Used Car Buying Guides

Put £1 on a credit card when you buy a used car and Section 75 covers the entire purchase. Most buyers don't know this. Most dealers are counting on that.

These phrases are designed to make you skip the checks. Trading Standards, fraud researchers, and a Visa study of 6,000 adults all point to the same patterns.

The honest guide for 2026. Real cars, real insurance groups, real road tax. From £2,500 Saturday job money to £5,000 if granny came through.

Most people assume dealer means safer. The reality is more complicated — and the gap is where the scams live.

A number plate can be swapped in minutes. A VIN can't. Here's why a clean report can still describe the wrong car, and how to check the number that doesn't lie.

Most car checks do one thing. They check the car. The other half of the picture is who you're buying from.

A number plate can be swapped in minutes. A VIN can't. Here's why a clean report can still describe the wrong car, and how to check the number that doesn't lie.

Don't pay dealer prices for private seller risk. How to tell which kind of seller you're actually dealing with.

Run the data check first. Then check the car in daylight, at the seller's home address. And tell someone where you're going.

Most people check whether it passed or failed. What the MOT history actually shows is a pattern of ownership — repeated in everything you can't see from the listing.

Two minutes of checks before you pay can save you a lot more than embarrassment. Here's what to look for — and what we do automatically.

Cat S, Cat N, Cat A, Cat B — what the letters mean, what to do if you find one, and why an undeclared category is a people problem, not a car problem.

1 in 5 used cars has a hidden accident history. Here's what private repairs look like, what to look for at the viewing, and why a wet car should make you walk away.