Has anyone done this smoothly including a part exchange?
Just wondering how the process works as this is probably the way I’ll go with my next car. I’m more concerned about agreeing a deal and then the dealer being picky about the car I’m trading in.

Any tales of good or bad experiences appreciated.

This says it all…. no experience will be the same.

1st time, chopped in old banger, bought slightly newer old banger that went like stink. V5 came through as car previously written off. Dealer offered me £30 towards a vosa test and nothing else. Kept the car, loved it was my first quick motor. Had dealer been closer than 3 hours away I’d probably have taken the bombers round. Cost £1000. Gave it to a mate in the end so really lost nothing but could have been worse.

2nd time, found a motor I liked, rang round the group and got a garage miles from me to knock a grand off. Got a price for trade in but sold privately so after viewing got the train over, the dealer picked me up from the station all smooth and tidy. 3 years trouble free motoring. Charged me £200 for car mats but I’d save a grand (and bought a car that came with the original invoice for £21500 in the glove box for less than a third of that 18 months old so not too bothered.

3rd time, bought a bit more locally, was going to buy new but the car was delayed – found a higher spec vehicle for less money 6 months old and the dealer offered me £750 more than the dealer for the new car offered for my trade in. Which was £250 more than I had it advertised for and not sold it. Bit his arm off and all was smooth there.

As long as you don’t expect over bottom book for your car then don’t worry about them knocking it down, it’ll just be bottom book price unless you lie to them about condition. Assuming it’s not one they’ll resale it will just be banged out to auction anyway. You might get lucky and get more than you were expecting!

It’s not an E class Estate is it?

Or an mx5

Ha, no.

Travelling to buy a car you’re after often means your negotiating power is reduced in my experience. If you’ve travelled that far you’re obviously more interested than you let on.

Did this a few years ago. Bought an S60 Volvo from a dealer in Oldham (I was in North Wales) emailed pics of my PX and agreed a deal. Painless. Bought from a main dealer though.

I did – for an E class estate

Did it recently. Rang up and booked appointment to see car and drove from Cheshire to Teeside to check it out. Didn’t let on where I was based as we chatted then went back 4-5 days later to pick it up. Worth it as had several extras I really wanted over the more local ones and price was lower than more local ones too.

Not had a problem but fmsh, still in warranty so not too worried as can just take to local main dealer if an issue anyway.

Our last car was bought not from a dealer about 100 miles away – not a massive distance, but not exactly local.

If the car had been fine, then it would have been painless but we have had numerous issues with it and because of the distance from the dealer, taking it back to get it sorted has been a pain in the arse. I would probably try and source from a more local dealer in future.

Yeas ago I bought a M5 from a dealer 40 miles away, that became a regular journey with one fault after another. Couldn’t wait to get shot of that car.

Yeah, bought a pick up from a dealership 300 miles away. Agree price etc over the phone, they picked me up from the station, sorted the paperwork back at the dealership and was on my way in about 30 mins.

As someone said above, still under warranty so I can take any problems to my local dealer to resolve. I think I’d be more wary of doing the distance thing with a vehicle out of warranty.

Bought a VW Caddy from a dealer about an hour away. No massive dramas, but it just meant that little issues become a sizeable ball-ache. Always try to buy more locally now

Went to buy VW Golf from main dealer in Plymouth on way to in-laws in Cornwall. We’d not agreed a price. Arrived to find an invoice for full asking price and a car that was dented/scratched on every corner. After a short discussion, walked away.

Ended up buying an ex hire Citroen Xantia locally which was much better.

Ultimately the dealer has a price they are going to sell the car and one they are not.

Your PX is just a part of that equation.

OH recently bought a fairly new car and we traded a 250k car against it… but the conversation was more about doing a bit of research. The specific car had been sat on the forecourt for a few months (she wanted a specific weird combo that most people wouldn’t) so the conversation was more about how much they lost each month it didn’t sell.

We had a maximum price… and made it clear it was meet that including trade in or not. That said we did drive over and the car was on their forecourt but they didn’t actually check it

Dont waste any time cleaning your own car if you have struck a deal over the phone, cleaned and valeted my old car ready for the trade in cleaner than Id ever had it the salesman did not even leave the showroom to look at it , just asked for the keys.

My last 3 have been from a distance, one from Gibbonarms in York (I live in the west of Scotland), one from Fife – 2 hours away, and 3 weeks ago, a caddy from Blackburn (it’s soooo much cheaper buying vans from darn sarf than up here).

The trade in needn’t complicate things, unless the dealers are at it, document all issues and send photo’s of anything that could be brought up.

My mate bought an almost new Octavia VRS from a garage in Stevenage, met them at Manchester and saved nearly 3k on a similar car from a local garage, they didn’t even bother looking at his car, just swapped stuff and off they went.

we traded a 250k car against it

WTF was that??

Thanks all. The cars I’m looking at are less than a year old from main dealers. Haven’t bought from a dealer before so a little nervous about covering every aspect of the deal so there are no little surprises on collection.

No worries with manufacturer warranty then so I’d just send lots of honest pics and make it clear you’re travelling so will expect reimbursement for time and cost if they seek any last minute (unwarranted) changes. No problems here with a Toyota dealer in the Midlands and c£750 cheaper than local dealers.

I did a WTF too, but I think he meant 250k miles (or km perhaps), not £250k 😆

As a bit of a newbie to all this, how likely is it to expect a discount off the screen price as well as a reasonable part ex amount? Or does the part ex cancel out any other reductions?

Was really looking forward to buying my first nearly new car but now it’s come to it I’m not so sure lol.

Our last car was bought not from a dealer about 100 miles away – not a massive distance, but not exactly local.

If the car had been fine, then it would have been painless but we have had numerous issues with it and because of the distance from the dealer, taking it back to get it sorted has been a pain in the arse. I would probably try and source from a more local dealer in future.
+1.
Only from a distance if you’re buying new/ish in the manufacturer’s warranty period. Or something exotic. Which I see the OP is so generally OK.
The experience was bad enough for me (took a train there, had return ticket in my pocket, still bought a POS, dealer awful) that I now lease…

yep, I bought a 2yr old V6 Golf from a dealer in Nottingham (live in Cambridge) mainly as they were all £2-3k cheaper up north compared to the SE, where 2nd hand prices have a definite SE premium.

Two visits, first one to test drive car and agree trade in value (a whole £50 for a 200k mile 9 year old Corsa) and 2nd visit a week later to pick the car up and drop off bankers draft.

As a bit of a newbie to all this, how likely is it to expect a discount off the screen price as well as a reasonable part ex amount? Or does the part ex cancel out any other reductions?

It doesn’t cancel out but it will eat into…
there is an amount under which they won’t sell… that includes their gain/loss on any P-EX … but I found even that is negotiable.

End of the month and the sales guy wants to close …. and/or the car has been on their forecourt losing value… remember they want to sell as much as you want to buy… if not more but especially end of month/quarter .

Was really looking forward to buying my first nearly new car but now it’s come to it I’m not so sure lol.

Never really appealed to me (at least at the price)… OH was fixated by it… but I always prefer older but better model. Horses for courses …

If you want something fairly specific then you normally need to be prepared to travel.

Bought my last car from York, I live in Glasgow.

Did a bit of research on the garage selling it and they seemed to have good feedback wherever I looked.

Was pretty painless. We agreed a trade in figure over the phone that they would honour if my description was correct. The gave the car a quick once over and agreed and went to sort out the paperwork on the new car.

I’d be happy to do the same again