Each year thousands of cars in the UK are brought and sold which have been stolen, been involved in accidents or have outstanding credit owed on them.

Sadly a common ploy used by the tricksters is to sell a Cut and Shut car. Basically these cars are made from two different vehicles. Typically they are cars which have been involved in accidents and written off by the insurance companies. These unscrupulous people buy them from the breakers or from the insurance companies and take the front half of one car and the back half of another car which is the same model and weld them together, making one complete whole car. Not only is this practise illegal, the cars are potential death traps, especially if they are involved in accidents.

Another way unscrupulous people try, and do, make money is to sell a stolen car which has outstanding credit remaining. With many people feeling the pinch and trying to find ways to reduce their living costs, cars are being sold with unpaid credit on them. If you buy such a car it can be confiscated and returned to its rightful owner. You will have lost hundreds or thousands of pounds and there is very little chance-if any, of getting your money back.

And of course there is ultimately one of the biggest reasons that legal owners want to sell their cars for far less than the market value, the car keeps breaking down! This is not the type of car you want to be buying. The supposed savings you have in paying less for the car initially will soon be surpassed by expensive repair bills.

It should be noted that there are people who wish to sell their cars privately for legitimate reasons, however, do your homework and check current market values to help you avoid what could be a very expensive outlay on your part if the car does not come up to expectations.

It is a far better option to buy a quality approved car from a dealership. This will give you the peace of mind that the car is legal, that it has not been stolen, or has any outstanding credit remaining on it. Approved dealerships will carry out full history reports. The results of these will indicate whether the car is stolen, has been involved in an accident and written off by the insurers or if it has any outstanding credit remaining. When you go to the dealership ask to see the report. Approved dealerships will be more than happy for you to see these. If they have not carried out a history check request that they do so before going any further.

When buying used cars make sure you carry out a visual check, remembering that it is being sold as used and therefore normal signs of wear and tear may be evident, especially on older cars. Ask to take the car for a test drive to give you the opportunity to see whether it is in good running order. Check that the gears, brakes and steering are all working smoothly and efficiently. You should then be able to purchase a quality used car that will give you real value for money.