Things you should never do

• Never arrange to meet in a "mutual" location, such as a service station or car park. Why doesn’t the seller want to reveal their address? Are they hiding something?
• Make sure you have a landline telephone number not just a mobile. This is so you have a back up and if you have any problems you will be able to contact someone.
• Miss a trader in disguise. The classic opener on the telephone is to ask if "the car" is still for sale – a "which one?" response is a give-away. Traders will sell dodgy vehicles in disguise to avoid legal obligations to repair problems.