Bargain cars and a relaxed buying experience (Fords of Winsford)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Fords of Winsford
Date:	06/06/09 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No high pressure selling, save thousands.

Disadvantages: Poor trade in price.

After several bad experiences, I have a dislike and distrust of used car salesmen. I don't like their fake tans and even faker grins. I hate the way they target you as soon as you start looking at the cars, the way a horsefly targets its latest blood-filled victim, and find it irritating the way they try to engage you in conversation, interrupting the browsing process. I also don't like the prices at the bigger car dealerships; a complete rip off!

Fortunately for me, I live within half an hour of probably the best used car supermarket in Britain, the award winning Fords of Winsford. Here, there's no predatory salesmen, just a huge selection of over 1,500 cars! I have now bought (or been with people when they bought) about ten cars in the last fifteen years, so know Fords of Winsford well, and trust the cars that they sell.

Fords of Winsford have a no haggling policy. The price on the windscreen is the same as on the website, and that's the price they sell the car at. The price is the most impressive thing about this company. If you check the windscreen price from a main dealer and compare it with Fords, you see a massive difference. I typically buy cars at around £8,000 and can save nearly £2,000 by buying from FoW.

There are a few things that a potential buyer from FoW needs to know, however. The first is to do your homework on their website. The car supermarket is huge, with 1,500 cars spread out over a wide area. The cars are grouped together (sports cars, 4x4's etc.), but you can easily waste an afternoon looking for a car, if you go there unprepared for what's on offer.

I firstly decide on what car I'm interested in; preferably a selection. In this way, I know that FoW is going to have at least a dozen of the types of cars I'm might want.

The next step it to visit their website www.fow.co.uk. This excellent site has a great search function where the potential buyer can search using criteria such as engine size, fuel, manufacturer as well, of course, as model. The website gives plenty of detail about the cars including mileage and several photographs, so it's easy to make a preliminary choice sat at home. Note down the make, model, and registration number of the cars that you're interested in. Also note the bay number which will enable you to find the car at the showroom.

Now you can go to Winsford. The site is easy to find from the main road running through the town. As you go in, go straight to the key desk and request the keys of the cars that you're interested in. You can now find the cars using the bay number (location).

There will be no salesmen to pressure you. You can spend as long as you want looking at the cars and starting them up, before deciding on one to buy.

Then, simply go back to the showroom and ask for a test drive. Within 10 minutes or so, an assistant will take you out to the car, drive it out of the showroom, and let you take over. Again, these guys are not sales people, and are really nice, friendly and helpful.

If you like the car, you can put a deposit down, agree a trade in if you have one, then agree a pick up date (typically a week's time). It's that simple! They do offer finance, but I'd be tempted to sort a loan out before hand, getting the best deal possible, rather than relying on the offer in the showroom on the day.

The only potential downside of buying from FoW is the trade in price. As their prices are so low, they have no room to manoeuvre as a main dealer would (making you feel better by giving you an excellent trade in price; that price has already been added on to their screen price). As a trade in, you will get a very low price for your car. Despite this, you will still be saving money over a main dealer.

If you're not convinced, visit a main dealer, get a trade in price and calculate the 'price to change' (this is the amount of money that you will hand over to the dealer). Compare this to the FoW price to change; FoW's should be much lower.

One way to avoid the low trade in price is of course, to sell your car privately. You then get the best of both worlds; a good price for your old car and an excellent deal on your new one.

As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of buying from FoW. There are no frills, you won't get a bunch of flowers, cheap car mats, or a free tank of petrol from them. What you will get is a nice, relaxed buying process, and a quality used car at a rock bottom price. Highly recommended.

Summary: My favourite place to buy a car.