In article ,
Theo wrote:
wrote:
I'd never buy from a dealer - unless buying new.

The thing is there's lots of 'private sellers' that are in fact dealers.
They buy random junk from the auctions, mark it up a bit and flog it on
Gumtree, failing to mention the faults that were in the auction
catalogue. You don't get any comeback and they don't have any
reputation to protect. The only advantage over the auction is you get
to test drive it first. But you do have to ask why somebody sold it at
auction in the first place.

Quite. Although buying an ex lease or whatever car at auction - where it
has simply reached the age and mileage where a main dealer won't want it
as used stock - can be a good deal. But you need to get it at auction
price rather than from a bomb site dealer who has given it a valet and
doubled the price.

Thus far the best trick I've found is to google the phone number, and a
red flag is if their number turns up on other car sale listings (there's
some websites that handily archive gumtree so you can see previously
deleted listings).

Hmm, I wonder if it's possible to scrape the auction listings to check if
the vehicle went through recently...?

Theo

--
* What do they call a coffee break at the Lipton Tea Company? *

Dave Plowman London SW
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