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Car buying; does anyone enjoy it?

AnilS said:
I generally find, if going into a dealership, that I know more about the car they are selling, than they do.

All I do, is a little research beforehand.
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Same here Anil, I form a long list, do a little bit of digging and whittle it down to 2 or 3 cars before I start going to the dealers, by this stage I generally know more about the cars than they do.

Cheers BB
 
my recent experiences with pork dealer have been very good, the last two cars through them i found on their dealer network. I told them what i wanted and they arranged to have it transported to the local dealership so i could have a test drive. Previous three porks were bought new.

Before that MB were meh - Honda were great. In the interim Volvo were terrible, BMW told me i couldn't afford any of their Z4s. Few months ago Mini were good - but as they are transitioning models, it was hard to see anything new. Also a few months ago Cupra were friendly, informative, and pretty laid back (no stuffy suits and ties). We will be doing the rounds soon as the pork can go back after Sept.
 
I love driving and most of the process of choosing a new car.

That said, car dealers for the most part are not much fun and I find their skills at spotting real intent to purchase very variable. I have visited showrooms for a browse and for some reason got the attention of the salesman and their manager following me around when I really am not in buying position. Likewise I have had a complete brush off (Audi and Volvo) when I have been looking seriously to purchase. I had a shocker with Alfa a few years back as well. Our local BMW dealer has always been decent hence we keep using them.

I subscribe to the "inform yourself" strategy. Research and read reviews from as wide a range of sources you can. Test drive several cars and if buying second hand, drive several different versions of the car you want to ensure you know what is specific to the car model and not just that particular one.

Go into the dealership with a firm plan of what you want and do not get deflected. Ignore the pressure tactics, there are millions of cars out there, to say a deal is just valid today is nonsense. If you are a cash buyer then don't get tempted by finance. They will offer a better price for finance as they get kickbacks from the finance companies. Finance from a dealer is rarely competitive compared to the wider loan market.

Don't buy the "extras" paint warranty, gap insurance, etc etc. Do consider multi year service plans, they can be excellent value, even better get it included in the deal.

I accept, if you are not a car or driving fan it must be harder to put the effort in but a little prep can go a long way.
 
I think i can see where the OP's problem might be occurring.

If someone gave me £30,000 and told me to go and find them a nice sensible modern small car, I'd be bored senseless very soon.

If they gave me £30,000 and told me to go and fine them a decent second-hand Aston Martin, however, this would be a very different matter!

😄
 
Beobloke said:
If they gave me £30,000 and told me to go and fine them a decent second-hand Aston Martin, however, this would be a very different matter!

😄
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Is a decent AM for £30k a going proposition in the current market? I'm not looking for one but prices of everything are only now reaching sane levels and anything collectible is still silly as far as I can see.
 
was in our massive VW dealer today which has taken on Skoda as well . some very reasonable prices i thought , saw a nice red 70 T roc for slightly over 12k which looked beautiful .
 
I don't mind it. Depends what I'm doing, last financial crash decided on a Peugeot Partner, didn't even drive it, turned out a really good car that saw us through a difficult patch, still got a soft spot for them.
Audi were crap, bought the first new TT in Cumbria and was very underwhelmed it was a boring car too, should have bought a Cayman there was only a coupe of grand in it.
My method is really simple, I pay very little attention to the car, never drive it and make it clear I want to buy it there and then, saying something like "if we can get the numbers to work I'll give you a deposit today." It is then up to them to think about how much they want the sale and what the best price they can offer is to get the sale.
 
I don't like wasting a lot of time in dealers so tend to have done a fair bit of research beforehand and will normally have decided exactly what car we're going with. So for our last few car purchases we've visited the dealer once to order the car, and then once more to pick it up.

It might be different if I was shopping for something interesting like a classic or sports car - but for our day-to-day cars I really don't want to spend a lot of time on it!
 
i recall trying dozens and dozens of cars back a day to find the right one , now had 5 versions of that car but the main dealer has now gone and Vauxhall has deserted Britains second city in terms of support so wont be buying another
 
I don’t really enjoy the process and avoid time in dealerships as much as possible.

I don’t buy new, so tend to identify the car / spec I want and then find a year old car from a main dealer by searching online. There is a price premium for buying in Edinburgh or the central belt of Scotland, so I normally travel and collect. Last 4 cars came from main dealers in Newcastle. IIRC saved £3K on the Volvo for 90 min journey a few years back…same ex Volvo cars, 100% same age and spec

A friend did similar for his nearly new Jag F Pace a couple of years ago, used in Southampton from a BMW dealer was ~£28k, or £6K less than Jag dealer in Edinburgh for identical spec and lower miles. Cheap flight and overnight at airport hotel, then drove it back to Edinburgh in 1 day.
 
