Where do car dealers get their cars from? And where can I get a half decent one?!

patman99

Diesels are a definate no-no then. Do you have a garage that sells LPG near you ?. This would give you another option. Some dealers hate LPG-converted cars as, unless you are local to a filling station, they are of limited interest.

DevilsAdvocate1

aliasojo wrote: »

Thanks for the tips, all advice warmly welcomed.

I'll be paying cash and that's why I wondered about haggling.

I've had a look at Motorpoint online and the prices seem better than I've seen so far. I just hope the condition of the cars is as good too.

You could try buying a Kia as they have a 7 year warranty which stays with the car (some warranties stop when the car is sold on, but the Kia one doesn't).

Personally, I have found that if they think you are serious, most car dealers will haggle, but they have to think you are ready to buy. I have tried haggling at both Motorpoint and Carcraft. You have to be a bit careful as they sometimes quote a weekly payment rather than a monthly one.

The other trick they sometimes do is to add all sorts of products into the deal such as Gap insurance, alloy wheel insurance, Scothgard etc. While I can see the advantage of this on a new car, I'm not so convinced its worthwhile on a used vehicle, especially one which is more than 2 years old and has done most of its depreciating. I even had a quote once where I was told that I would get a free sat nav amongst other things. The payment (which was given to me weekly) seemed high. When I asked if they could do any discount on the price, I was told that if they removed the "free" gifts my payments would reduce by 10%.

Good luck.

aliasojo

patman99 wrote: »

Diesels are a definate no-no then. Do you have a garage that sells LPG near you ?. This would give you another option. Some dealers hate LPG-converted cars as, unless you are local to a filling station, they are of limited interest.

We have one petrol station near us. We need to drive up dual carriageway into another town to get to another.

I don't know if LPG is available there but I wouldn't like to narrow my options and have to travel further just to fill up tbh.

aliasojo

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

You could try buying a Kia as they have a 7 year warranty which stays with the car (some warranties stop when the car is sold on, but the Kia one doesn't).

I fancied a ceed at one point but they're too dear. We also looked at a Rio but I was surprised at the insurance group, higher than I thought.

I'd like to cut costs if I can so would prefer to opt for something lower in insurance and tax.

I think a problem for me will be trying to balance higher upfront cost against lower ongoing costs (like tax, insurance).

You can't really have it all by getting a cheap car that's also cheap to run. Unfortunately.

silverwhistle

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

Personally, I have found that if they think you are serious, most car dealers will haggle, but they have to think you are ready to buy. I have tried haggling at both Motorpoint and Carcraft. You have to be a bit careful as they sometimes quote a weekly payment rather than a monthly one.

I'm in a slightly different position to the OP [thanks, interesting thread:-) ] in that I'll be returning to the UK without a car but can probably make do and mend for a little while with bicycle, friends, public transport and hire cars.

I've looked at Motorpoint online and prices seem competitive. They quote competitive trade-ins, but I won't have one and I'd be able to pay outright and can offer a quick sale without too much faffing about. What should the haggle approach be, if any? @bigjl might like to comment too. I wouldn't mind a set of extra steel wheel rims to put snow tyres on!:-) I can do without the satnav...

butterfly72

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

The other trick they sometimes do is to add all sorts of products into the deal such as Gap insurance, alloy wheel insurance, Scothgard etc. While I can see the advantage of this on a new car,

Quite true. I was in a dealership this weekend looking at a 21K car. (not actually planning to buy this one just wanted to test drive the model and get a px value) By the time they had added in tyre insurance, alloy insurance, some paint protection insurance £399, another insurance again £399, finance for 3K which I didn't even ask for, fees, tax etc the car was getting on for 23K.

motorguy

the_r_sole wrote: »

haggle with everyone!!

How does that work out in Tescos?

Chimpofdoom

Avoid Arnold clark, I've got a post in rants and raves about why I'll never be visiting one again!

As for cars in budget, there's Car Deal Warehouse some cars are ok, some are cars to stay clear of (they'll stand out when you seen them).

I've seen some good cars there when I was looking myself a few months ago, but nothing I really wanted, so it depends what your after.

My rule of thumb is Honda or Toyota are better buys for reliability and it's what my mechanic said to look for.

There's a 2008 Honda Jazz on there right now with 37k on the clock, for just over 5k, also says it's a DSI which is a diesel, but you will find the petrol's occasionally.

Before people knock the jazz, i'm 28 and my fiancee and I nearly considered the 2009 model :rotfl:

But went for a civic instead (because it's frikkin' spaceship inside )

System

motorguy wrote: »

How does that work out in Tescos?

never spotted any second hand motors on the shelves at my local...

jm2926

I'm from Glasgow and always seem to end up travelling down to Preston and surrounds to buy cars. Price is a lot better and service has been great. Last car was from Motor Parks in Blackburn, it was cheaper than the best Arnold Clark could offer for the same model, and had £2k of extras on it (leather seats, upgraded wheels etc). So I'd suggest doing your homework via autotrader then head south.

Current cars:

http://www.motorparks.co.uk/used-cars/?perpage=1&maxpriceSB=5000&postcodeSB=g11+6bq&orderby=1