Car dealer question

Megalomaniac

I had a similar problem when looking to buy a Mazda 3. Although the chasis is a Ford Focus, they aren't as common by any stretch of the imagination! Especially up here in the NE. Looked on Autotrader, Mazda approved used etc... and after a few weeks of looking, there were probs only 5 cars in a 75 miles radius which looked suitable. Often the cars would sell within a week as well.

So after jotting down the details of a few cars, ringing the dealers, we decided on one based on the website information and travelled ~ 75 miles to take a look. During the journey down, 2 other cars had sold so we managed to gamble on the right one. Got there, and within a few hours had put down a deposit for it. Lovely car, and got lucky because it came with a few extras on top which weren't listed - 6 CD in dash CD/MP3 player, reversing sensor (which is a pain in the !!!! really - too sensitive) and improved fog lights (which are going to be handy since we're moving to Aberdeen).

So I would say ring around, talk about prices, get a feel for the guy on the end of the phone, and narrow it down to one which you can go collect. Then pray it doesn't get sold in the mean time!

Edit : One disadvantage of not buying from your local dealership is the perks. We received a card which will give us £100 off our next service but is only redeemable at the Mazda dealership we bought it from. A little annoying, but even if we had bought it locally to us, we wouldn't have been able to use it. And if used Mazda 3's are hard to come by in NE England, you can only imagine how rare they are in NE Scotland!

Inactive

pioneer31 wrote: »

I am planning on getting a car anywhere up to 3 years old, so it will, just about, be in warranty.




p.s. one more question> If I buy a used car from a Franchised dealer in Timbuk 2, which is still under manu's warranty, can I still take it to a local Franchised dealer if it develops problems?

You obviously didn't read my post that is just above yours about the Hyundai 5 year warranty.

Yes you can take your car to any Franchised dealer of the marque.

yorksrabbit

pioneer31 wrote: »

I'm not keen to sell my micra privately as I perceive this as aggro for me - going on test drives, time wasters etc. It can't be worth much anyway 1998 S, 1.0L, 53k, horrible pea green colour.

The main reason for going afar to get a car is rarity rather than price. My nearest Hyundai dealer is 25 miles away and they only sell new models.
I have looked into the scrappage scheme but on the spec I want - ie. HAS to be automatic, preferably diesel....

>I've also considered the Ford Focus 1.6 TDCI but yet again, on the used market (in auto guise), rare as hens teeth, so it will require travelling, however according to some reports, you have to clock a LOT of miles before the TDCI breaks even over a conventional Ford 1.6 Style Petrol.

Sourcing a used Ford is easy, perhaps I should go down that route....

Any suggestions?

p.s. one more question> If I buy a used car from a Franchised dealer in Timbuk 2, which is still under manu's warranty, can I still take it to a local Franchised dealer if it develops problems?

Selling privately need not be an ordeal. We've sold privately not once but three times on eBay and every transaction went without a hitch. There are plenty of horror stories about selling motors on eBay but the non-horror stories never circulate. All sales were to long-distance buyers. None of 'em saw the car in advance. All of 'em either paid an upfront deposit by bank transfer before purchase with cash balance on acquisition and one eBayer paid the entire cost in advance.

But our experience doesn't necessarily mean yours would be the same and if you're not sure how to present a listing, then forget it and if your positive FB is low or your years on eBay few, then your provenance may not be enough to encourage others to deal with you.

So if you don't want the hassle of private sale then yes, accept an auction-floor PX quote. Or put your Micra into an auction yourself and cut out the trader's premium that's necessarily incurred when you simply allow a dealer to dispose of the car on your behalf.

Deciding which car you really want is something only you can settle because only you know what you want the car to do, how much you intend to use it, and how long you wish to keep it.

And doing the math on any car purchase is pointless without first test-driving prospective vehicle choices and whittling down the short-list to either / or.

Inactive

master_of_nothing wrote: »

this site is littered with people who buy cars from 150 miles away, then they throw their toys out the pram when the car develops a small fault and they are not prepared to take it back, and come on here to puff their chest out about it

Either be prepared to return it to where i came from, or buy something a bit more loca

It is, but they havn't purchased a car that is still under makers warranty.:rolleyes:

No need to return to seller.

yorksrabbit

master_of_nothing wrote: »

this site is littered with people who buy cars from 150 miles away, then they throw their toys out the pram when the car develops a small fault and they are not prepared to take it back, and come on here to puff their chest out about it

Either be prepared to return it to where i came from, or buy something a bit more loca

Sadly, this site is also littered with responses which fail to grasp the substance of that to which they're responding.

pioneer31

yorksrabbit wrote: »

Selling privately need not be an ordeal. We've sold privately not once but three times on eBay and every transaction went without a hitch. There are plenty of horror stories about selling motors on eBay but the non-horror stories never circulate. All sales were to long-distance buyers. None of 'em saw the car in advance. All of 'em either paid an upfront deposit by bank transfer before purchase with cash balance on acquisition and one eBayer paid the entire cost in advance.

But our experience doesn't necessarily mean yours would be the same and if you're not sure how to present a listing, then forget it and if your positive FB is low or your years on eBay few, then your provenance may not be enough to encourage others to deal with you.

So if you don't want the hassle of private sale then yes, accept an auction-floor PX quote. Or put your Micra into an auction yourself and cut out the trader's premium that's necessarily incurred when you simply allow a dealer to dispose of the car on your behalf.

Deciding which car you really want is something only you can settle because only you know what you want the car to do, how much you intend to use it, and how long you wish to keep it.

And doing the math on any car purchase is pointless without first test-driving prospective vehicle choices and whittling down the short-list to either / or.

I think I may consider selling on Ebay, having just had a peek at prices. I'm pretty sure a dealer would offer peanuts for the micra, which is a shame because its got plenty of life left in it and hasn't given me any problems since new.

Re: "horror stories" - are there any specific things I should be wary of - fake bankers drafts or PayPal reverse charges?

yorksrabbit

pioneer31 wrote: »

I think I may consider selling on Ebay, having just had a peek at prices. . .

> Re: "horror stories" - are there any specific things I should be wary of - fake bankers drafts or PayPal reverse charges?

Well, for a start, avoid PayPal: it's only of use where goods are deliverable and trackable. A car sale is neither. The listing's T&Cs should specify deposit payable by bank transfer prior to collection and then cash on collection; any other form of financing isn't worth considering. Make sure the listing description is honest, accurate and full because even though your potential buyer may very well not turn up to view in advance, a caveat emptor defence in the event of a subsequent dispute won't wash.

You'll find plenty of info by searching the eBay board / asking for detailed help there:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=40