Car Finding Service

CinderKona

Well, last week my 8-year-old beloved golf was written-off by a Royal Mail HGV so now I need to buy another car. Probably just go the nearly-new route again as i bought the golf when it was 2 years old and under 10K miles. At the time, i used a car finding service as i had been out of the country for a while so wondering if this might be same approach again?
I know it seemed to work rather well and i was not overcharged and paid no fee so wonder if anyone else uses car-finders?
thanks
 

tacpot12

I would use one if I could be sure of the success rate in finding good cars.

2 years old and under 10k is an interesting point to purchase cars, as there will be relatively few cars available, and I would expect them to all be in very good condition at that age & milage. Many more cars become available at three years of age, when they are due to have their first MOT.

The alternative is to find what you think is a good car using Autotrader, and have a prepurchase inspection done, ideally by a mechanic who specialises in that make of car.

If you are after another Golf, I expect that any car-finding service would find it easy to find a good one as there are plenty to choose from. 

Flight3287462

Have a look here, if nothing else it may give you some pointers.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/best-pre-reg-and-nearly-new-car-deals/

rhino_horn

I run a car search business.... we're busier than we've ever been -  got loads of customers at the mo 

mobileron

Try these  https://heycar.co.uk

Grumpy_chap

rhino_horn said:

I run a car search business.... we're busier than we've ever been -  got loads of customers at the mo 

What does a "car finding service" do?

I mean, if I am looking for a fairly common family hatchback (as the OP seems to be), what does the car finding service do that I can't do simply enough using readily available on-line services?

I can understand the car-finding service if I am looking for something slightly out-of-the-ordinary.  Does not have to be extreme, but maybe specifically a Golf VR6 4-Motion (rather than just one of the plentiful Golf R Mk7 or Mk8) - I can see why that might be harder to locate and the car finding service needs to work to locate a pristine example that has not been thrashed or crashed.

For most buyers, I do not know what a buying service would do.

rhino_horn

Grumpy_chap said:

rhino_horn said:

I run a car search business.... we're busier than we've ever been -  got loads of customers at the mo 

What does a "car finding service" do?

I mean, if I am looking for a fairly common family hatchback (as the OP seems to be), what does the car finding service do that I can't do simply enough using readily available on-line services?

I can understand the car-finding service if I am looking for something slightly out-of-the-ordinary.  Does not have to be extreme, but maybe specifically a Golf VR6 4-Motion (rather than just one of the plentiful Golf R Mk7 or Mk8) - I can see why that might be harder to locate and the car finding service needs to work to locate a pristine example that has not been thrashed or crashed.

For most buyers, I do not know what a buying service would do.

So... we have two type of customers. 

1 - has got a budget, a vague idea of what they want, open to suggestions etc - we talk them through their requirements, offer them some options, tell them to sit in one / have a test drive - let us know what they prefer... then we go and find them that car. We find it, show them the pics etc, they pay a deposit - refundable! - and we then go and buy it. We actually walk away from 20% of the cars we view - once our driver has inspected it.... we get the car back, PDI it, service it, remove dings and dents, make the alloys nice, do whatever needs to be done. Customer turns up (or we deliver) they have a look, pay the balance. 

2 - our customer knows exactly what they want. Go and find it for me! (As long as budget realistic!)

Our customers want a hassle free life. And they want to buy from someone they trust. We look after our customers. They want a car, they want us to find it. They don't want to deal with main dealer rubbishness. Or deal with car sales people. Or pour over Autotrader ads.

Our after service is 5*... which is why we have such good reviews and we don't advertise. Our business is 100% word of mouth. We don't charge for our service but our customers will pay main dealer prices. That's how we make our margin. We've never had a car returned, we prep them properly. 

We don't source cars over 6/7 years old. Too much hassle. 

That's pretty much the rough and dirty of it all. 

Grumpy_chap

@rhino_horn - thanks for the explanation.  Customer type 2 makes more sense to me.

CinderKona

Hello,
back to this now my claim is being settled.
I would probably go with an estate this time and not pay the premium you do for the Golf badge but maybe one of its stable mates (i.e. Skoda etc).
I'd be customer 2 but the advice is always useful from the professionals such as - should I but a diesel etc. 

onlyfoolsandparking

Skoda Octavia (vRS would be my choice) all the way, ultra reliable, cheap to service, Police, Ambulance and the taxi drivers don't use them for no reason/s. 

Grumpy_chap

CinderKona said:

Hello,
back to this now my claim is being settled.
I would probably go with an estate this time and not pay the premium you do for the Golf badge but maybe one of its stable mates (i.e. Skoda etc).
I'd be customer 2 but the advice is always useful from the professionals such as - should I but a diesel etc. 

You liked your beloved Golf and now want an Estate - the Octavia would be an excellent choice.  There is probably limited reason to consider other choices if you found something you like.

The choice between petrol and diesel is relatively easy:

• How many miles do you do per year?
• Are those miles main road fast miles or slow town miles?  What is that split?
• Do you live in or near an area with emissions pricing (ULEZ)?

You indicated that you are after a car around two years old and, as you observed in another thread, used prices are currently high.  There have been some recent threads on here with very attractive deals on brand new Skodas so that might be worth investigating as an alternative.  However, there has been a model refresh around end 2019 / beginning 2020, so the used models should be a bigger saving than otherwise.