Buying a car in Ireland, whether new or used, is one of the biggest purchases most people make. But as my recent experiences show, even reputable dealerships can fall short. Here are the lessons I learned and the tips that could save you time, money and unnecessary stress writes Suxanne Keane Used car After our 3 rd baby arrived we squashed into our usual cars for a few months but it became apparent with 3 under 6 that a car with 3 full seats across the back was a necessity. We also decided that if we were going to drive a big ugly family car we would go for the biggest and ugliest and settled on a 7-seater with 5 full seats (that can comfortably seat adults in the 3 rd row). After looking around at many cars locally and being told repeatedly when a car was in a terrible state “what do you expect, it’s a family car” we made our way to Dublin to look at a few options, one of which was advertised by a large used car dealer as immaculate. On arrival it was clear to see that the car was far from immaculate, however, after some negotiations, we decided that it was the highest spec car that suited the budget and went for it. Prior to a final deal being made we were emailed a service report, listing all the work that had just been carried out to the car by this dealer, including new brake discs and pads. About a week later the car was delivered, and our trade-in was driven away. A quick look around the car revealed that the work listed hadn’t actually been carried out – after multiple unanswered calls to the dealership we were able to contact the driver who brought our own car back. Once he had returned we eventually received a call from the dealer, apologising that the work hadn’t been carried out and blaming it all on a junior technician. They offered a discount on the purchase price, and took the car back to have the work carried out. A week later the car came back, this time with the service work done but without a working touch screen. Multiple calls later they agreed to pay for a replacement with the local main dealer. This was delayed by almost 16 weeks, due to a lack of stock from the manufacturer which obviously wasn’t the fault of the seller, but a delay in paying when the work was carried out almost left me stranded with no car as the main dealer wouldn’t release the car without payment. On a side note, once the payment was made to this local main dealer and I was given the keys back I discovered that the touch screen unit was locked and hadn’t been configured. Back in the service department I was then told there had been an internet connection problem and I’d have to come back another day. In short they had insisted on receiving full payment for a job half done and failed to communicate any of this to me. New Car 12 months later, after somewhat recovering from the stress of buying a used car we were in the market for a new/almost new estate car to replace a 2016 version that I had been driving since my first was born. Foolishly, I assumed this would be an easier process. We narrowed the search down to a few cars, made the calls and arranged a Saturday visit to Dublin and surrounding counties to test drive and get trade in values on my own. We had spoken to all...