Auctions are good but you must take someone with you that knows about cars, Car giant i wouldn't go near, ebay can be great but again you need someone that knows what they are looking at with you, you can end up looking at a right load of tosh before you find one. Main dealers are a bit dearer but they come with the knowledge you can always go back to them not always so with ebay or auto trader, what sort of cars are you looking for?
I've sold 2 cars and 1 van on ebay and in all those cases the eventual buyer had never seen the vehicle prior to "winning" it. Lucky for them I'm one of the good guys, but I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a car without even seeing it. You could get a bargain or you could be buying a load of trouble.
If you're buying an older car, its worth searching the web for information about what potential problems the car may have and there may even be an owners club, which is a very good place to find a decent car (but may not be the cheapest option).
All in all though, as has been said above, you have to be careful - either take a friend who knows about cars along to view your potential purchase or, if you've got the budget, get a mechanic to inspect it.
I've had mixed luck with eBay. First car I bought without viewing, paid via paypal, when I showed up the car wasn't even a runner and the bloke e entially admitted the photos had been taken 7 years previously. I got my money back but it took nearly 6 weeks. Second car was local and I viewed prior to buying and got a bargain. Latest case was I bought a Vito van unsighted from a company in Burnley, but didn't pay for it at the end of auction. I went up to collect it on Monday, only to find that it was basically a pile of rubbish considering it was low mileage and only 5 years old, so I told them I didn't want it, I hadn't paid and to be honest they too knew it wasntup to scratch, so apart from wasting a day and £200 at least I hadn't possibly wasted a couple of grand putting right what was wrong. The moral here, is to view before you buy and if something looks too good to be true, then invariably it is......
Comments
Reliability's another matter...
If you're buying an older car, its worth searching the web for information about what potential problems the car may have and there may even be an owners club, which is a very good place to find a decent car (but may not be the cheapest option).
All in all though, as has been said above, you have to be careful - either take a friend who knows about cars along to view your potential purchase or, if you've got the budget, get a mechanic to inspect it.