There has never been a better time to buy a used car.  Due to the current economic climate prices of used cars have fallen dramatically.  There are certainly some bargains to be had but for every bargain there is a dodgy motor too.  Here are my tips for buying used.

Private Sellers

Most consumers will hunt the small ads in their local free papers for bargain used cars, or maybe internet ads on popular sites such as PistonHeads or AutoTrader.  The majority of these adverts will be for private sales.

Once you have found a car you would like to see it is time to make contact with the seller.  Beware of adverts only offering a mobile or email.  Always try to make contact via land line.  Tell the seller you are interested in the car he has for sale, if he says which car he maybe a dealer so beware.  Arrange to meet at the sellers address and take someone with you for security & company.

When you go to view the car you should consider the following tips.  Buying used privately you are not protected legally.  There is no part exchange, no warranty and no come back if things go wrong.

• Research the car you are buying.  What is standard equipment? Known problem areas? Used Prices? Sites such as Parker’s are very helpful in these areas.
• Don’t view a car in darkness or bad weather (e.g. Rain)
• When meeting the seller at his home ask to use his toilet, this will confirm if it is his address or just an empty house he has pulled onto the driveway of to sell the car.
• Inspect the car in a logical manner noting any defects that can be used later when negotiating price.  Start with the externals, bodywork, wheels, tyres, brakes before moving inside then finally onto engine bay.
• Check the paperwork.  Check the registration document details against the owners name & address (ask to see their drivers licence to confirm), Vehicle registration mark, vehicle identification number.
• Check the service history.  Is the service book stamped up to date and have checks been carried out in a regularly manner in line with mileage and age?  When was the cambelt changed?  When was the air con recharged?
• Look at body panels closely.  Mismatch in colour or over spray onto other panels/trim could indicate the car has been resprayed.  Has it been in a accident?
• If you are happy with what you see take the car for a test drive, minimum 5miles to get the car warmed up.  Try different types of road, low speed, high speed, bends and straights.  Make sure you try all the gears, buttons, lights, pedals and leavers.  Listen for any strange sounds, look for any warning lights on the dash, and smell for any strange odours.
• If the test drive satifys you I would always encourage and independant vehicle inspection from a company like The AA.  This entails one of their mechanics checking the vehicle over to various levels (depending on purchased test) and providing a written report.  Prices start from £135 but it could save you spending hundreds if you buy a car with a fault that could have been picked up.  You should also carry out a data check.  This will tell such things as if there is oustanding finance on the car, if the car is stolen or if it has been written off by an insurance company.
• Your inspection has come back good so now it’s time to negotiate price.  We mentioned earlier looking for defects, now time to use to your advantage.  Every scuffed alloy knock £30 of the asking price.  Every dent £50 off and so on.  Once you and the seller have agreed on a price it is time to settle up.  Here is a handy receipt you should both fill in and keep as a record of the sale.

We have all done, visited a car dealership at the weekend and seen that lovely little two seater sports car you have been drooling over since you were a teenager.  You walk round it, opening the doors, stroking the smooth shiny paintwork and breath in that new car smell.  Then you have a heart attack when you see the on the road (OTR) price!

Buying a new car is the second biggest purchase in your life after a home.  Normally I would not recommend buying new due to depreciation, but to be fair to my future guide on buying used cars this guide must be written.  Now unless you are fortunate enough to have liquid cash lying around you are likely to be buying your new car with some finance.  The question is what type of finance?  This guide aims to explain the various types available and whats best.

Hire Purchase Most dealers will offer this as an option for purchasing a car.  A finance company offering the HP will own the car and the consumer will buy it from them over a set period of time.  The consumer will need to put down a deposit of 10-20% but this means lower monthly repayments over financing the whole car.  The consumer will not own the car until the HP company has been repaid in full, and during this period the car can not be sold.

Personal Contract Purchase The consumer agrees to lease the car for a set period of time, for a set mileage.  For example 3 years at no more than 10,000 miles a year.  If you go over the set mileage the you may end up being charged.  The consumer pays a fixed monthly sum over the lease period. Service, maintenance and repair are included in the monthly payments.  Compared to HP the monthly payments are low, but you will never own the car unless at the end of the term you agree to pay the guaranteed future value.  This is calculated at the start of the term and is fixed.  If the actual value of the car at the end of the term is less than the GFV then as a consumer you loose out, if it’s worth more you can use the difference as the deposit on your next car.  If you don’t want the car at the end of the term you can simply hand the keys back and walk away.

Unsecured Loan A Consumer will borrow money from a bank, building society or finance company based on their income and what they can afford to repay.  The annual percentage rate (APR) and monthly payments are fixed, and the loan is paid back over a fixed term.  As the loan is not secured on the car you own the car from day one and can sell it at any time, but you must pay off the loan within the agreed term.  If you do repay the loan early there may be an early repayment charge.  Some companies offer flexible loans allowing you to take payment breaks without incurring a fee.

Secured Loan A Consumer will borrow money from a bank, building society or finance company and the money will be secured against an item of value i.e. the new car or the consumers house.  The annual percentage rate (APR) and monthly payments are fixed, and the loan is paid back over a fixed term.  Usually the monthly payments for a secured loan are less, you can also have longer repayment terms.  If the loan is secured on your car, you must repay the loan before you are able to sell the car.

Now I explained the 4 most common methods for financing your next new car which is best?  I would certainly rule out PCP if you are planning to hang onto the car.  At the end of the term in most cases you will end up paying anywhere upto 20% more than the market value for the car, as the dealers GFV is usually set in their favour.  So in my opinion PCP is one most expensive finance options.

