Cargiant

carve

hi all

i'm looking to get a new car. nothing older than a 54 plate and ideally a 1.4 5dr fiesta but could go for something similar or a focus. I'm in a bit of a rush and don't have much time to shop around, tour the country and wait for an RAC car check.

what is the general opinion of cargiant?

Sup3rArsenal

I have heard they are pretty good.

I went there a few weeks ago and test drove a car and all seems pretty straight forward.

From what I know the cars are pretty reasonably priced and they make their money through sheer volume rather than the uplift from the sale of the car.

No harm in going down there and checking it out though they didn't seem to be pushy at all.

DampProof

Both my daughters have purchased cars with car giant. No problems.... however dont get sucked into extended insurance.

highguyuk

Im just curious - why the rush?

vikingaero

A lot of the cars at Car Giant are cosmetically imperfect. They buy them in from the fleets, rentals and auction and do very little refurb on the cars. So don't expect pristine Network Q or Ford Direct type cars.

They were praised in a recent Honest John column for fixing a fault on someones car. HJ said that they were no longer as cheap as they once were because of the need to provide more self warranty for the cars that they sold.

vansboy

Buying this age of car would be a minimum risk at auction. You'd still have makers warranty, in most instances.

Also you'd be buying the EXACT same car before Cargiant, or anyone else puts their mark up on it! & it'll be in a reasonably well prepared condition, cosmetically, so you'll see any blemishes, bumps n grazes.

Save yourself £600 & www.auctionview.co.uk spend a few pounds & search whats available! I've just looked there are 9 54reg in the country, so not loads of them.

You'll not need an RAC check, as the vehicles will be sold on description & won't have been a write off/clocked/finance owing, unless the auction say otherwise.

VB

carve

Wow thanks for all the info.

I'm in a rush because I start a new job where I need a reliable car.
I agree if I had the time, I would go for the auction market, but I don't know anyone who has bought a car on auction so I'm not on familiar territory. When I'm about to part with £6000 I want to know what I'm doing is right. Perhaps next time.

I have been looking at the website and there a lot of Focuses (?pl.). On the photos they look cosmetically perfect. Are the photos not representative?

Also what's the deal with the self warranty? the website says the only warranty is the manufacturers or an additional extra. It sounds good that they would fix the car if it was out of the original warranty without an extra purchased warranty. Though i guess thats under the sale of goods act.

vikingaero

Most of the cars on the site do look cosmetically perfect in the pictures. They normally take pictures of then before they plaster then with the price and any other sticker. It's best to print out the listings of the cars you are interested in. Most of the cars have pictures and the listing shows the Car Ref. Eg: Car Ref: YK04X. This is the first part of the registration of the car and the identifier to get hold of keys to inspect the interior.

I found that of the dozen print outs maybe 8 of the cars had additional stickers saying: "This car is a managers mark down because of bodywork damage." Then you have to check carefully. Sometimes the wing will have a dent or the door has been creased. On one car I checked and couldn't find any damage only to see that the roof was damaged.

Most of the cars will have some scrapes and scuffs. If you can put up with that then great. If you can't then look at main dealers. Make sure you inspect the interiors. I found 2 Focuses which fitted the bill but one was obviously ex-Motability from the damage to the door sill and rear hatch. The bumper had no paint left from someone lugging a wheelchair in/out and the door sill was rusty. The next Focus made me retch when I got inside. Someone had obviously smoked with the windows closed.

If you visit then take a torch to look inside the cars as some of the areas are undercover and it saves getting the keys.

Most cars @ 1 years old wil lhave 2 years manufacturers warranty left. If you buy a car without warranty you could always buy direct online from places like Warranty Direct. Whether there is a warranty or not, Car Giant will have to cover the car for any major defects for 6 months from purchase.

The other side to Car Giant is that they probably make more money from selling finance, payment protection, paint protection, car warranties etc. and it's best to get your own warranty and finance sorted out unless you are a cash customer.

Zeitgeist

vikingaero wrote: »

Whether there is a warranty or not, Car Giant will have to cover the car for any major defects for 6 months from purchase.

I bought a car from Car Giant, and bought an extended warranty and less than two months later the gearbox gave up the ghost. The problem is that that to repair this fault will be more than the £1000 claim limit on the warranty. Does this mean Car Giant are obliged to help with the cost under the Sale of Goods Act?

vansboy

Certainly you're well within the 6months guide, that the Trading Standards people would expect to be applied.

Ask the dealer, BEFDORE you get the work done - this gives them chance to repair at 'trade' costings, rather than what retail prices might be.

Only fair to them, as well as fair to you!

VB

MarkR_2

I was just going to post a very similar question, so thanks Carve for posting it already.
Had my car pranged just before xmas, and it is a write off, so guess the loan one will be going back soon ( New Passat, well lovely next car will be a come down after this! )
Car giant prices seem to be a good £1000 to £1500 less than anything localy, am looking at mondeo, passat or golf diesal estates mainly, so am very tempted to go down and look, BUT its a good 70 miles from here, do they let people buy with debit card same day? Plus it says on there site they do a 114 point check on it. How thorough are they? cos i dont fancey having to go back all that way with problems.
Then theres the £91 "admin fee" is it possible to negotiate prices down with them at all ?