Transcript
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buying a used car is something that
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almost all of us are going to do at some
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point and it can be scary it’s a big
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purchase so you’ve got to kind of take
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the emotion out of the buying process
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and look at the information that’s
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available to you there’s lots of
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information available from all sorts of
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places especially online and you should
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look at that but for what it’s worth
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here’s what I look for when I’m buying a
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used car there are all sorts of things
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you can check without even getting
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inside and starting the engine does the
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mileage ring true with the exterior
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condition of the car now if this car had
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been flogged up and down the motorway
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for tens of thousands of miles the be
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telltale signs not least scratches and
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Nick’s in the paintwork especially here
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on the leading edge of the bonnet also
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check the windscreen for little cracks
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and scratches now the conditions of the
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wheels and the tires is usually a dead
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giveaway this one has got a bit of a
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curbing mark on it there but that’s not
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too serious
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don’t kick tires kicking tires tells you
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nothing modern tires the constructions
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incredibly rigid but when you do go to
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buy a used car you will have to take
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with you a twenty pence piece because if
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you put it in the tread then it will
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give you some indication of whether the
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tyres illegal three mil is the legal
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requirement there should be a bit more
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on a car of this edge with the kind of
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mileage that this one is supposed to
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have when I say supposed to have there
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is a startling statistic one in three
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used cars has been clocked the mileage
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has been one back to increase its resale
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value so you need to be careful look at
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the wing mirrors they are a dead
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giveaway what kind of condition are they
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in do they look like they’ve spent many
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many many thousands of miles on a
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motorway are they covered in scratches
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are they faded are they being cluttered
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is the glass cracked mirrors always a
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good indication here’s another tip for
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you most cars are central lock in these
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days so you can tell that if there are a
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lot of scratches around where the
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keyhole is then there’s a car that’s got
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problems perhaps with its electrics or
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it’s done many many more miles than it’s
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supposed to have have and that’s why
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there’s been a key
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into that lock so many times check the
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fuel filler cap as well as it been
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forced has it been replaced have the
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keys been lost at some point did the
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keys all tally together these are all
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the sorts of things that you can ask ask
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questions ask the previous keeper why
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the mileage is so low or why the mileage
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is so high and these are all things that
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you can do before you even get into that
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car or think about starting the engine
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right we’ve got the keys let’s have a
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look in the boot first thing and parcel
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shelf these things are very easily
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detachable we all do it you put it aside
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you drive off expensive to replace
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check the carpet is it dry if it’s not
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the boot seal might have failed that
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could be an expensive job right let’s
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check the spare tire there isn’t one
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instead we’ve got one of those emergency
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get you home kits check the jack make
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sure it works make sure the wheel brace
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is actually the right wheel base the
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number of cars I’ve got in where
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somebody’s just stuck our wheel brace in
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the back of the car so make sure it fits
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if you’re lucky enough to have alloy
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wheels like this car does check that the
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lock the key for the lock on the alloy
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wheels is there if it isn’t with the car
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that can be hundreds of pounds to
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replace right let’s uh see what’s going
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on the bonnet for goodness sake when you
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put the money on like this don’t start
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randomly taking the tops off to check
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levels if this car had just been running
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you undid this one you get a scolded
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hand there’s a warning helpfully I’m
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here but dude it the oil law because it
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tells you so many things about the car
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let’s try this one there we are
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so let’s stick it in there and see what
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it tells me yeah
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all’s good if it’s below the minimum
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mark then walk away from the car the
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cars been run with the oil level below
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the minimum that’s loyal pressure the
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moving parts of the engine aren’t going
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to the lubrication that need walk away
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from it however if when you dip it and
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you look at the indicator it’s over the
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maximum mark that is a classic sign of a
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car that’s using oil and has been
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rapidly topped up when they know that
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York
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to see it so it’s under the minimum walk
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away if it’s over the maximum ask why
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right what can we tell from sitting here
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about this car without starting the
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engine well we want to know don’t we if
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the mileage that’s showing is the actual
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mileage this car is done there are some
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telltale giveaways about how much use
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the car is has for instance when you get
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into the car you inevitably rub against
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the door seal and the bolster of the
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seat that’s this bit so check compare
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the two look at the bolster on this side
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and look at the bolster on the other
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side II there’s a dirt or where where
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the stitching’s coming undone the cars
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probably had a lot of use likewise a
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leather covered steering wheel is a
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giveaway as well where on the wheel if
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the colors a little bit reduced where
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you’d put your hands at the ten to two
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position like why is the gearstick this
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one’s leather covered again if the signs
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of where are the stitching’s come and on
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it’s probably a high mileage car I would
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have given you a tip about whether the
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previous owner was a smoker by looking
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at the ashtray and the lighter but like
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a lot of modern cars this one doesn’t
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come with an ashtray what it does come
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with door is all of the documentation
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that you need the warranty the
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maintenance schedule the service record
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of the car so you can check when and
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where this car has been serviced it
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doesn’t matter too much these days
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if the handbook isn’t there because you
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can download them from the internet what
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you can’t download though are the cords
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for things like alarms and for the radio
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so make sure that you’ve got that
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information because if you haven’t if
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the battery’s disconnected you can’t
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reset the alarm you can’t reset the
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stereo and that could cost you hundreds
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of pounds so if after those
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comprehensive checks you’re still
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interested you’ll be wanted to take the
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car for a test drive which is another
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story but before the test drive you can
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be assured that as one of the UK’s
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leading retailers of used cars the
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co-operative motor group make sure it
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does a hundred point check on every use
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it sells so that you can be assured the
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car you interested in is exactly the car
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that you think it is
