[Chrislong]

Changing cars is always full of risks. Do your homework and research and you can minimise the risks by being aware of them.

Do your research, know what you want down to the car make/model/trim and exactly what it should have. Know about all its problems and common faults, know about all its areas of corrosion and weak points...

Then go viewing, don't buy with your heart.... have a thorough poke and prod and crawl underneath, and buy with your head. If something seems wrong and your uncertain - just walk away, there are plenty of choice of all cars, so certainly don't buy the first you view without seeing more, no harm in going back to the first you viewed if by viewing more you have only proved that the first one was the best.

A Full manufacturers service history is shite, I have had cars serviced at manufacturers to maintain warranty and then found loads missed. They just employ kids to tick boxes rather than actually do the work - take the car to a one man independent garage and he'll do a proper job as his "bread and butter" is in you going back again and again.

Also, some big cars have depreciated really fast compared to small, yet the big diesel cars can be as cheap to run as small. I was looking for a 1.6Tdci Fiesta and after not finding any bargains, stumbled across a Mondeo 2.2Tdci for peanuts and now have a lot of car in comparison to a Fiesta for the same money, which costs me a heck of lot less to run than the Focus I had before it.... parkers.co.uk/reviews is good for comparing stuff like this.