New and Used car advise

Vehicle_john

Crispy_Ambulance wrote: »

Hi

We have a second car as my OH works funny shifts. We currently have a P reg Fiat Cinquecento for him to get to and from work and it appears to have died. So we need to get another one.

We are looking to buy a "runaround" - cheapish to insure and run, no need for big boot space etc.

Can you recommend any makes or models? (as my main interest in the car tends to be what colour it is!)

Depends on your budget of course how much were you thinking of, i have access to auction prices so if i can help i will.

Vehicle_john

jennifernil wrote: »

We have an N reg 1995 Volvo 440 SE 1.8 Automatic, about 55000 miles on the clock, that we wish to dispose of in May. Is it actually worth anything? If so how much? And what is the best way to sell it? We are in Glasgow.

All advice appreciated.

Someone mentioned autotrader or your local news paper which i agree, you need to be realistic of course but approx £500 to £700 is possible, depends on condition etc etc. If you sell in May i assume you need to arrange for another car ASAP, never put yourself under pressure when buying, do your homework and you should sell your and get your replacement car delivered soon after.

Try https://www.vehiclechoicelocator.co.uk car broker thats cuts out the retailer and you get a vehicle at trade price. They have on offer between 5000 to 10000 per week but they cant offer for obviouse reasons photos or vehicle description on there website. But when you choose they will send you all the info you require, inspection forms etc, you choose they find and offer you selection of vehicles that are all UK supplied, all experian checked (no outstanding finance or insurance write off etc etc) all upto 6 months old.

Hope this helps

Vehicle_john

jennifernil wrote: »

We have an N reg 1995 Volvo 440 SE 1.8 Automatic, about 55000 miles on the clock, that we wish to dispose of in May. Is it actually worth anything? If so how much? And what is the best way to sell it? We are in Glasgow.

All advice appreciated.

Someone mentioned autotrader or your local news paper which i agree, you need to be realistic of course but approx £500 to £700 is possible, depends on condition etc etc. If you sell in May i assume you need to arrange for another car ASAP, never put yourself under pressure when buying, do your homework and you should sell your and get your replacement car delivered soon after.

Try https://www.vehiclechoicelocator.co.uk car broker thats cuts out the retailer and you get a vehicle at trade price. They have on offer between 5000 to 10000 per week but they cant offer for obviouse reasons photos or vehicle description on there website. But when you choose they will send you all the info you require, inspection forms etc, you choose they find and offer you selection of vehicles that are all UK supplied, all experian checked (no outstanding finance or insurance write off etc etc) all upto 6 months old.

Hope this helps

natanddan1

albertross wrote: »

Do you have any insider tips on how much money a dealer makes on a new car, to give an insight on how far you can push for a discount without taking the mick? I know it varies from brand to brand, and is complicated with volume discounts etc.

Peugeot seem to be offering huge discounts at the moment. I was looking at buying a brand new 407 coupe. RRP £23000. After shopping around and holding various dutch auctions between dealers i got the price down to £16740.

Decided to go for a 607 instead, 05 reg 2.2se fully loaded, 12months manufacture warranty, serviced, years road tax (£400) and only 10k miles. Got the main dealer down to £10,000 all in.
If you are prepared to shop around and trade off one main dealer against the other you can save £1000ssssssss

jennifernil

Thanks to those who replied! I had actually been told that the car was only worth about £200, and I saw that a couple of similar ones had sold for about that at the car auction in Glasgow. So I am surprised that it may be worth £500, I will need to reconsider my original plan to give it away!

We are not looking for a new car as we have just bought one this month. We only kept this car as it is insured for our daughter to drive until the insurance runs out in May. Then we will insure her on another, not quite so old, car we already have, we are downsizing the "fleet" as my husband is retiring!

We did not trade in the car as we wanted to negotiate a good discount, the discount was a lot more than the £200 they offered us on the trade-in!

nullogik

jennifernil wrote: »

Thanks to those who replied! I had actually been told that the car was only worth about £200, and I saw that a couple of similar ones had sold for about that at the car auction in Glasgow. So I am surprised that it may be worth £500, I will need to reconsider my original plan to give it away!

We are not looking for a new car as we have just bought one this month. We only kept this car as it is insured for our daughter to drive until the insurance runs out in May. Then we will insure her on another, not quite so old, car we already have, we are downsizing the "fleet" as my husband is retiring!

We did not trade in the car as we wanted to negotiate a good discount, the discount was a lot more than the £200 they offered us on the trade-in!

Typically dealers will offer about half the market price for a trade in you offer them, so its always better to try and sell it privately if its convenient to do so.

Like I said, local newspapers, Autotrader and Loot are the best ways to go. If you have it sitting on a private drive then put a "For Sale" sign in the window. However, if its on the public highway with a "For Sale" sign in it, the council might tow the car away - this has been known to happen so beware.

When you do sell it post back to say what you've got for it. Its always interesting to hear feedback.

nullogik

natanddan1 wrote: »

Peugeot seem to be offering huge discounts at the moment. I was looking at buying a brand new 407 coupe. RRP £23000. After shopping around and holding various dutch auctions between dealers i got the price down to £16740.

Decided to go for a 607 instead, 05 reg 2.2se fully loaded, 12months manufacture warranty, serviced, years road tax (£400) and only 10k miles. Got the main dealer down to £10,000 all in.
If you are prepared to shop around and trade off one main dealer against the other you can save £1000ssssssss

Phew, glad you bought that 607 used. That car has shocking residual values (falls like a lead weight) especially in the first year or two and is difficult to sell on, only because its not very common and people are a bit wary of it. Thats not to say its a bad car in anyway, the styling is pretty and they are quite reliable and evidently good value for money.

But you've done the right thing and have let the original owner take the biggest loss - good buy!

nullogik

nullogik wrote: »

Since, you've had experience of the Cinquecento, I would suggest you have a look at the next model up - the Seicento. Prices are falling and you should be able to get a good one for under £1000. Its pretty much the same size as a Cinquecento but more rounded, and falls within the same insurance groups so quotes should be the same/or very similar. However, steer clear of any Seicentos with the Citymatic gearbox as these are quite unreliable and costly to fix.

You should also consider a Daewoo Matiz that is only slightly bigger than your Cinquecento but has five doors and a small 800cc engine. Insurance should be about the same as your Fiat. Its possible to find a good one for under £1000

Also look at the SEAT Arosa and VW Lupo. They identical cars, and pretty much the same size as your Fiat. Insurance costs might be a bit more being a VW and you'll struggle to find a nice one for under about £1500.

Finally someothers worth considering include the Toyota Starlet and Ford Ka.

In reply to my previous post I forgot to mention the Nissan Micra, so add that to the list above.

Since you're looking for a cheap city runabout I've selected cars that can be bought in good condition for under £1000. If you want to spend more then post back and I'll recommend some others.

chem14346777

Hi there,

We want to buy a 2nd hand Diesel Estate, probably a Vauxhall or Skoda for around £2500. It seems that our choices are between 8-10 year old cars with around 70,000 miles on the clock or 4 year old cars with around 120,000 miles.

Basically, my question is, is it better to buy a newer car with higher mileage or a older car with lower mileage? How many miles does the average diesel engine do before your likely to have major problems?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

golly99

Hi

Just after a quick valuation please? Got a diesel a couple of months ago, but since changed my job and only doing small miles everyday now so considering selling. It's a Ford Focus 1.8 Sport Diesel in Tonic with about 7k miles 2006 think it's May or June 06).

Thanks!