Car Giant / Car Craft

vikingaero

stumpjumper wrote: »

From what I've seen in Carcraft Rochdale, the cars are all bins that are at least 2k overpriced. Not only that you get hassled by some guys that look like they work the doors in the evening trying to sell you very dodgy finance deals.

We looked at an automatic Corsa that was about £9.5k and was way overpriced. When we left and said we would think about it the salesman said:

"What if I knock 2 grand off?!"

Mini-Viking #1 calls the salesmen sharks because they home in on you as you walk around.:D

aimingforadebtfreelife

I know someone who went into Carcraft wanting to buy a car for his son - he wanted to pay cash but nowhere was there a cash price on any of the cars - just how much a month it was!! Carcraft is like DFS sofa firm - they hate you paying cash and want you to take finance deals out.

optique

Having looked in Carcraft (Enfield) and Cargiant, the two are quite different. The Carcraft sticker prices are ludicrously high above book value, and as mentioned above, the shark-like sales people will offer to haggle with you in a slimy way.

Cargiant is quite different, in that the cars generally have very competitive sticker prices (although you need to take some high mileages and variable condition of cars into account). There are also fewer salespeople around, they didn't hassle us, and they totally refused to negotiate on the car prices.

I ran a mile from Carcraft, but we bought our Honda Jazz from Cargiant, in excellent condition for a good price, and we've had no problems with it. Can't comment on the finance as we didn't use it.

bestpud

vikingaero wrote: »

Car Giants cars seem to be all ex hire cars or ex motability cars which on the whole are pretty grim if you want a half decent car. Because of this they are cheapish although you need to balance the condition with whether you can put up with the state of the cars. That said their Merc and VW section contained some nice well maintained cars.

I wouldn't totally rule out ex-hire/motability or fleet cars as they often have full service histories and have been well maintained.

High mileage is not the issue some people think it is either, if the car has been regularly serviced.

In many ways, a high mileage car with a full service history will be a better bet than a lower mileage one that has not been regularly serviced imo.

I have not heard good things about carcraft though so definitely take someone knowledgeable with you and check thoroughly before signing anything if you do decide to go there.

350nutter

As well as thoroughly serviced, the high mileage on fleet cars in usually nostly motorway mileage, therefore the engine/gearbox have been relatively unstressed and the car is likely to be far better than one with half the mileage which has seen mainly city driving.

dwjohnno81

i would stay away because i feel they clock the milage on them. all cars are not guarenteed on there milage but surely they must know if they have ben serviced

ADEY_3

Companies like carcraft, direct car finance, yes car credit ect ect do overprice the cars and then make a fortune on the finance aswell. From experience the cars arnt the best in the world either

vikingaero

bestpud wrote: »

I wouldn't totally rule out ex-hire/motability or fleet cars as they often have full service histories and have been well maintained.

High mileage is not the issue some people think it is either, if the car has been regularly serviced.

In many ways, a high mileage car with a full service history will be a better bet than a lower mileage one that has not been regularly serviced imo.

In general I would agree with you... but :

The ex-motability cars in Car Giant were in poor condition. I selected 8 cars to view and printed out their details to take with me. On viewing 6 of the 8 cars had stickers marked "This car is a managers markdown because of bodywork damage" or something similar. None of this is mentioned on the website. You think you are buying a half decent car and not one with dents.

And Car Giant will quote the mileage of a car.... if it is under 100k. :rolleyes: I personally want a car with some life in it and not a car with 194k like the BMW I viewed.

I found only a handful of hire cars (with the Europcar stickers or Hertz barcodes) that didn't have significant wheel damage.

vikingaero

dwjohnno81 wrote: »

i would stay away because i feel they clock the milage on them. all cars are not guarenteed on there milage but surely they must know if they have ben serviced

That's a pretty strong statement to make!

Most cars at these companies do have strong provenance - they are sourced direct from hire companies etc.

And I'd think it unlikely that these companies would clock because of the penalties.

kevinmcm19

car giant is a good place to buy from the two bad points i found
is trade in price and finance car craft is way over priced