Buying used car from a dealer

Giggidy

I am considering buying a car from a dealer but just need a bit of help with regards to a few things, as my last car was bought from a trade seller and so the process was a bit different. The car is £11k and the dealer has an option to reserve the car for £100 which is what I did. I did ask for a new badges on the alloys, a service and a new MOT (current one expires in April) as I am paying the full price. He agreed to this but also asked for a £900 deposit on top of the £100, which he agreed to reduce to £500 because I thought it was too high. He said doing the extras would mean he needs security that I will be buying the car. I haven't paid this yet but thinking of going back to him tomorrow saying he £100 reserve covers the extras, but I would be happy to pay another £100 deposit, as I am looking to buy the car within the next week. Am I being unreasonable? What's the norm when it comes to deposits or reserving the car? I just feel its a bit misleading saying £100 reserves the car but then you have to pay so much more on top to secure it??

Also, what happens on the day with regards to payment, I am paying from my savings, how does this get transferred to the dealer? I will be paying some on my credit card, so that I am covered under section 75

EdGasketTheSecond

I presume you can pay up to £10K by bank transfer.
As to the amount of deposit vs. the extras, I can see both sides of the argument. Did you get a written agreement about what would be done? If so and you are definitely buying then it doesn't matter too much what deposit you pay. If it was only verbal, offer to pay some extra (say £300 to £400) for written confirmation on the receipt of the badges, service, and new MoT to be included in the final price of xxxx

TerracedHouse

Your'e lucky, I asked for mats on the car I'm thinking of buying because there is none, the answer was no even though they will not budge on the asking price.

Use your debit card to pay the balance as paying some on your credit card will cover you with section 75

foxy-stoat

£100 doesn't cover an mot, service and the other bits. I agree £1000 deposit is steep but as you will be buying it anyway for the full price what difference does it make? You will be a few hundred pound down for a couple of days until you collect the car and pay the balance.

He doesnt need to mot it though as it still has 6 months left.

Mutton_Geoff

Giggidy wrote: »

and a new MOT (current one expires in April)

I think 6 months is reasonable. The problem with an early MOT is that it throws the history of the car for eventual resale. I keep every document of all of my cars and check carefully when buying. If there is a jump in continuity I'd want to know why. Although it's easily explained as hopefully you'll keep the purchase invoice to show the next owner, I like it when paperwork is all in order and a nice pattern of servicing and MOTs.


In any case, an MOT is only an instant snapshot of it's roadworthiness. There could be an argument for leaving it until April such that any failure or advisories then would help you with a claim under the warranty provided it wasn't a wear and tear item like brakes.

Giggidy

foxy-stoat wrote: »

£100 doesn't cover an mot, service and the other bits. I agree £1000 deposit is steep but as you will be buying it anyway for the full price what difference does it make? You will be a few hundred pound down for a couple of days until you collect the car and pay the balance.

He doesnt need to mot it though as it still has 6 months left.

The service was already agreed to beforehand, the MOT is about £40-£50 and the badges he said would be £15 each, so that's about £100. Paying £100 or £1000 makes a huge difference if anything goes wrong and that's too much of a gamble for me

Giggidy

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

I think 6 months is reasonable. The problem with an early MOT is that it throws the history of the car for eventual resale. I keep every document of all of my cars and check carefully when buying. If there is a jump in continuity I'd want to know why. Although it's easily explained as hopefully you'll keep the purchase invoice to show the next owner, I like it when paperwork is all in order and a nice pattern of servicing and MOTs.


In any case, an MOT is only an instant snapshot of it's roadworthiness. There could be an argument for leaving it until April such that any failure or advisories then would help you with a claim under the warranty provided it wasn't a wear and tear item like brakes.

Thanks, that does make sense, but I would only get a 3 month warranty anyway

Graham_Devon

Giggidy wrote: »

The service was already agreed to beforehand, the MOT is about £40-£50 and the badges he said would be £15 each, so that's about £100. Paying £100 or £1000 makes a huge difference if anything goes wrong and that's too much of a gamble for me

You haven't allowed for time.

You could also ask for some money off and do it yourself if you don't want to pay for the service of someone else doing it for you.