How do you Buy a Car when you have Memory Difficulties?

Soon-to-be my new car

For reasons I'll get into at another time, I had to buy a new car this weekend. I knew the make and model I wanted, and found one online at a local dealer. I dropped in with my old confidant Fluffy Oakes, zoological psychological consultant who, on occasion, departs from his animal responsibilities to give me a hand.

If, like me, you have memory difficulties and need advice or assistance when making a large purchase like a car, there are a few preparations you'll need to make. It's not like you can get a barcode scanned and bang, you pay and you're out. There's a multi-step process to go through, and when you have memory difficulties that throws up a range of obstacles. Let's say you've seen the car online and you want to go see it. First, phone up and check if the dealer's website is up to date. I might already have been sold. Once that's confirmed you'll need to bring a few things, so it's handy to have an A4 satchel like this one. In it, you'll need:

• A5 academic diary

• notebook, with car details already written in- make, model, colour, registration, address and postcode of dealer.

• pen

• smartphone

• external battery (I typically forgot this)

• wallet, with bank card and driver's licence inside

Once at the dealers, find the car. Take photos. Have a close look at the paintwork- are there any marks? If so, take more photos.

Talk to the dealer. Ask about previous owners, previous services, where they got it from themselves, and what repairs they can do for the car before you buy.

Crucially, write down what they say. Don't be self-concious about doing so- you won't be the only person making notes before buying a car. You'd be foolish not to even if you have no memory difficulties at all. Don't be afraid to tell people to slow down if they're talking too fast.

It's worth asking if any paintwork issues affect the value. Ask if there's any room to manoeuvre on the price. They'll probably say no, but don't worry about that sounding rude- they hear it all the time. That said, we managed to get £100 off and a free service due to a few paintwork marks, which they're buffing out anyway.

If you don't pay there and then, make a note of any deadlines and put them in any diaries or phone calendars you might use. For instance, I have to get the car insured before collecting- which will be Thursday. I have little to no understanding of insurance, so the last month has been a pain for me dealing with the theft. But I'm a little more confident that my insurers will be expecting me to call them after receiving their payout. I'm sure they'll talk me through it.

Ask about breakdown cover. The dealers are giving me 12 months free with AA. Can't complain.

In short, do as you would in any other meeting- make notes, tell people to slow down if you need to, get contact numbers for later if there's anything that doesn't make sense and go into the deal expecting it to work out- not that you'll get confused and have to walk out without a deal. If you think you can, you probably can.