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pifko
Its business isn't it. Used car dealers need to buy at price X, add value (which is often just clean it, throw some paint sealant on it to make it look shiny, and throw away any service history), sell for X + Y. Where Y is a % profit to make it worth their while going to work in the morning.
Not all used car dealer cars are bad. Not all private sales are legit or good.
Every car over a day old potentially has issues. Operate on the principle that any used car you buy may well cost you £500-1500 within the first days to 6 months just in wear items and things that crop up that you won't have noticed on the 0.5 mile 30mph test drive around the block.
The absolute best advise is to find a mate or colleague who is an expert in that particular car your looking at, pay them in wine, beer, mince pies for their time to help you look at a few cars you've short listed.
Do not buy the first car of any type that you see, look at and drive multiple, then even the most non car person ever will be like 'oh that one stank like fermented arse, the other one pulled to the right, the brakes on the third one were dreadful and it make a noise'....
Most non car, non technical, non 'maybe I can fix this myself' type of folk just pay and buy new one way or another. Every mate or colleague that would fit into those categories is always rolling around in a new leased leon, golf, I30, corolla, mazda 3 type of car, because they just want simplicity.
Suzuki swift gets my approval. Genuinely fun to drive, excellent driving position for me (5'10, medium medium medium), engines good, the mild hybrid turbo petrol is a legend, reliable, good economy and quick enough to keep most people happy. Cheap because yeah no one is looking for them. They can rust a bit, but you'll be looking at one less than 10 years old I guess so not really a problem (all cars rust eventually in this country). Boot is small and rear seats are small ish. But if its a hatchback you want, yeah they good.
Jazz is the most best small hatchback in terms of usefulness, nothing else comes close.