Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

GDB2222

lemonjelly wrote: »

However, I'm now thinking of getting rid of this & upgrading. & I'm back to wanting a hard top convertible again...

I'm kinda leaning towards the volkswagon eos, and am quite likely to go for a second hand version.

However most previous purchases were done from family, or by my dear ol' dad, so my car buying experience is minimal (ie zero! )

I have the cash available - no finance needed.
Budget is not set in stone - if the car is good value, then I'll consider it. That said ideally I don't fancy going above £15k, & would prefer closer to £10k.

I definitely don't want a car older than 5 years, & ideally about 3 years old (or less).

I have a trusted mechanic who can come with me to inspect potential vehicles.

So folks, what tips do you have for forging ahead with a car purchase, including me getting rid of my now 12 year old vehicle only worth about £500?

All tips/ideas greatly appreciated!

I bought a Volvo C70 at auction. It was 3 years old and had just come off a leasing agreement (to the producer of the St Trinians film, but there were no scantily clad actresses in the back - I checked). It cost £11,000, loaded with quite a lot of 'extras' that I would have been far too mean to buy myself.

The main drawback is the very high road tax. It doesn't cost us much to run, as we only do 2-3k miles a year. It's been very reliable.

I bought it at an auction a week before Xmas. That's a great time of year to buy a convertible car. Also, dealers were not bidding much, as they would not expect to sell their purchases until the new year. As an example, I saw a one year old Citroen C1 reach only £2k (which was less than its reserve, but they sold it to the highest bidder for a bit more).

PasturesNew

I've only been in a TK Maxx about 6x. Went in, only found a top to buy twice. Left.

I've been in the ones in three towns

Doozergirl

We bought DH's work vehicle at auction.

Similar sort of price to GBD and around Christmas time too, we got one still in warranty with lots of extras at a much, much better price than through a dealer. It only had one key, we're pretty sure it was a finance repossession.

If you have someone to look over it for you, great. Some of the cars come with condition reports and guarantees that there is no big work required.

DH was a bit intimidated by the speed and missed the first one he liked when he bottled it (very unlike him!) so if there's one you want, go well in advance for practice. Find an auction with a few of the same sort of vehicle perhaps as a guide on price.

michaels

lemonjelly wrote: »

Help request please. I'm thinking it is time to replace my car. I'm amazed mse hasn't got a car buying guide (that I can find anyway!) Guides on cutting MOT/repairs/insurance etc, but not on the biggest expenditure - buying a car.

Another vote for using eBay to get rid, describe everythign you know and specifically make no claims about the mechanical condition so there is no comeback. (the reverse is true when buying, people selling on eBay and accepting less, especially for newer cars may well be doing so because they suspect there is a problem and don't want the buyer to have any comeback:eek:) I have negotiated with people who made offers before the auction ended if they were willing to offer what I had in mind as a suitable price. Why not, for cars eBay charge a flat fee for listing.

My only thought on buying is that cars like VWs are probably quite popular so may depriciate less in the first few years than less popular makes and thus have more left to depriciate over the rest of their life making the advantage of buying 1-3 years old smaller than for less popular brands. Don't Peugeot do a hard top convertible and you have been happy with a peugeot before?

lemonjelly

PasturesNew wrote: »

There is a brilliant one 2 miles from me - and he has another chippy a few miles away too. Some top London chef type, who makes proper old fashioned chips and does all the usual stuff, but alongside that are things like monster hand-made fishcakes etc.

A £1.50 small portion's enough for two meals really, if accompanied by something else (e.g. mushy peas or curry sauce, which I don't buy but have at home).

http://www.browns-fishandchips.co.uk/menus.html

I've beenn to both outlets - not knowing they were connected at the time - and decided independently that both were worth going out of my way for, or waiting for.

For mushy peas I get good tinned ones, e.g. Harry Ramsdens, when they're on special at the supermarket, paying about 40p/can instead of £1/pot from a chippy. For curry sauce, I use Asda's instant chip shop curry sauce, £0.78 for a whole tub, which lasts me for months, and it tastes the same as most chip shops' sauce.

I don't buy their pies as they're £2.50 - I get a pie from the supermarket (same brand) when they're on special at £1. I do wish I lived near an Asda as they always seem to be £1 there, but they're £1.85 at Sainsburys.

Yes, but what is their gravy like?;)

mystic_trev

I've been a bit disappointed with Car Auctions recently. I've thought about changing my current Peugeot 307 I bought at a BCA Motability Auction five years ago. It was a year old had done 8,000 miles and still had two years manufacturers warranty left. I purchased it for £6,500 which was half the price when new. Unfortunately these bargains aren't around anymore. Some of the prices I've seen stuff go for has amazed me,the second hand market seems very buoyant at the moment.

I'll probably break my golden rule and buy a new next year.

michaels

silvercar wrote: »

No-one holidays round here, so no holiday rents available.

Talking of staying for a fortnight or a month strays into the move in here territory. She won't do that "because it is not fair on OH" I suggest it in the safe knowledge she won't do it. Bottom line is that we couldn't live together for any length of time. Truly, we are both a little nervous of the idea of living close to each other, but being far apart when she is alone and unsupported is a current situation that is unsustainable.

I have been resisting saying so (again) but the 'obvious' solution would be for her to live with you whilst house hunting locally but I would like to flag up my boss and his DW, just after they became empty nesters they had his mother move in 'for a few weeks' just while she got over a fall and had her house adapted for downstairs living. 4 years later she was still there, refusing too move in too sheltered accomodation as she was 'almost ready to move back home' but each time the move back got near she would have another 'turn/illness' which prevented her moving out 'quite yet'. The overall stress on their relationship and loss of lifestyle was huge. You have been warned.

SingleSue

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've only been in a TK Maxx about 6x. Went in, only found a top to buy twice. Left.

I've been in the ones in three towns

I've only been in once! We don't have one here but I discovered they had one in the next big town so we visited....the next time we went, it had gone.

SingleSue

Well, we have had a morning spent at the hospital. Middle son somehow managed to step on a plug when he was getting ready for school this morning and one of the prongs went right into his foot, gouging a massive hole and spilling blood all over my blooming carpet!

The poor sod had to sit there whilst the nurse was fiddling around in the new hole in his foot trying to get the bit of skin which had folded inside, out. This required the administration of gas and air plus paracetomol but it was still painful for him...and he has ruined his 100% attendance at school which he is gutted about!

michaels

mystic_trev wrote: »

I've been a bit disappointed with Car Auctions recently. I've thought about changing my current Peugeot 307 I bought at a BCA Motability Auction five years ago. It was a year old had done 8,000 miles and still had two years manufacturers warranty left. I purchased it for £6,500 which was half the price when new. Unfortunately these bargains aren't around anymore. Some of the prices I've seen stuff go for has amazed me,the second hand market seems very buoyant at the moment.

I'll probably break my golden rule and buy a new next year.

I think it is a stocks and flows thing - new car sales were sharply down from 2009 or so hence fewer nearly new cars available now and until recently low new car sales also equals more people trying to buy nearly new; plus from the bottom up the scrappage scheme probably reduced the total car stock.

Our last car we bought 28 months old from eBay, it was cheap (5k cf 20k new), it has been rubbish.....