Buying used car from dealership

Shamee

Hello.
I am looking to buy my first car and am searching for a used Ford Fiesta.

Some branches of the Trust Ford dealership (previously Dagenham Motors) seem to occasionally have cars within the specs and budget that I would be looking for.
Does anyone have any experience of buying a used car from them? I would most probably buy from the Epsom or Kingston branches / or alternatively from the Stamford Hill or Edgeware branches. A few random reviews that I have seen online for this dealership (various branches) weren’t reassuring…

Is it advisable for me to get an independent vehicle inspection of the car I am interested in before buying from them / any other dealership (I would ideally like to do so for my own peace of mind) and if so, how does it work? Will I need to pay a deposit and fill the order form for the vehicle before arranging the vehicle inspection?

Any advice most appreciated.
Thanks

Alias_Omega

I would advise you to check the details of the warranty offered, then take advise from a family member (usually elderly) regarding warranties, mileage of cars and the need.


I suspect that the same car, purchased privately with the appropriate checks will save you over £1000 on the purchase price, which could be put towards any "what if" repairs.


But.. your first car is always the first car, and you should buy what you want, when you want it, and who from...


Sadly for me, I have spent thousands on new cars from dealers, when I could have/should have purchased private and saves the ££££.

Dealers buy from auctions too..

McKneff

On the other hand, I have personally and have seen so much heartbreak at someone saving up and then spending everything they have worked for and diligently saved for some private seller to come along
and sell them a crock that has cost hundreds to repair, if you buy private you have no comeback.


Buy from a dealer by all means, haggle, haggle and more haggle, tell them you have another 2 cars to see before making a decision. Ask for more money off, makers carpets, a full tank of petrol, 3 years free servicing and 1 year free with the RAC, the list goes on.


Take someone with you, an older relative is best.


Im just buying a new car on Monday, haggled an extra £ 700 on mine to sell even thouh it needs 4 new tyres and someone scraped the bumper down to the metal last week, a tank of petrol, and makers carpets

jimmy_cricket

For a ford main dealer, try looking at gates of Harlow. I found them cheaper than Dagenham motors on both buying and servicing. I remember on one occasion, Dagenham motors wanted 500 quid for diagnostics and other stuff, gates charged me less than a 100 to fix. Much more straightforward to deal with.

prowla

Every Ford I've had, new, used, private, company car, or main dealer has had some strange problem which nobody could fix; I've had loss of power at speed, a clunk when doing a three-point turn, air-con not working, and one or two other things - things go to the garage, get returned "fixed", and then return straight after (the clunk actually happened again as I reversed out of the parking space at the dealership when collecting from "repair", and the air con was "fixed" twice before it was found to be a bent pin on a connector before it left the factory!).

My experience is that main dealers are no better than small independents, and I learned my lesson and don't buy Fords.