Finding your dream (starter) car

There are many things involved when looking for a car, here are some important questions you’ll need to answer:

● What car brand do you want
● Whether you buy from a private seller, dealership, or auction
● If you decide to use a web market which one is best
● How far you’re willing to travel to pick up the car

Remember that these are just a few things people consider. When looking for a car, Dingers inc would strongly recommend using the following sites: Facebook Market, Ebay, Auto trader, Cinic, and Car giant (in that order!). The first three mentioned are great for young drivers on a budget. They have search tools that enable you to specifically look for a car within reach e.g., not necessarily second-hand electric cars, but something you can afford. The last two are well-known companies, however, they can be very expensive. You can start your search on any of these sites. Once you’ve picked a car marketplace, next is to narrow down your search. The following parameters will help:
Price
As of July 2022, the average price of a used car is £17,000 according to auto trader, however, don’t let this put you off as with our help you can secure a reliable, financially sensible car. Various factors have an effect on the price of the car e.g., how many previous owners, model, type of manufacturer, mileage, age of the car etc. At Dingers Inc we believe a reasonable amount for a new/younger driver to spend on a car is between £2000 - £6000 (£3200 - £8000 for an automatic car). This is a realistic and affordable price range for a new/young driver especially if this is your first car. Cars within this price range are usually cheaper to fix and keep value if you want to sell them within a year.

Age
We’d recommend buying a car no older than 10 years old. This comes down to the wear and tear of the car. After 10 years or 100,000 miles, there are parts that may need to be changed e.g., the cambelt, which if it doesn’t get changed can ruin the car. Every part of the car ages and getting an old car could be a pricey investment. 10 years is a good age as you can use it for another 2 – 5 years before needing to change.

Mileage
This relates to the age of the car. The rule of thumb is 10,000 for every year of the car. A 5-year-old car with 50,000 miles or under can be considered a good car as it isn’t being overused. Just like a car that’s 10 years old or young, we’d recommend getting a car that has no more than 110,000 miles (100,000 is ideal).

Cat A, Cat B, Cat S, or Cat N write-off
When looking for a used car, we’d strongly recommend avoiding these cars as they’ve been involved in some sort of accident. Category A write-offs are vehicles that have suffered severe structural damage. They can’t be repaired. Category B cars have suffered severe damage that can’t be repaired. The remains of the car can be stripped for parts for use on other vehicles, but the chassis and/or bodyshell must be scrapped because they may have suffered serious or irreparable damage. Cat S write-offs have suffered damage to structural areas of the vehicle such as the chassis or crumple zones. A Category S car can be repaired and put back to a roadworthy condition and used on the road again. Category N write-offs are vehicles that have suffered non-structural damage and can be repaired to a roadworthy condition and put back into use. In our view, any car that has been in an accident is a liability as the accidents can have an effect on the car at any time. Other search criteria:

Location of the car – Don’t want to travel too far to collect the car
Gearbox – if you passed in manual then any car is fine but if you passed in automatic, you’ll need to search for auto only
If you live within a city, you might want to consider getting petrol to avoid charges e.g., Birmingham clean air zone charges or London’s ULEZ charges