BUYING A USED LUXURY CAR
1. Check out the seller.
2, If it's a trader check them out with Companies House online. Costs nothing. If they don't have a good looking website or pictures of their site and garage facilities, or they are in a backstreet lot in the middle of nowhere, be wary. Ignore their reviews.
4. If it's a private sale, search google.
4. Get the VIN number from the seller (it's on the V5). Use this to contact Jaguar to find out what optional extras were not purchased when the car was registered. You are looking for things like front and rear parking sensors; voice control; reverse parking camera. In fact everything you were expecting from the car. Beware getting a car which is missing stuff that you take for granted from the user manual (get one online from Jaguar)
4. If everything above gives you some confidence, ignore the advertisement number and phone them on their registered landline you discover in (2). If the number is a mobile and they are a trader ask them for a land line to call. They're unlikely to give you one but it should reduce your confidence in them if they don't.
5. Ask them if they have the following ready to hand over on collection, should you decide to go ahead: Current V5; Service history book with (all) stamps; Service invoices for all past services; invoices for interim work and for repairs. They won't have everything but you'll know what you're buying.
6. Ensure that they are willing to have an onsite Pre-Purchase inspection of the car,
7. Arrange a pre-purchase inspection of the car. I used ClickMechanic and paid around £300, but there are plenty of other providers. Believe me when I say it saved me a fortune in money, time and confidence by stopping me buying a really dodgy car from a possibly dodgy dealer and previous owner.
8. Before the inspection, tell the mechanic everything you have discovered so far, and clarify what the report will and will not cover. Make sure it includes a full electronic diagnosis (they will probably negotiate the additional price on this since it's a simple task to plug into the diagnostic port while they are onsite). Ask the mechanic to cover whatever else is troubling you and negotiate the additional cost. Talk to the mechanic and discuss the report.
9. If possible, go to see the car and observe for yourself the exterior and interior, and the condition of the wheels and tyres. Ask for the car to be cleaned beforehand and note any scuffs which might require professional attention - you can only polish out so much if the paint layer has been damaged.
If you're happy, go ahead!
