Belfast used car dealer recommendations

gthe

Just returned from from MH Motors. One guy there is unfortunately the definition of impolite salesman. I was interested on a mazda 2 and after a sort drive i liked to check the basic buttons and electronics to see that everything was ok (windows, radio, mirrors, heating, ac etc) and at the end he impolitely told me that he spend 30min with me ... and refused to show me any other car!

Just to let you know, the mazda was in good condition, except that there was just one key (the key with the remote lock was missing. Critical for me). Moreover, the coolant level on the overflow tank was low, therefore i am suspecting that there may be a leak on the radiator but not sure about it.

Maybe, i have to increase my budget to stick with more expensive cars on larger RAC approved dealers.

Bigcammy

void MH Motors like the plague, I watched them repairing damage to a car in their workshop which was then advertised as pristine condition. John Boyce or Ian Glasgow in Ards, maybe Millmount Motors in Dundonald too

motorguy

My "rule of thumb" is if you're buying a car under £5K you're as well to buy privately as otherwise that £5K on the forecourt is actually a £3K car with a £2K dealer markup and a very limited warranty anyway.

If spending more than that, try to get a car thats either still under the manufacturers warranty (usually 3 years or 5 / 7 years for Hyundai / Kia) and thus it doesnt really matter where you are buying it as you'll go back to the franchised dealer for warranty claims or get a car under a manufacturers "approved used" scheme which has pretty much a manufacturer spec warranty, usually from a franchised dealer.

Outside of those parameters there are very few warranties that are worth the paper they are written on.

We bought our 370Z GT at a year old and 9k miles from SERE on Boucher Road. Frankly we bought the car in spite of the salesman rather than with the aid of the salesman, BUT the car was probably £5K cheaper than a franchised dealer would have been, and once we drove it off the forecourt we'd have taken it to a Nissan main dealer for any warranty work (never needed any though).

We bought it for £19,950, ran it for two full years, put 15,000 more miles on it and sold it for £18,200 to Agnews. Wasnt a bad deal (in percentage terms at least)