Need some advice regarding next steps

So my PCP agreement ends in November and the settlement figure is £6.5k but the dealership wants to give me £9k for the car. With the £2.5k difference I can either:

• Put it towards another PCP agreement and upgrade car, increasing the monthly payments.
• Take the £2.5k and buy a second hand car outright.

My problem is that where I'm so used to having a new car on PCP, I never have car issues... which I hear a lot about with buying second hand cars. But would also like to get rid of the monthly payments.

So I guess the advice I'm looking for here is if I was to go down the route of the second hand car, is there anything to look out for? Obviously I would want a recent/full service history and MOT. What cars are generally reliable? Any advice would be appreciated!