Posting this again as I'm naive and looking for second opinions:
Lads, would you buy a car in this situation?
be me
girl I'm friends with wants to buy a car for 4.5k from Facebook marketplace
drive her there
pretty poor area (up north) but it is what it is
drive into a gravel car park near the house
guy comes out says he owns a couple of cars and he's selling them all
he's enthusiastic, very friendly, says he's had no problems (MOT has only minor fails in past few years to be fair)
car looks fine, she's excited
say we'll come back tomorrow to pay in cash
he asks for a deposit but we don't have any cash
go there today
his two sons come out and start chatting to us
one of his sons starts telling me all about himself, where he lives, how he bought the car for his missus but she didn't take to it
really chatty and I'm cautious
I ask if I can check windscreen wipers (forgot yesterday)
get in and engine doesn't start
guy selling it says he's never had that issue and the battery is drained
apparently it's been sitting there for 1-2 weeks unused (in warm weather) and the battery is drained
they push it backwards to open the bonnet
gets his other car and hooks it up
battery won't charge
his wife and some other woman come out
she starts saying how she's been driving it and it's a fantastic car etc
makes me feel like the stories of who owns/drives it don't add up but not sure if this matters
guy has his hands on his head and his entire family are coming to me to tell me how great the car is etc
I say we have to go (true story) and he says he's gonna to get a new battery
texting us in the car to say it was a broken jump lead and battery is fine now
Feel like it's a sign desu, but then again the MOT is solid for the past few years so I can't see what the issue could be