looking to buy a used car or van then one of the musts to check is how much MOT is left on it. For vehicles over 3 years old, an MOT inspection must be carried out every 12 months. IF the car or van fails the Mot then the issues need to be rectified and a retest carried out before a valid test certificate is issued.
If buying from a garage they will almost certainly sell the car with at least 3 months MOT if not often even 12 months, but private buyers can be different.
Some people will sell their used van or car with only a few weeks/ days or even no MOT on. The price often reflects this but sometimes the price is only reduced by £50 or so. Often the advert will state “No MOT (or short MOT) but I do not think it will take much to pass”. This statement is widely used and often the seller knows that that is not the case. With an Mot costings as little as £20, it would be worth while anyone putting an MOT on to a car to sell it, therefore increasing the value, if they are not willing to MOT it then it would suggest they are aware of costly problems.
When you’re in the market looking for a van, you need to take in to account the mileage, how long is left on the mot plus all round condition. You may start to look on websites such as Gumtree, Auto Trader or Shpock to find vans that may be suitable. You need to take in to account what size van you would need depending on the type off work you will be carrying out in it.
If you need to carry quite a bit of equipment which is easily accessible then you may wish to look for something like a Ford Transit Connect, the van has a side loading door which is ideal for easy loading and unloading plus you can easily put a roof rack on top for ladders. There should be enough room in the back for all of your materials and tools. You may wish to put an inverter in the back so you can run 230 volts in the van which will allow you to charge phones, batteries for tools and even run a kettle to make a brew.
If you have bought a cheaper car or van and then it breaks down on you and basically becomes worthless, there are ways you can try and make your money back. Scrap value for cars is not much at the moment so you will be lucky to get more than £70 but if you have the time and the patience you may be able to recoup some of your loss.
Many individual parts on a car are worth quite a bit more than the scrap value, so why not strip it down and sell them yourself. You might be able to get £50-£70 for one engine part in perfect working order meaning anything else you sell will be profit over the scrap value.
Even trims such as bumpers and decals can fetch between £10-£30, which very quickly adds up.
Make sure that if you are doing this then the car is off road or still taxed and insured. If you are keeping it off the road then you need to SORN the vehicle.
If you see an advert stating a car is sold as spares or repairs you may be shocked to find out that it doesn’t actually need that much work and can easily be repaired under the value of the car. Many people advertise cars in this way as that is the correct way to list a car that is not in a state that is legal to be driven on the road.
If it is sold as a normal used car then the seller could be taken to court over the sales of goods act, stating that everything has to be fit for purpose, if the car has major issues or is unsafe.
When buying a spares or repairs car you need to know a bit of mechanics to know how much work is going to need doing, taking a mechanic with you is the best way to do this. You may at first think that all you need is a bumper and wing, but upon closer inspection it may be that the radiator is also damaged and possibly the car is out of alignment. This will very quickly hike up the bill.
