Want a new motor? (Buyer's Guide: Cars in general)

Member Name: Grimsbygal

Product:	Buyer's Guide: Cars in general
Date:	02/09/01 (275 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: new car at the end

Disadvantages: can be time consuming

My dad is a car salesman and in my lifetime I have been in hundreds of different cars. He has worked for Toyota, Hyundai, Renault, Citroen and many others. In June my fiancé’s car was broken into. It wasn’t worth him paying the excess on the insurance due to losing his no claims and the fact that his car required a new clutch anyway. We decided to go looking at new cars.

As our budget was low we decided a small car would be satisfactory. We began by looking at the Kia’s as they seemed very cheap for what they where. I soon decided I hated that idea when I looked at one close up. I hated the design and although the price still looked appealing I persuaded my fiancé to look elsewhere.

We then looked at a Citroen Saxo. As my dad currently sells Citroens this seemed inevitable. He found us a really good deal, which sounded great, and we decided to go look at one. From the outside I thought it looked great but when my fiancé jumped in the drivers seat his head touched the top. There was nowhere near enough room for him to sit comfortably so again we were forced to look elsewhere.

Simon spent hours looking around the Internet and he eventually found a great deal on a Ford Ka. We rung up the local Ford dealership and arranged a test drive. Simon quite enjoyed the feel of the drive. I spent a few minutes in the back and scared myself to death. As the back is so small I felt as if my life was endanger. It didn’t feel safe and I didn’t really like the look of the interior. Simon looked quite happy though so I decided if he was happy I was too. We went back to the garage to talk about finance deals. The salesman walked away to find something out and Simon said what I had been hoping. He was not too keen either and was eyeing up a fiesta. When the salesman came back we asked what fiesta we could get for a similar price. The one we liked actually worked out cheaper than the Ka anyway so we decided on a test drive and fe
ll in love. We decided this was the one for us and made our minds up. We paid the deposit and we arranged to pick it up on September the 1st when the new registrations arrived. Of course today is the 1st and today we have been driving around showing off our new number plate HJ51 ORA. If you don’t understand the new number plate let me explain. The first two numbers stand for the area in which the car was registered. Ours is for Hampshire. The 5 is for September as it is the second half of the year (0.5). March registrations will show 0 in this place. The 1 is for 2001. The three letters at the end are picked at random. We have spent the last couple of weeks dreading these three letters expecting something stupid.

I feel as if we got a good deal. I think there are certain things to watch out for when purchasing a car after all it is not a can of deodorant that will only last a few weeks. A car is made to last for at least a few years. When you go to look around a forecourt you may find a salesman pounces on you. Once they get you in their grasp they try persuading you to buy. They have one thing in mind – commission. Without a sale many will get paid pittance. Life as a salesman is not much fun if you cannot sell cars.

If you are genuinely interested in purchasing a specific model I seriously recommend you go for a test drive first. The look of the car is not everything and the way a car feels on the road differs greatly between makes and models. Many dealerships will not sell you a car without a test drive.

If you have been on a test drive and are still convinced this is the car for you it is time to talk a deal. You will often find that the price they offer the car at is the highest price and then if you are really eager but not too sure about the price they will lower it. I managed to get extra money off the car by saying we had seen it elsewhere.

Once you have got the price you want you are best to try get some f
ree accessories thrown in. You can go about this as discreet as possible. I knew the fiesta didn’t contain car mats but I asked the salesman if it did. He replied no but said we could buy a set at £19.99 and he would fit them. I persuaded him to throw them in free of charge as an incentive for us. I then managed to get us a full tank of petrol free to drive off in. You may think that I am awkward doing this but it is all extras and a full tank of petrol is definitely worthwhile.

Another thing you have to think about is the finance. All dealerships offer a wide variety of different deals to suit different peoples needs. It is best to think about what sort of finance deal fits your requirements best. Many garages try and persuade you to go for three-year deals with a final payment at the end of the three years. This is the type of deal we went for but for some people this is not practical. A garage may fail to mention a deal that means you can pay over five years because this way they earn less commission. If you are certain this is what you want inform the dealer of this and they will come up with something.

There are plenty of other things to think about when buying a car. I recommend writing down questions before you go to the garage so you remember what you want to ask. We are very happy with the deal we received and Simon was happy with my negotiating.

If you are looking to buy a new or used car think carefully and look around, there are plenty to choose from. Hope I have helped someone out there.

Grimsbygal

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