‘I’m a car dealer - this is one major red flag used car buyers don’t know’

A top motoring dealer has revealed the biggest red flags all used car buyers may not be aware of when securing a deal. Jeff Wong, Used Car Controller at Porsche Centre Bristol, stressed petrol and diesel cars priced dramatically lower than their actual value should be treated with caution.

The second-hand expert revealed there had “to be a reason” why prices were so much lower than market value. He urged road users should never unknowingly buy “dodgy cars” with so much information available in seconds. Online car checkers and word of mouth through forums should help road users identify issues and stay away before parting with their money.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Jeff said: “There’s got to be a reason for that in terms of being so cheap. Which is why in the world we live in today you can do so much homework on these cars, with the Porsche forums everywhere people are talking about new and used cars all the time.

“I'm pretty sure when one person is interested in a car, they will tap it in pit it in a forum and someone will say ‘that was my car, I had it years ago, don’t buy it’. You can find a lot of history nowadays with forums.

“But AA inspections and things, RAC inspections can quite easily do that and check it out for you as well. There’s no need in today’s world to buy a dodgy car somewhere."

Wheeler Dealers star Mike Brewer previously warned road users to stay away from used car costs that appeared “too good to be true”.

He stressed road users were more at risk of being caught out if they turned to "unscrupulous sites” online to find deals.

He explained: “If you see a car advertised on Facebook Marketplace or another unscrupulous site that looks too good to be true, the chances are it is.”

Motoring experts at Carwow have previously added: “The first thing to keep in mind is that if the car seems too good to be true, it probably is.

“Scammers will usually tempt victims in with a fairly new or desirable car for a very low price, so search around for other examples first to get an idea of what that model usually sells for.”