Should I buy this car?

[Minerva69]

Hi everyone. Just been to look at my local Nissan dealer today as I'm looking to get a new Nissan Note 1.6SE automatic. I'm learning to drive but hopefully will be taking my test soon and want to get a car now so I can practice in it.

The dealer has an ex-demonstrator model available with the spec I want, metallic paint (which I wasn't too bothered about). It's a 56 plate and has 3,666 miles on the clock. They are asking £10,800 for it - is this a good price?

For info, the dealer's OTR price for a brand new one is £12,940 and I've been told I won't get much discount on this as I want an automatic. He said the only thing I'm likely to get on a new one is free metallic paint.

Should I go for the ex-demo car or pay the extra for a brand new one, or should I be looking elsewhere? Thanks.

[vikingaero]

£11,905 for a 1.6 SE Auto from www.drivethedeal.co.uk - a saving of £1,436. And that's delivered to your door. My sister bought a Jazz auto from Drive The Deal and it was a great transaction.

Your dealer is being tight because Nissan cars don't exactly fly out of the showroom.

[peterg1965]

Agree with Viking aero. Ge some new prices from the Internet and go and show them to the dealer. Tell him £10,000 is a good price for the demo.

[dnc1781]

See autotrader.co.uk
-national search
-nissan note auto

used
0606 S 10k from £9695
0606 SE 8k from £9995
0656 S 6k from £9995
0656 SE ?k from £10250
0756 SE 1k from £10499

new
S from £10433
SE from £11639

[DealDrivers company representative]

You can easily get between 6-9% on brand new 1st owner Notes....it makes no difference what the transmission is at all. Discount is across the range, not dependent on gears!

Has it got metallic paint? If so, it's not that bad a deal but find out its date of registration as it could be anywhere within the 56-plate 6mth period...it's lost its warranty from the date it was registered so weigh that up too in the price.... if its solid I'd hold out for a better deal on metallic as they wear better and so hold value a little better.

Solid paints show every dint & ding

[vikingaero]

Agree with Viking aero. Ge some new prices from the Internet and go and show them to the dealer. Tell him £10,000 is a good price for the demo.

In my experience, local dealers are pretty dumb about the prices charged by net companies. On 3 occasions they've had to go online and check for themselves the prices that the cars were being sold for. I always get the usual spiel - they might be imports, it's dodgy buying on the net etc!

Funniest and most ironic transaction was buying a Corsa for my auntie. I turned up at my local Vauxhall dealer armed with a Drive the Deal printout and said to the salesman that if he matched it then the deal was his. He went online to a back office to check the deal out, fluffed around, gave me the usual spiel and told me that his best price was £xxx, about £800 more than Drive The Deal and that I'd be forgoing the local service and backup. So I went away and ordered from Drive The Deal. :rolleyes: The email/deposit confirmation told me to contact and pay......... the same local dealer who refused to match their offer! :D So the same salesman who didn't get the deal had to process my order and hand over the car to my auntie.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Minerva69]

Thanks very much for all the replies, very helpful. I have decided not to go for the ex-demo model at the moment as it seems I will be able to get a brand new one for not much more. I think I was getting too excited yesterday about the possibility of getting my first car and not assessing my options properly!

I also posted on the Honest John site forum asking for advice as I had seen it recommended on here. I wish I hadn't bothered as I have received replies such as why am I wanting to buy a new car anyway and why don't I stop learning in an auto and change to a manual :rolleyes: I even got criticised for wanting a car with ISOFIX child seat mounts :confused: Won't be posting there again, I'll stick with MSE!

[Crabman]

Be aware that Nissan Notes are notorious for depreciating... fast! And they aren't exactly quick to sell so if this really is the car for you (having test driven one of these I don't think it's anything special, my Yaris has better technology) then you can squeeze lots more out of the dealer, extras or money-off.

Take a look at the Honda Jazz... ;) :D

[Minerva69]

Take a look at the Honda Jazz... ;) :D

Actually this was near the top of my list originally but I got put off when reading the comments on other forums and the Euro NCAP safety test results. I need an automatic car and I believe the Jazz has a CVT gearbox which I was also advised against.

I'm now considering a used Ford Focus, does anyone have any opinions on these?! :D

[vikingaero]

The Jazz autobox is as good as any conventional automatic and has 7 speeds for manual control. My sister left her car with me to use for 6 months to keep it ticking over whilst she went travelling and it's a very good car indeed, if a tad noisy. Honest John unfailingly recommends the Jazz in his motoring column time and time again. It's well built and super-reliable. The only fly in the ointment was the Honda mechanic who sent an email to HJ saying that the Jazz needs some sort of engine/valve adjustment at 60,000 miles and can cost up to £600.

