Need advice on buying a car (UK)

Hikkins

A while back my car was involved in a very minor accident, and I've just been informed by my insurer that it's been written off.

So, that leaves me in the position of having to find a new one. I've never had to do this before, as my last car was bought for me.

Which brings me to you H/A - I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm doing, so I really need some help.

Any car buying tips would be very appreciated, right now the most important thing I need to know is where I should actually be looking in order to get a decent deal.

For reference, my budget is pretty small, the insurance is paying out a pretty paltry amount to cover the value of my old car. I'm looking at spending around £1500.

japan

For £1500 your best bet is the autotrader.

You're likely looking at either private sales, dealer trade ins (cars that people have traded into dealerships that they aren't putting on their forecourt or sending to auction for whatever reason) or small time dealers who operate at the low end of the market.

In principle you could look at buying at auction yourself but auction houses basically assume that you know what you're doing (because they're intended for people in the trade) so it can be risky.

At this price you should generally be looking to buy the best condition, lowest mileage car within your budget rather than looking for specific makes and models. Consider things like the length of mot remaining, the state of the tyres, whether it's been serviced, etc.

If you're looking at a particular car honestjohn.co.uk has reviews for used cars that will tell you useful things like "automatic gearboxes fitted to these cars commonly fail at 60k and are a £2000 repair" - things like this are why you might see a lot of trade ads for surprisingly inexpensive vehicles. It also has some decent buying guides.

Alternatively: how badly damaged was your car? If the damage was cosmetic and it's a category D write off, you may be better off keeping it and asking the insurance company to pay you less the salvage value. A car being written off doesn't mean it isn't safe or legal to drive, especially if the car isn't worth much: for most older cars, cosmetically damaging a bumper is an expensive enough repair that it probably isn't economical, but the car can still be perfectly usable.

PedroAsani

Is that the first insurance offer? Get on the phone and argue that the car was worth way more. The first offer from the insurance company is always low.