Where should you buy your used car?

The process of buying a used car can be tricky enough as it is. Somehow you need to become an expert on cars, know how to spot the difference between a little niggle and a complete disaster, understand and translate sales patter, and master the art of negotiation in order to hammer out a good deal.

However, all this will be wasted unless you know a little-known rule about buying a used car.

Location

As with house prices, the secret ingredient is location. According to Glass.co.uk the second-hand car prices for the most popular models can vary by up to £950 across different regions. It looked into the selling price of the top ten most popular three-year-old used cars for sale in the UK and identified the regions where you are most likely to find a bargain - and the places where you're more likely to be ripped off.

Apparently car buyers in the South East are the most likely to face a rip off, followed by those in the South West, East Anglia and the Midlands. If you want a better deal you'll have to travel North. Scotland is the cheapest area in the country to buy followed by the North East and North West.

Huge differences

And the difference makes it well worth considering making the journey. The average difference for the most popular models was £650, with the highest difference of £950 being for a Vauxhall Insignia.

Adrian Rushmore, Glass's managing editor comments: "It certainly is no myth that car values vary around the country and as a rule, the further north you head, the less you'll pay for your car. If you can get a cheap flight or train fare up to Scotland and can drive your new car back down south, you could make a significant saving."

Most expensive

The most expensive place for Peugeot 207 is apparently the South West, where it costs £7,900 - some £925 more than in Scotland. Meanwhile a Fiesta 1.25 is most expensive in the South East where it costs £775 more than it does in Wales. And the Mini Cooper is £575 more expensive in the South East than the North West.

Of course, the site highlights that you're not guaranteed to make a saving by travelling, as the used car market is prone to bumps in the road. It also discovered that if you want something swanky you may get a better choice in the South East, which has the widest range of premium brand convertibles and luxury sports cars compared to any other region - and incredibly accounts for 24% of all cars offered for sale.

Most expensive places to buy a used car

1 South East
2 South West
3 East Anglia
4 Midlands
5 Wales
6 North West
7 North East
8 Scotland