[anewman]

Why buy a new car to practice in when you can just pay a driving school to practice? After the cost of insurance to get you legally on the road - and the hassle of getting someone to supervise you when you want for as long as you want - chances are it's just easier to pay a driving school by the hour, and cost about the same. Either way you're also probably best sticking to the car you know until you pass your test - which will hopefully be first time :) This isn't to stop you of course it's just my point of view :) Also be prepared for the possibility of small parking ding repair costs if buying new straight after learning. This is the only reason people tend to recommend getting a banger first off as the bumps won't matter when you send it to the scrap next year.

[before hollywood]

buy an acceptable banger for your learning/first year or so, i did a year learning in a citroen ax (passed 2003), drove it for a year, the clutch started sticking so got it repaired and then it was really difficult to drive (clutch very heavy) so i sold it.
bought 6/02 for £470, paid £30 for new tyres, £11 for wheel trims, and about £40 for servicing parts (twice in total over owning the car), plus a few quid here and there keeping it in good nick, sold it 2 years later for £495, easiest sale ever- to a colleague.

[Hintza]

and why don't I stop learning in an auto and change to a manual :rolleyes:

To be honest this is a good question, you will be severely limiting yourself in what you can drive in the future. I would seriously reconsider this if I were you.

It will give you a lot more scope in the future and could be useful in an emergency.

Smaller automatics also tend to be a bit gutless.

Worth thinking about.

[vikingaero]

To be honest this is a good question, you will be severely limiting yourself in what you can drive in the future. I would seriously reconsider this if I were you.

It will give you a lot more scope in the future and could be useful in an emergency.

Smaller automatics also tend to be a bit gutless.

Worth thinking about.

Companies such as Toyota are saying that in future manuals may be scarcer because more cars will become semi-autos partly as congestion grows and mainly because it will be harder for them to offer manuals in conjunction with leaner burn technology and the finer tolerances needed to change gears.

It's a 1.6 auto so it'll have plenty of power and torque.

[Idiophreak]

I need an automatic car and I believe the Jazz has a CVT gearbox which I was also advised against.

I'm now considering a used Ford Focus, does anyone have any opinions on these?! :D

When you say you need an automatic gearbox, I take that to mean there's good reason why you can't drive a manual...otherwise, as others have said, it's really a good idea to learn in a manual as it gives you more options and really isn't that hard.

As others have also said (at the risk of sounding all HJ :)), you're quite likely to pick up a ding or two in your first couple of years driving, so a brand new car straight off might not be the best idea.

Something like a second hand focus seems a much more sensible idea...They're generally quite reliable, parts are common (cheap), they're quite safe, quite economical, etc etc.

You can get a nice focus good enough to last a couple of years "practice" driving for £4k-ish, probably....and spend the other 7k on presents! :)

[ixwood]

I'd say get a nice reasonably priced 4 or 5 year old car and pay 6k off your mortgage. Or debts. or pension. Or have a party. Or.... you get the idea! :)

[before hollywood]

i would say if you are going to buy a focus, try and get an earlier low mileage one or one approx 3 years old with less than 50k on it. should work out approx £6k for the latter option and the majority of its depriciation will be paid by someone else, i agree you should pass your test in a manual though

[Minerva69]

Been offline for a couple of days so only just read all the replies, thanks everyone! I'm definitely going for a used car now, probably a 4 or 5 year old Focus as people have recommended, I've had a look online and there seem to be quite a few around so hopefully I shouldn't have trouble finding one. I'll wait til I've passed my test though so I can test drive it myself, hopefully it won't be too long now. I'll have to learn to be more patient, I'm just fed up of travelling everywhere on public transport with a toddler in a pushchair!

As for the manual v auto question, I don't think I'll be changing from an auto car now. I've spent money on over 40 lessons in an auto and I'm almost ready for my test, so I don't think it would be a good idea to change now. I did try a few lessons in a manual 3 years ago and just didn't get it, but I think that was probably my instructor (a boy racer type!).

[anewman]

It will give you a lot more scope in the future and could be useful in an emergency.
I agree with your other points but not sure about this one. An automatic automatically switches the gears as needed, and gives you more options than N, D and R.