Not so much a ‘which car’ thread, but….

so let’s just say, hypothetically, that my wife called to say the car broke down and the AA guy reckons it’s a £1K job to fix. And the car isn’t worth that. (will call a diesel specialist just in case.)

I’ve never bought a car before.

I may need to acquire one this weekend: A £3-4K estate that will give 3+ years of hassle free motoring, probably petrol, probably an Octavia or maybe a V50 or even (erk) an Avensis. Whatever. Not all that fussy about brand, or toys or anything. Combination of town driving in the week and motorways at the weekend.

What’s the smart option? Dealerships? Car supermarkets? Any tips on how I get from here to Sunday night without ending up feeling like a sucker who’s just been chumped by some git of a salesman?

I would look at a private sale as it will be much cheaper and you are in no position to haggle with a dealer

Whatever you do dont tell them the reason you are buying as you loose your power to negotiate

IMHO buying cars is like rolling a dice- you can check the obvious stuff and do a bit of research about know problems but it is essentially a roll of the dice to see if its ok.

I may need to acquire one this weekend:

Dealers may be your only option then, unless you want to walk around with 4K of cash in your pocket!

Best advice is to ask friends/colleagues who they have dealt with.

If you’re near solihull then this bloke seemed ok – he had a car at a good price, traded my old one in (which was a bit of a wreck) and payed by bank transfer there and then and drove home in the new one.

So far the car seems ok and in good nick (although I’ve only had it a week)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/jjvronline/m.html

ah yes that’s a point – i’m in Bristol!

how did the bank transfer thing work – did you do it from your phone and they checked in on the computer in the office or something?

Makes it easier really, see what’s local and suitable and pick the best one!

n then, unless you want to walk around with 4K of cash in your pocket!

£4K in 50’s is 9mm thick. Would fit inside a normal wallet.

I would go private for sure, much better deals to be had than from dealers at that sort of price range.

I may need to acquire one this weekend:

Borrow or hire a car and give yourself a week or so?

It would’ve been via internet banking but that wasn’t letting me in, so I ended up going to the local branch and doing a transfer (make sure you’ve got ID with you. Then he checked on his bank account to ensure it was there, by chance we had the same bank so it was instant, otherwise I might have had to go for a coffee for a hour or 2 while it transferred.

I recently brought a guy from http://www.justcomparecars.com/ great if you are in the midlands

real pleasure to business with, not pushy great selection of cars at below book prices. All ex dealer trade ins generally.

the v50 boot is tiny compared to an octavia fyi.

£4K in 50’s is 9mm thick

Good luck in getting that amount in £50’s on a Friday afternoon from one bank branch.

Good luck in getting that amount in £50’s on a Friday afternoon from one bank branch.

Also good luck getting someone to accept that much cash without putting it straight into a bank so they check the notes.

I think you should allow yourself some time (hire something tiny for a week) and search EBay / Autotrader et al for your price range with any major criteria. Buy private on condition and how you judge the owner. I’m with JY on it being a lottery and I’ve never had much joy in backup from garages after sales, might as well take the cheaper price.

So several links from websites and eBay are allowed but others aren’t?
WAINS 🙄

thanks for the tip – always handy to be reminded not to panic 😉

i’m sure the wife can blag a lift off someone for a week or so. Give us time to find something like this. Or just go and buy it:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/2008-volkswagen-passat-s-1.9-tdi-estate-black-new-mot/1148839580

Also good luck getting someone to accept that much cash without putting it straight into a bank so they check the notes

I’ve never had any problems before, and I’ve paid for a lot of cars and vans in cash.

The paranoid population of STW are far from typical of the actual outside world 🙂

Give us time to find something like this. Or just go and buy it:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/2008-volkswagen-passat-s-1.9-tdi-estate-black-new-mot/1148839580

That black passat is likely to need some money spending on it in the near future:

Advisory notice item(s)
nearside front Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)
rear discs worn
rear pads worn

It also has a history of issues at every MOT that would put me off. I’d be wanting to see receipts for work carried out i.e. shocks misting were advised on two recent MOTs but not anymore..were they replaced?

I take it you’re aware of this site:
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

£4k bought me a pug 206 estate with only 28k on it. 5 years cheap reliable running. Sold it fault free at 80k as i bought a van. Cash deposit, the rest Bank transfered in the ladies house. Could do it with an app now. Hpi check gets you a few days free insurance top get your affairs in order to.

that will give 3+ years of hassle free motoring

Not sure how you could guarantee that.

Not sure how you could guarantee that.

Buying Japanese petrol is about the closest you’ll get I reckon.

ooh – yes i had heard of that site but completely forgotten it. thanks!

then again when you’re in the market for something probably 8-10 years old, is it realistic to expect that one can find something completely mint? Or is something at least substantially better than this one viable? (for about 3 or 4K)

sorry for n00b questions….

rear discs worn
rear pads worn

In fairness, mine’s had these as advisories on the front for the past 50,000 miles, then miraculously disappeared this time.

My C-max is only worth £1500 and I’d not expect to be spending any serious money on it for the next 2-3 years. Depending on your attitude to risk you could spend 1/3 of your budget and accept you may end up buying 3 cars in 3 years, or you might get lucky.