Beobloke said:
I think i can see where the OP's problem might be occurring.

If someone gave me £30,000 and told me to go and find them a nice sensible modern small car, I'd be bored senseless very soon.

😄
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It doesn't help that what she has now is quite good.

Buying it was was an accident. She put everything she wanted into the VW configurator and the cheapest way to do it was packaged up in a 2 litre GTI. With VW and dealer incentives it was around £23000
 
stevec67 said:
Is a decent AM for £30k a going proposition in the current market? I'm not looking for one but prices of everything are only now reaching sane levels and anything collectible is still silly as far as I can see.
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Yep, there’s a fair selection of V8 Vantages around for less than £30k. I came very close to buying one a few years back.
 
raysablade said:
It doesn't help that what she has now is quite good.

Buying it was was an accident. She put everything she wanted into the VW configurator and the cheapest way to do it was packaged up in a 2 litre GTI. With VW and dealer incentives it was around £23000
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If I had a 5 year old Polo GTi and enjoyed driving it I'd just get it serviced, ensure by breakdown insurance was up to date and drive the wheels off it. It's not going to break. It's less likely to break now than it was when it was new because the "it's been wrongly assembled or with dud parts" faults have been fixed. What mileage has it, 50k? You can double that without incident if you keep the servicing up to date. If it needs a tidy up and a bit of paint here and there, have it done. It's a couple of tanks of fuel. Around 10 years/100k you can expect brake discs all round and possibly a clutch, and the service and MoT will be flagging up suspension bushes etc. But all that stuff is for dirt cheap. Between 50 and 100k most cars these days don't need anything beyond service. It's a sweet spot and one I'd like to stay in except that I'm too tight and I just keep the things after 100k and pay the occasional bill.

(Says the man who is in a 15 year old, 203k mile Audi A5, doing 2500 miles a month. Now that *is* being a bit adventurous and or ambitious, but we'll see. It's just had a repair and been given a clean bill of health.)
 
stevec67 said:
If I had a 5 year old Polo GTi and enjoyed driving it I'd just get it serviced, ensure by breakdown insurance was up to date and drive the wheels off it. It's not going to break. It's less likely to break now than it was when it was new because the "it's been wrongly assembled or with dud parts" faults have been fixed. What mileage has it, 50k? You can double that without incident if you keep the servicing up to date. If it needs a tidy up and a bit of paint here and there, have it done. It's a couple of tanks of fuel. Around 10 years/100k you can expect brake discs all round and possibly a clutch, and the service and MoT will be flagging up suspension bushes etc. But all that stuff is for dirt cheap. Between 50 and 100k most cars these days don't need anything beyond service. It's a sweet spot and one I'd like to stay in except that I'm too tight and I just keep the things after 100k and pay the occasional bill.
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This. If it's the warranty expiring that has the OP's wife bothered, get a quote for extending the warranty. Cheaper than the hit on depreciation, or the costs of a new car.

Especially if the car still hits the sweet spot and few of the current offerings do.
 
We're in a similar boat. Kids have left or soon to leave home so we need to transform a 1957 VW Bus, a 2015 MX5 and 2019 CX5 into a VW T6 and something like a Polo/Golf. We've been to plenty of dealers and car supermarkets and also getting worn down by the process.

Mazda basically said we'd be best to sell to We Buy Any Car as they can't anywhere near match their prices on PX. Arnold Clark seem to have very good PX.

Interesting about getting a GTI for fully loaded Spec, I'd like that for the engine, wife likes all the bells and whistles. As long as it has a DAB and is brisk off the mark I'm happy :)
 
If you dislike dealers, and know the car you want, then I can recommend using Drive the Deal. I’ve bought a Seat Ibiza and VW T-Roc through them. They pass you through to a franchise dealer who sells it at that price - all done over the phone and no hassle. Each time saving several thousands off the list price and delivered to my door.
 
PTWild said:
If you dislike dealers, and know the car you want, then I can recommend using Drive the Deal. I’ve bought a Seat Ibiza and VW T-Roc through them. They pass you through to a franchise dealer who sells it at that price - all done over the phone and no hassle. Each time saving several thousands off the list price and delivered to my door.
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My parents did similar via an internet based broker in 2005 with a Ford Ka. My mum always liked little Fords having had 3 Fiestas in the past, they bought a brand new Ford Ka base model for £4995. Yes, you read that right, under £5k. That was cheap even 20 years ago. My dad went to the local dealer who was selling a year old one for £5500 or thereabouts and a new one around £6.5k, invited him to come close to the price. No chance, the dealer asked him for details as he reckoned that he was paying more than £5k trade for new Kas. Maybe he was. He declined delivery and took a train to Birmingham to drive the car back.
 
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