Car Giant Review

motorguy

vikingaero wrote: »

Slight issue with your assertions Paul.

CG are based in London. London land. London prices and a very London centric customer base.

Your cheapest Focus is based in Belfast! That's a taxi/flight/taxi/ferry/£60 in fuel away.

Theres no Perrys in Northern Ireland.

That car is in Mansfield, Nottingham. Granted, not in London, however not undoable.

Also, it was a back-of-a-fag-packet check to show CG werent necessarily going to "save big time" by defaulting to CG.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

Had a quick look at the dealer site Motorguy linked to.

They had a 63/2013 Picanto 3 dr 1.0 City with 20k miles, so 13k more than mine and around 6months older.

For the bargain price of £6490, based in Aylesbury.

Absolutely - i dont think i suggested that the cheapest dealer for one particular car was the cheapest for every car though, did i?

Its a matter of checking and making sure the savings are really what you're being led to believe they are.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

Had a quick look at the dealer site Motorguy linked to.

They had a 63/2013 Picanto 3 dr 1.0 City with 20k miles, so 13k more than mine and around 6months older.

For the bargain price of £6490, based in Aylesbury.

A quick check found this one at £5,571 from a main KIA dealer with just 8K miles.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602131000676?sort=default&page=2&postcode=BT62%202HB&searchcontext=default&model=picanto&radius=1500&maximum-age=up_to_3_years_old&make=kia&search-target=usedcars&maximum-mileage=up_to_10000_miles&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

Its just a case of never "assuming" that one particular dealer is the best / has the best prices, particularly with fresh still under manufacturers warranty stuff where you dont have to go back to the dealer anyway.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

I would always advise somebody to look at all options.

+1

Totally agree

bigjl wrote: »

The simple fact that during my visit to CG several cars I had seen online had been sold before I got there says it all.

There'd be something amiss if a car supermarket wasnt moving cars quickly mind you....

londonTiger

op changed brake pads just because hey were noisy..

Silver-Surfer_2

londonTiger wrote: »

op changed brake pads just because hey were noisy..

Has it really taken you over two years to think of that response?

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

You have assumed that the Focus at the Ford dealer is not ex lease aswell.

Simple fact is more and more private motorists are using PCP and Lease deals to get themselves into a new ar every few years.

I also hate to point out that all CG cars are valeted prior to collection. They don't just sell them to you straight off the transport from the fleet they were sourced from.

My point being that the main dealer supplied car in this case seems to have a FSH with them. This "suggests" it wasnt a lease car bought in in bulk from a fleet as CG normally do.

Also, a PCP deal is not a lease its a form of hire purchase, and whilst it may have a set term like a lease, the purchase is between the customer and the dealer. Chances are it was traded back in to the dealer.

A car bought as part of a purchase from a large fleet is likely to have been somebodys work transport and treated accordingly.

I've no particular issue with ex lease or even ex hire cars - provided the condition and history match the price.

bigjl

Lots of the cars at supermarkets will also be from PCP schemes.

The first owner of my car was not a company but a private person.

So not all Car Supermarket cars are leggy ex lease.

I wouldn't assume a privately owned car that has been hammered to death but given a main dealer service would be any better than a lease car that has had one driver from new and was also maintained by a main dealer.

In my experince the cars people have to use for work are as well looked after as privately owned vehicles, sometimes better as if they mess it up they will have to explain themselves to the fleet department.

And no matter what you say you can't compare Belfast prices with London prices. Supply and demand will have an impact for a start not forgetting overheads.

And if you travel to Belfast to spend more money on a car you will then have to drive to Belfast to make a complaint under CRA or get any issues dealt with.

The only way you can make a fair comparison with used car prices against somewhere like CG is to use prices from London based Ford dealers.

bigjl

motorguy wrote: »

A quick check found this one at £5,571 from a main KIA dealer with just 8K miles.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602131000676?sort=default&page=2&postcode=BT62%202HB&searchcontext=default&model=picanto&radius=1500&maximum-age=up_to_3_years_old&make=kia&search-target=usedcars&maximum-mileage=up_to_10000_miles&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

Its just a case of never "assuming" that one particular dealer is the best / has the best prices, particularly with fresh still under manufacturers warranty stuff where you dont have to go back to the dealer anyway.

You are not choosing like for like to prove a point.

That is a 1.0 3dr in "1" spec, which is not in any way comparable to a 1.0 3dr in "City", the "1" is the basic model without AirCon, parking sensors, etc etc. And would have been something like £2000 cheaper when new, if it wasn't cheaper two years later then something is very wrong.

So if you want to post up prices proving your point then stick to the "City" spec which was over £10000 new, not the "1" spec which is the cheapest and least well equipped model in the range. Actually the one you have posted a link to in really rather expensive IMHO. There was a similar spec one a few weeks ago at CG and it was just over £4500, I think it was the "1" but can't really remember, it was pretty basic with Steel wheels instead of the Alloys on the "City"

And the price for a poverty spec Picanto "1" means nothing compared to a Picanto "City" in London.

What is your fascination with prices in Belfast?

If I had bought my car in Belfast Incould see the point.

motorguy

bigjl wrote: »

You are not choosing like for like to prove a point.

I wasnt "proving a point", just demonstrating that other cars were cheaper from other dealers, and that that one might be the cheapest for that particular Focus, but they werent necessarily the cheapest for all cars.

Might have got the spec a bit wrong on that one - Picantos arent my Forte.