Parents urged to do homework before buying car for kids

As thousands of students prepare to go to university, many parents are starting to shop around for a used car bargain to send their loved ones off in.

But, with as many as one in three used cars having a hidden history, Experian is urging parents always to check out the history of any car they are looking to buy for their offspring to avoid financial loss and possibly more.

Rob Whalley, Managing Director of Experian’s Automotive division, said: “Around 26 per cent of the entire used car sales transactions for the year take place during July, August and September, coinciding with new car registrations.

“As a result, it is a very popular time for parents to pick up a bargain for their son or daughter pre-university. However, the cost of going away to university is already a high one for students and their parents too so the last thing they need is to find that the little runaround they bought to make life easier has got outstanding finance on it and could be repossessed leaving them out of pocket. Or has been stolen and could be returned to the original owner.

“However, the most worrying scenario is to have bought a used car that has previously been written-off and has not been repaired safely. While it may appear to be shiny and well kept, there may be hidden dangers under a layer of fresh paint. Returning a written-off vehicle to the road is not illegal, but consumers need to be aware of all the facts before purchasing one.

“To help avoid the dangers, always check the history of the used car you are about to buy by using a service such as Experian’s Autocheck. While more and more people are becoming aware of the pitfalls associated with buying a used car, many are still not taking simple precautions to ensure that the car they’ve bought is what they thought it was. Parents might be trying to save their kids money by buying them a used car to run around in while at university, but the small cost of carrying out a simple check to ensure that the bargain they’ve got their eye on is actually a bargain, could save them more in the end. They should bear in mind that a bargain purchase may not be always as good as it seems.”

AutoCheck can be bought online at autocheck.co.uk to give instant results on the history of a vehicle using simply the vehicle’s registration number.