Buying a car online ?

[Ebe Scrooge]

I'm looking to buy a new ( or nearly new ) car shortly - it'll be something small, hopefully in the £35 tax bracket, for my wife to use as a runabout for the kids, shopping, etc., with the occasional longer journey thrown in.

Now, I'm not usually a fan of brand new cars ( being a tightwad ), but from what I can see it's only fairly new cars that qualify for the lower tax.

So, a couple of questions. Firstly, any recommendations for the car itself ? Must be cheap to run, cheap to insure, ideally cheap tax, reliable. Ones I've got in mind so far are the likes of Toyota Aygo, Peugot 107, Kia Picanto, Citroen C1.

Secondly, there are numerous websites that claim to offer cars for sale at a discount. Does anyone have any experience of these, and can you suggest good ones or ones to avoid ?

Thanks in advance for the collected wisdom of this excellent forum :-)

[skid112]

avoid D C Cook.

[vikingaero]

Most of the reputable sites like Deal Drivers, Drive The Deal, Broadspeed etc act as an introducer. Once you place your order with them a UK franchised dealer will call you to confirm the order. The UK dealer is your contact for everything after that - just like buying from a showroom.

Dealers are going pop left, right and centre at the moment - even the largest dealer groups aren't immune, so pay the deposit by credit card and make sure the amount is at least £100 to gain protection.

[Ebe Scrooge]

Thanks for the advice. In the current climate I would hope that I should be able to drive a hard bargain, but as you say, be careful in case the dealer goes under.

[Lemonade Pockets]

Best thing to do is do your research online using some of the sites mentioned. Then pop into your local dealer armed with printouts and get them to match the offer. These introducers typically take a £250 referal fee so you might even be able to get it cheaper.
There's no reason you can't get the same deal your self unless its a pre-reg.