Money Saving Car Buying Consultancy - opinions please

anewman

I don't think there's a market for this really unless it's for people with a specific idea of what they want and how they want it.

IMO finance on cars is bad when there's many wonderful cheap cars out there at the low end of the second hand market that are very reliable. But obviously horses for courses and all that. Get finance on something you absolutely need to have finance to buy, like a house - and drive cheap cars and don't care what the family or the neighbours think. Just remember you'll be having nicer holidays and more meals in expensive restaurants than them!

Also I think people should be bothered to look themselves. If they can't be arsed to look, chances are they won't be interested in your proposed business and will suck up to the pressured sales tactics of dealers, and if they are bothered they might be happier looking themselves than paying up front. Maybe a pay when the customer is satisfied arrangement would be a better arrangement. Say I look for the best deal I find something for £5k. I pay a fee to you and you find it for £5,099, chances are I won't be happy with the service and will slate you on forums like this. You have to be really confident you can give the best deal - IMO the only way to do this is to have special arrangements with dealers and this will probably cost a whole lot more than you'd be willing to invest to start up a business.

Phirefly

Thanks for your comments, they really help.

Anewman, I'm unsure as to what your comments on finance are directed at, arranging finance would be a minor, secondary part of the service, if included at all. I completely agree with your cheap car philosophy. I sold my Cooper to ensure I could comfortably manage my mortgage repayments when we bought our first house and now drive a modest clio that I own outright.

Yes people SHOULD bother to look themselves as you or I might, but by the very fact we're here geeking about on a money saving message board might suggest that we're savvier than the average consumer and are confident in our ablilities to get good deals. I would argue though that there are a great deal of people who are not. Women in particular would particularly benefit from the service. My sister, female friends and colleagues all love the idea. All extremely busy, they have no interest in or knowlegde about cars and see the whole buying process as a huge scary chore. They think it would be brilliant if someone like Phil (whose concept this is) could take all that off their hands and save them money. Its a generalisation, but the majority of women just aren't as clued up about cars as men, and they suffer because of it, read this...

Even someone such as myself, interested in and knowledgeable about cars, I'm mad busy and spend all my free time freelancing. I would be prepared to pay someone I trusted a fair fee if it meant when I came to buy my next car I wouldn't have to spend my weekend trawling auto trader and dragging myself around dealerships when I could be freelancing and earning more per day than I paid for the service. Just because people are financially comfortable, it deon't mean they don't want to get the best deal possible if it means no effort for them.

If you found a better deal, your fee would be refunded. but Phil IS confident he can secure the best prices or we wouldn't be contemplating the venture in the first place. Having special arrangements with dealerships would negate the whole impariality angle, Phil has trade knowledge, patience, tenacity and some unfathomable gift that helps secure the best deals.

All that said, I really do appreciate you taking the time to comment as its are useful in helping us validate and refine the concept. Thanks Deal Drivers also. I think Phil is better placed to respond to your post as its his brainchild and he understands with greater clarity the fundamental differences between brokerage and the service he's poropsing.

More opinions please!!!

staticbob

Let me ellaborate on my previous post as I think this would be an excellent service.

I have just started a new job and after 7 years of company car driving now need to get a car sorted myself. I have a budget of around £400 a month for all aspects to include insurance and maintenance, I have 10k available on a low interest ccard. I know what class of car I need and I am flexible on a way forward, leasing, buying new, 2nd hand. I'll be doing high mileage, around 25k per year.

However, I just don't have the time or energy to do my research or trail around car showrooms / dealers looking for the right deal for me. In the next few weeks I am likely to see a car I like in auto-trader, or see an offer at a showroom, and just go for it out of convinience, because I am lazy. (I admit it before anybody says it). ***

If there was somebody about that could do the donkey work for me, ensuring I get a good deal, and knows what a "good deal" is, then I would happily pay a fee or percentage of the final cost for this service. I am not female, I am clued up about cars, I just cant be bothered doing the work myself.

That sounds like what you are thinking about and I seriously think it would work. If he has the knowledge and gift of the gab then I think he could make a serious go of it.


Edit - *** For example, if this wasn't an automatic I would've whacked it on my credit card already, without much haggling or checking out if its a good deal !

