buying from car supermarkets

joncharles

There's so many of these to choose from, but unlike normal supermarkets, the prices seem to be elevated and there seems to be little competition between them.
I'm looking for a 3 year old A3 diesel which figures at around £12000 for high mileage, more for average mileage (which they would describe as low) which is well over 50% of the price when new.
Having bought a 206 last year from Evans Halshaw they made it clear there was no negotiating on price. Recently i contacted Eddie Wright and was met with a similar response. I bought from Carcraft in the past... never again.. a gruelling experience.
I don't get it.... when buying new there's always room for manouvre so why do these people seem to be adamant on sticking with their overpriced screen price?
I would be interested to hear comments on peoples experiences when buying from such places, with particular emphasis on knocking down prices....

artbaron

Buy privately then. You'll probably save £2K on dealer prices.

Many years ago I bought from Carcraft and my experience was different. Price on the car was £8.7K. I had £7.5K in my pocket. I showed them £7K and said "Well, that's all I've brought," and they snapped my hand off. It was a decent car, too. Nowadays I'd never buy anything other than private unless the car was particularly difficult to get hold of.

joncharles

True. Had much better experiences buying and selling private. Am thinking British Car Auctions this time also. Just a bit difficult fitting it in with work.
To be fair to Carcraft i'm still driving the car they sold me in late 2005.

Relentless01

I used to work for a large car dealer group. The zero discount idea is because they have already researched the local market for that make model spec and mileage. They then price the car just below all the rest of their competitors as they know people will shop online to find the best price. Therefore if they are already the cheapest they do not need to discount the cars.

Auctions are a good bet IF you know what you are doing! If you dont you may not pick up a bargin and could buy a lemon. Even the best trade buyers get this wrong from time to time. However they can afford to get it wrong every so often. If the car is end of lease or ex-contract hire then these with history are a good bet. Ex-privately own or ex - dealership cars are worth avoiding!

Private buys can be really good and save you a lot of money. Just make sure you check the vehicle out throughly. A HPI check is a must! The number of people that used to try and trade in cars they brought privately that were write offs doesnt bear thinking about. Once you have the HPI check cross referrence the VIN numbers.