It’s more of a gamble, but I’d look private – unfortunately however much a car costs a dealer will want it’s space on the forecourt to earn a certain amount, certainly a grand I’d say – you’ll be losing 33% to 25% up to a dealer at least.

Seat Exeo? They’re heroically under valued and have no known common faults – being that VAG had 4 goes at getting it right – it’s a an Audi B7 A4 with an ugly grill and better suspension. I’ve done 50k miles in mine and it’s exactly the same as when it was new.

is it realistic to expect that one can find something completely mint?

Completely mint, no but you should be able to find plenty of cars that don’t need money spending initially or need anything spending in the first year for that sort of money.

Or if you do go for it, make sure you use it as a bartering tool and be prepared to walk.

IME car dealerships and supermarkets take a few days to prepare a car – you cannot just drive away.

Private is the way to go, if it has to be this weekend.

As I said before, any way of doing without or hiring for a week?

you can hire a panda or similar for about £20/day if you need to.

As I said before, any way of doing without or hiring for a week?

yeah i think that’s the smartest way forward! 🙂

Can I be the first to ask why you’re buying?

Have a look at the leasing websites to see if you could spend 4k over the next 2-3 years on something brand new? Might be a bargain estate out there.

Of course, this route may not suit either.

(Yes, this assumes you’ll be in a position to spend another 4k in 2-3 years, which isn’t unlikely if you’re buying a 10 y/o car now).

Even paying (or using a bank-card) it’ll take a few days if you’re buying from a dealer – especially if it’s at the weekend.

Personally with that sort of cash I’d either buy from a dealer unless you know a fair bit about cars. Checking auotrader for cards local to me there are dealers selling stuff like a 2008 Peugeot 207 SW with 30K miles for £3.5K, or a 2008 Vectra diesel with 70K for the same money.

10 miles from the centre of Bristol:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201512149454242

Doesn’t seem to be a lot other than Peugots within a 25mile radius and between £3000 and £4300.

That’d be my number one call this weekend based on Ebay and AT listings.

I think from memory it’s an timing chain as well, so less worry than a cambelt.

My brother bought a Mitsubishi Spacewagon for £400, it looks like a absolute shed with dents everywhere and paint scuffed over large areas(was stored in a field where cows used it to scratch a itch).
It has been totally reliable for the last 18months and not had a penny spent on it, its done several cross channel journeys(as he lives in Jersey).
My point is buying a car is a lottery, you could easily spend several K and end up with a dog or strike lucky for a lot less.

Borrow or hire a car and give yourself a week or so?

This. I know I’m fussy (it usually takes me months to decide on what to get then find a good one) but I’d try to take the pressure off by either borrowing, hiring or spending as little as possible just to get you on the road.

The chances of finding the right car in good condition over a weekend is pretty slim and stressful – I’ve done it in the past and wouldn’t’ choose to do it again in a hurry!

^^ Rent a car for a week or two and take the pressure off. That should cost only a £100-200 at this time of year.

Rent a car over the weekend then go to the BCA Bridgewater auction centre on Monday and buy something from there.

Bought several cars at auction and all were OK, a couple absolute bargains.

If you buy the sale catalogue on the day for £2, it will even give you the Glasses guide price for the vehicle.

we were suddenly without a car about 18 months ago. Holiday coming up; failed MOT – disaster!

We did look at borrowing a friends car, ended up knowing which car we wanted (and which we didn’t), trawled dealers – mostly unhelpful – but ended going 100 miles away to collect a car from a nice dealer. Bit of a gamble but has been fine so far.. Trouble of having had the car for 12 years that we hadn’t really factored in the exit route! (ostrich time). Also only one car (or no car) really scuppers opportunity to look around for another!!

Evening. I was in a similar bind. Sold a expensive car way too quickly privately so I decided on either; Jazz, Berlingo or Avensis. All three very reliable and hard to go wrong if you cross reference MOT online with history.

What’s wrong with an Avensis? Taxi drivers love them, it always resell quickly and won’t go wrong. I bought/drove away same day.

@epicsteve –

Even paying (or using a bank-card) it’ll take a few days if you’re buying from a dealer – especially if it’s at the weekend.

I bought from a dealer, with a card – was well into 4 figures as well, and drove away within 30 mins. To be fair I had been in email and phone conversation with him previously and they had already taken a deposit.. Be sure to set up insurance cover note too, our insurers (NFU) were fab, were all primed to set up insurance and all it took was a call and the note was faxed through.

£4K in 50’s is 9mm thick

Would bank transfer be a 9mm automatic?

update

i ignored much of your helpful and kind advice, and also half the stuff i had said yesterday, and headed out this morning to look at some smallish estates i’d seen online like the 207 and the hyundai i30.

3 hours, one chat with the wife about whether we actually want an estate or just like the idea of it (usually it means we have to park a street or 2 away), and one test drive later, i was haggling a dealer down on a Mazda 3. (Japanese! Petrol! i used the MOT website checker!)

picking it up tomorrow.

before now both me and the wife have always just inherited bangers that family members were getting shot of – feels very weird to be spending more than £250 on a car. bit scary.

but thanks for all your help 🙂

PS

anyone want to buy a 52 plate Mondeo Estate that probably needs a new diesel fuel pump? 😉