Phirefly

Staticbob you sound like the ideal client. This whole idea came about when Phil was given a budget not dissimilar to yours and given pretty much free range to get anything he liked within that price. It was then that I realised just how complex the number crunching can be. He spent HOURS going through the mortoring press and researching online. Bizzarely, Phil actually enjoys all that (to me) tedious comparison and endless research required to make a budget stretch as far as it possibly can.

To give some context, it was initially suggested by his superiors that he'd be looking at mid-range astras and focuses as options, but he has managed to make the budget stretch to a summer 07 facelift model Golf GT Sport 170bhp specced with loads of extras. His original order was for the exitising GT but he somehow found out that there was a facelift imminent and by the skin of his teeth talked the dealer into letting him put his build week forward so he'll have one of the first on the road. A salesman at another main dealership didn't even KNOW there was to be a facelift until Phil told him, that how on the ball he is. I have no idea how he does it. He then got some outrageous deal on an EOS for one of his other managers who is so eternally grateful that he's promised we can borrow it on weekends

I think you've hit the nail on the head, its the fact that he genuinely loves the thrill of the chase of the deal and he is blessed with that good old gift of the gab.

I'll show him this thread and get him to contact you asap.

tomstickland

No, I'd never pay someone else to do the job for me. I prefer to buy privately and do my own research.

Phirefly

Thanks for your reply Tom, ALL feedback is infinitely helpful.

It dawned on me after I submitted the thread that this is probably the last place to find opinions of people regarding paying for a service. By the very nature of the website everyone round here is after the best value for the cheapest price (me included) and its alien for us to pay someone else to do that for us.

What I do think however is that what with the internet, price comparison and us all taking more of an interest in how we spend our cash, we're forgetting that paying for a service such as this IS actually a form of moneysaving. Particularly if, like me you're familiar with being paid an hourly freelance rate, time is money and paying someone to do something out of your area of specialism can actually save you a shedload.

tomstickland

As for a business model, I'm sure you'll find a set who will pay for a service, if there are warranties in place, since many people find buying vehicles a nerve-wracking process.

natanddan1

brokers may have informative websites etc , but i recently got quotes from brokers ( some of whom have posted on MSE). I managed to slash their best prices just by email the main dealers across the uk with the best price the brokers quoted.!!!!!! Most dealers will deliver the car to you free of charge.

Its not strickly true that the brokers dont charge their customers. They get a fee from the dealer / manufacturer and what ever they make between what they get the vehicle for and what they tell the customer they can get it for.

However, some brokers do just get a finders fee and the deal is done between the dealer and the purchaser.
I would always advise people to spend 30 minutes sending an email to dealers as more often then not you will beat the broker price.


I think your business should trade off the back of only charging for the Finders / consultation and not making money off the purchase as well. If this is the case, i would use a service like this.

vansboy

Without trying to promote my own business, this is a service which I provide people with, to a certain extent.

Since selling our garage business, a couple of years back, enough previous customers are happy enough to get in touch with me, to source their next (used) vehicle. My personal experience within the industry & dealings with the major auction houses makes this a little easier.BUT... despite their being so many vehicles to choose from, it DOES take quite a bit of effort, to do my best, to get it 'spot on'.

I certainly don't get involved with telling people where to get their £$£$ from - most have this sorted, in the first place.

I will let them know my personal suggestions, for reasons why to & why NOT to buy specific models - but sometimes, people have funny ideas about cars!!

You'll need to work hard to make much £$£$ from your venture!!

VB

ManAtHome

Wouldn't be for me - I'd rather do my own haggling than pay up-front (particularly to a not-too-long-established business...).

One tip - make sure you have a decent search/filter rather than a "step through what we have available" - I'm sure you've seen sites where you have to go through specific selections step-by-step rather than a "this stuff is important to me" search. One of the best I've used is a German site which allows any/all selections http://www.mobile.de/SIDOSQ1CLSGxuDmoOIYRdUAVw-t-vaNexlCsAsCsK%F3P~BmSB11LsearchPublicJ1182551794A2LsearchPublicD1100CCarS-t-vpLtt~BmPA1B20A0/cgi-bin/searchPublic.pl?bereich=pkw&refinement=0&back=1&sprache=2&sr_qual=GN&