I’ve had a run of passes recently, and on the run up to their tests many pupils ask for advice on buying a car. It’s a difficult question to answer, because 
we’ve all heard the stories about dodgy second-hand motors.
Some pupils can’t afford much, and what I tend to do is point out various car dealers as we drive around on our lessons. There are a lot of them springing up, and many specialise is very cheap cars – starting at below £1,000. However, it is definitely a case of “buyer beware”, and I never recommend one dealer over another (unless it’s a big one that I have experience of). One of my current pupils has dealt with one of these cheap car outlets and had a really bad experience (I saw the car, and it had a missing interior mirror and the gear stick was loose).
But it’s much easier to make a few recommendations when someone has a little more money to spend, because then you can point out the main dealerships – or approved second-hand car dealers. You can also find plenty of online resources to help you find the right car, like this one for used Honda Civics. Of course, a Civic might be too big for some people, so you can search for Jazzes and other models as you see fit. If you get the right site, all the links are to approved dealers, so you have that extra level of security.
These days, most manufacturers also have a strong social networking presence, and this often appeals to the younger driver. Sticking with Honda, they have Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube pages, as well as the ubiquitous main website. Judging from the activity on them – particularly Facebook – younger drivers really do use these things to find out information.
Of course, no one is saying that you have to buy from these sources, but having them there to browse through certainly opens up possibilities.
I had a pupil pass her test today, and the first thing she mentioned driving back from the test centre was how she now had to make the decision about which car to buy. She couldn’t afford a new one – but she had a budget with her boyfriend of a few thousand, and that opens up a lot of possible options. I also mentioned to her the lease option, or the car auction route (we have a big auctioneer with a Nottingham branch). Again, these are just two of many ways of sourcing a car these days.
When I see my ex-pupils driving around in their own car – whether it is a new one as a gift from wealthy parents, or a jalopy they have been saving up for – it gives me a warm feeling inside (and it’s not just from the chilli con carne I had for supper). If I helped them find the car, that feeling is just that little bit stronger.