Buying a car through an automotive internet forum

Internet car forums are not only a great place to meet like-minded enthusiasts and a treasure trove of technical information, but also a great place to find the car of your dreams. However before you snap up the first bargain you find, spend a few minutes going through the site – it could stop that dream car of yours ending up as a nightmare.

Firstly do your homework on whether the car you’re looking at is practical for your needs. Turbo fed rear wheel drive sports cars are not good for those on a budget. Two seater coupes limit both passenger and luggage space, while some cars are near impossible to find spare parts for. Ask yourself if it will be driven just on weekends or only to and from work? Is it for business or pleasure? By asking yourself these questions now (and answering them honestly), you’ll save not only money but many future headaches. Remember to read up about other people’s experiences with the model you have your eye on as automotive forums are ripe with the good and bad stories of particular model ownership.

Once you’ve decided on your next car, work out how much you’d be willing to spend to get it. Don’t forget to include both additional funds for insurance and registration as well as possible repairs to get it to roadworthy condition. Use the search function on the forums to find out about its fuel economy or its lack of. Are spare parts or local dealer support readily available? If not, prepare to pay handsomely for parts posted to you. Make sure you also take notes on common problems you might run into that owners’ of the same make and model have discovered before. Keep in mind that it’s not worth owning if you’re going to struggle to pay it off or you have to make major sacrifices in order to put it into your garage.

Go through all the ads of the same model and work out the average asking price. Lower mileage and better condition cars will of course cost more but will be more reliable in the long run. Avoid bargain cars with a price that seems too good to be true; there’s a reason why it’s cheap and it’s doubtful it’s a good one. Make a list of your top three to avoid disappointment if you miss out on one and then search through the forum it’s being sold on to discover the history of each.

Given that automotive forums online are littered with enthusiasts, it won’t take too long to find out if the car you’ve had your eye on has had a good life or a rough one. Go through the seller’s posts and see if they’ve asked for advice on repairs, posted pictures of the car after an accident or bragged about thrashing it. If any of the above applies, look for a better example. Feel free to send the seller any questions you have, either posted on their ad, through a private message service (if the forum provides one) or via email. If the answers don’t satisfy your curiosity, avoid the car.

Many automotive forums also offer a trader feedback section which helps sort the good buyers and sellers from the rip-off artists or dodgy dealers. If the seller has a bad record in general then it’s time to look somewhere else.

Once you’re satisfied with everything so far, it’s time to organize a test drive. From here the usual car buying advice should be standard: get the car professionally checked, make sure it doesn’t owe anyone any money and if in doubt, walk away. Don’t feel that you might have missed an opportunity by saying no – if you continue searching through the forums, the car of your dreams might just come driving around the corner again one day.

And finally if you do end up buying it, don’t forget that there are plenty of parts, advice and like-minded enthusiasts just waiting to chat to you on the same automotive forum you just bought it from.