HP is usually open to most consumers but as such it attracts high APR’s which may not be suitable for your circumstances.  HP is particularly attractive to those consumers who get turned down for secured and unsecured loans.  Once again in the long run HP will cost the consumer more than other finance options.

Unsecured and secured loans from banks or building societies are in my opinion the best way to finance a new car.  Simply apply for the money take it to the dealer and pay the cash.  This makes you a Cash Buyer and as such puts you in a strong negotiating position.  You then simply repay the loan over a fixed term at a fixed rate using monthly payments.  Remember to hunt around for the best rates though, typically 5-8% APR from the high street lenders.  Don’t be enticed by the dealer offering unsecured and secured loans, the rates will be high and you won’t be able to negotiate much on the price.

There are many different mortgages out there, at last count there were circa 2000 products on the market from UK banks, building societies and other financial organisations.  With this many around it can be hard to choose which is best for you.

To start you need to have an understanding of the different types of mortgage available.  It is important to remember though, depending on your particular financial status you may be restricted on what products are available to you from lenders.  Once you have chosen your type of mortgage you can look at the different products available.

Repayment.  This is the traditional type of mortgage and the only type that guarantees you will own your home (assuming you keep up with the repayments).  The mortgage debt is split over a number years, usually 25.  Each month you make a payment you are paying off interest and capital.  In the first few years you are going to be primarily paying off the interest, but as the term shortens then more and more capital will be paid off.  The repayments continue until the debt is repaid.

Interest Only.  As the name suggests you are simply repaying the interest on the mortgage debt over the agreed term.  Then at the end of the term you will need to pay the capital back to the lender.  If you are unable to do this then the lender will probably reposses your property.  This is why it is important to have a method to pay of the capital at the end of the term and don’t just rely on winning the Lottery!  Methods that are available are, Endowment, ISA’s or Pension Plans.  Endowments are stock market based investments, which were very popular in the 1980’s and 1990’s when oversized mobiles, Shoulder pads, red trouser braces and whale tail Porsche 911’s were all the rage.  Then it went BANG!  Endowments are now considered very bad and like red trouser braces & shoulder pads should be avoided at all costs!  It is possible to cash in a pension plan to repay debt, but once again not a good idea.  Overall if this is the route you want to take then setup an ISA to repay the capital.  This is a tax free investment that is ideal for saving.  More info on ISA’s in our savings section.

So by now you should have chosen which type of mortgage you would like.  It now gets complicated with the numerous products available.  As previoulsy stated depending on your financial status not all of these products will be available to you.  In our next article we will look at some of the best products currently available and what a mortgage really costs…

Most shops have now stopped selling tube based TV’s and as such when your current TV breaks and you want to replace it you are going to be left with the choice of two different types of technology that are on sale in mainstream retailers.  Then to add further confusion there are some “other” technologies that are just emerging onto the market to enhance your viewing pleasure.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).  In a LCD TV, liquid crystals are sandwiched between two transparent electrodes and two polarizing filters. Two grids of electrodes (one is horizontally aligned and another is vertically aligned) contact either side of the crystals. The job of this network of electrodes is to access each pixel of the crystal layer and control the electric flow.

A backlight device made of fluorescent lamps diffused by a white panel, passes through the liquid crystals. This white panel ensures that the entire surface of the screen gets uniform brightness. The front panel of LCD is made up of a grid of wires which are in contact with each pixel of the screen and activate it separately.  Some manufacturers have now opted to use LED instead of fluorescent lamps.  This has resulted in thinner, lighter more energy efficient TV’s.

With in network of crystals, each molecule functions like a gate to open or close the passage of light through them depending on the voltage of the current. To produce bright display, the voltage is kept low while for dark details the voltage is increased. By nature, liquid crystals always allow a smaller amount of light to pass through them making the pure black levels somewhat impossible.

Pros

• Slim profile
• Lighter and less bulky than rear-projection televisions
• Can be viewed from almost any angle, upto 170 degrees
• Less expensive than Plasma
• LED Backlit versions are very energy efficient, Light and slim

Cons

• Some models do not perform well with fast moving footage due to slow response times.
• Colours sometimes appear washed out.
• Generally do not come in sizes larger than 46 inches

Some top rated LCD TV’s from Sony, Samsung (LED Backlit) and Panasonic

Plasma.  Plasma screens are made up of tiny red, green and blue pixels which sit in front of Xenon & Neon gas filled chambers.  At the front of each chamber are phosphors, and at the rear an electrical source.  The electrical source ionises the gases which excite the phosphors which generate the light through the pixels giving you a picture made up from all the pixels.

Pros

• Slim profile
• Lighter and less bulky than rear-projection televisions
• Achieves better colour reproduction than LCDs, Upto 68 billion Colours
• Produces deep, true blacks allowing for superior contrast ratios
• Faster response times make Plasmas ideal for fast motion video
• Can be viewed from almost any angle, upto 170 degrees

Cons

• Susceptible to Screen burn-in and image retention (however newer models have built-in technologies to prevent this such as pixel shifting)
• Susceptible to “large area flicker”
• Generally do not come in sizes smaller than 32 inches
• Susceptible to reflection glare in bright rooms
• Heavier than LCD due to the requirement of a glass screen to hold the gases
• Damage to the glass screen can be permanent and far more difficult to repair than an LCD

Some top rated Plasma TV’s from Panasonic, Pioneer and Samsung.

Others…

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode).  Put simply is a LED covered by an emissive electroluminescent layer composed of a film of organic compounds.  The layer usually contains a polymer substance that allows suitable organic compounds to be deposited. They are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple “printing” process. The resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colours.

OLED TV’s do not require a backlight and as such require less energy and can also be made thinner & lighter than ever before.  The technology is still very new and currently there are only a handful of screens on the market.  An example is the SonyXEL1.