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

[Jonno34]

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]

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]

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.

[10 4]

Jonno.

You know me, what more could you possibly want to know...

[Jonno34]

Haha so true James

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

[The Bogan]

Carsales has a few reviews for second hand cars.

[Jonno34]

^ Just checked that out, good reviews of the cars they have done

[ras1983]

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 April 20, 2012 by ras1983

[Jonno34]

thanks for the suggestion mate