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Reviews/research On Used Cars - Anybody Know Of Any Sources?

Jonno34

By Jonno34,
in General Automotive Discussion

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Jonno34 Mentor

Jonno34

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Posted

Hey everyone,

Just out of interest, I was wondering if anybody knows of any websites or books or magazines that give useful information/reviews on used cars?

Information such as reliability and common faults etc that buyers need when purchasing used cars.

Usually when I know what make/model I'm after I'll specifically search for common faults etc of that car and have a look on relevant forums, but this could be useful for people who don't know which cars to look for yet.

I had a bit of a google search and all that came up was stuff like Drive or NRMA which seem to mostly give reviews of the cars when they were new, which doesn't tell you too much about how the car will be like now after so many years!

Cheers for any info in advance!

R31Nismoid Grand Master

R31Nismoid

Posted
Posted

Nothing really exists of that nature far as i know.

Kinda what online car forums cater for i guess really. Also google can sometimes help with "common problem" type searches with model numbers etc

mad082 Grand Master

mad082

Posted
Posted

or go and have a chat with your local mechanic.

general rule of thumb though, if it's japanese (actually japanese, not just a japanese brand) then it will be decent. so for small cars, your toyotas, nissans, hondas and subarus are all decent cars with few faults.

Jonno34 Mentor

Jonno34

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Haha so true James :action-smiley-069:

Was just out of interest to see if there was anything of the sort to help potential buyers pick a few models to consider and whatnot.

I had a book called something like the dog and lemon guide? It wasn't very helpful, it pretty much just said everything wasn't safe or reliable. But it had a full list of almost every single car made, and common faults, reliability, safety, and price.

Cheers for the replies though :)

ras1983 Experienced

ras1983

Posted
Posted (edited)

What you want to do is include the terms "used buyers guide" in your Google searches. You'll find reviews of used cars, which include common problems and faults. But the selection of cars reviewed isn't as wide as one might hope.

Otherwise, forums are definitely the best way to research used cars.

Edited by ras1983

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