ORIGINAL: andrew_churcher
Well you are buying the car not the dealer so get a full independent ppi and base decision off that.
But, you are paying a huge mark-up (at least in percentage terms) for the extra security of buying from a dealer not a private sale. If the dealer has masses of negative feedback then that's got to make that mark-up seem less palatable?
The real thing to consider is, as you are suggesting, that there are very few decent cars out there that don't have bills looming that will more than double the purchase price. Any good car is worth a look, regardless of the seller, so long as everything stacks up. And, it's worth paying over the perceived "market price" if the car is going to save £000s in costs over the next few years.
Even that raises it's own questions. I changed my car because the S2 was such a good deal. In hindsight, and it's not the seller's fault really as some things were surprises, but by the time I've sorted the bodywork and resprayed it I'll have paid at least double what the old Lux would have cost to restore to concourse-condition. So many 944 weak points are age-related, and aren't going to be able to be ignored on even the lowest-mileage, low-owner, never used cars. Fuel lines, caliper corrosion, belt changes needing a water pump as well, clutches breaking up, that sort of thing. Perhaps there is an argument for buying an average car that's had a lot of recent work, and investing in it, rather than paying for an "original" car, that might be about to bite badly?
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