For many of us buying a second hand car is what we do time and time again. But what should we be looking out for and is there any way to guarantee that the car we buy is going to last? There is always a greater element of risk when buying second hand but the truth is many of us simply cannot afford to buy a new car so have to go down the pre-owned route. There is no guarantee that the car will last as long as we believe it should but there are some ways that we can try and eliminate the worse happening. There are many companies out there such as the AA that offer a used car check service, where one of their trained mechanics will come and have a look round the vehicle for you, depending on how much the car is, this can be a worthwhile thing to do and save you money in the long run. You should also make sure that you always HPI a car to check for accident / insurance and fraud issues.