I cannot be arsed. I can't even be arsed really working out what i need in a car. I can't be arsed trawling through hundred. I definitely can't be arsed travelling to look at cars i'm not that arsed about.
If i could pay someone a fee and say. "Bring forth the best used car that will take a dog and some paddleboards, for X amount by the end of nxt week." I would throw them my money.
Van or a van with seats that's a 'car' on the V5. I spent a year looking at vehicles (on line) and ended up with a new(ish) Vivaro Life - can sleep in it (with add on bed in the boot), carries paddle boards, bike and people. Second camping trip this coming weekend with a paddleboard, and sleeping in it etc.
It's not an easy choice, but we were filling a car to the brim with just two of us going camping and doing bikes/water stuff.
If i could pay someone a fee and say. "Bring forth the best used car that will take a dog and some paddleboards, for X amount by the end of nxt week." I would throw them my money.
There are people that do this!
Someone on the neighbourhood WhatsApp group was recommending this guy the other week. In her words:
"You tell him your budget, style of car, and he finds the car, then drops it off. He also tests it, and negotiates for you. I think he takes a 10% cut of the sale price, but he buys at trade prices so it's not too expensive. P.s. I don't get commission 🤣 he's just been really great and helped us avoid buying a dud."
https://www.acceleratecars.co.uk/sourcing/
So take from that what you will! I have no experience with him or any other similar company.
Go to Motorpoint and pick one?
For ours the car is on a work lease and the van popped up at a garage down the road, just as I was getting bored of travelling to look at them.
I've used Cinch and the process was pretty good.
If i could pay someone a fee and say. "Bring forth the best used car that will take a dog and some paddleboards, for X amount by the end of nxt week." I would throw them my money.
So, basically you're looking for the non-bike equivalent of STW.
"What bike for........?"
Everyone recommends what they own.
Then go and buy something else completely.
I'd suggest a Transit Custom dual-cab 😀
My last one I had delivered. I still don't like the idea. But I wanted a very specific vehicle age and trim.....mainly because the low rent trims are horrendous places to be due to seats that resemble church pews. And I'll be damned if I was driving it back from Oxford.
The Berlingo was bought down in Edinburgh ex motability complete with disability badge in the glovebox. . At 3 years old/6500miles.
Looking at the market it's getting more and more impossible to buy a 3 year old car now. Even those almost always need to be rented on a. 3 year cycle outside of a Dacia. Due to the cost of even benign cars. Eg I saw a Kia on the forecourt as we drove past with 2ft high numbers on the side. £54995 all three of us in the car exclaimed "for a Kia" ......
I've used Cinch and the process was pretty good.
Same. If you're someone like me, for whom buying a car is like buying a washing machine, Cinch is great. Fair price, accurate description, delivered to the door, two week/ 250 mile no quibble returns policy. Absolutely the best way to buy a car.
Get a wife, they will choose the car for you, then you just have to check the mechanicals. Thats how I buy my cars anyway.
I bought our last one (bmw i3) from here
https://www.sandles.co.uk/
and its been fine. Though that might not be the best way to reccomend them since I've not had to test their warranty or after sales.
"You tell him your budget, style of car, and he finds the car, then drops it off.
When I was in my late teens my then girlfriends elder brother had a mental breakdown and ended up being sectioned so one of the things we'd do as a sort of date is go and visit him in a secure mental unit in the evenings.
One of the other residents there that we'd meet at visiting times was quite chatty but all his conversation seemed to exclusively revolve around what clothes you liked, what your measurements were , in terms of sizing for t-shirts, trousers etc, so I politely humoured him, played along and told him all that.
I few days later we visited again and he handed me a pair of jeans, some t-shirts and a jacket - all in my uncommonly lanky sizes.
He'd broken out out the mental hospital, shop lifted what he's taken to be 'my order' and then broken back in again so that he could gift them to me.
OP - have you thought about having a car stolen to order?
That is an amazing story! 😅
Did you accept the clothes?
OP my trusted local independent will do exactly what you describe if you're looking at c. 4 year old or newer.
They will go source at auction through their trade experience and mark it up a bit to a retail price for their profit/time.
They were looking for us until we stumbled on what we wanted idly flicking through Auto trader over a Saturday morning brew.
The STW standard issue Skoda Superb Estate would answer your needs admirably. 🙂
What I do is, I spend about 18 months obsessively combing ebay then I find the perfect car except with a single massive glaring issue, and also it'll be somewhere really inconvenient. Then I'll write that off as obviously a bad idea, for a week, then become obsessed and buy it.
For example, the really nice, really cheap subaru with the really nice mods and addons but also the obviously broken engine which "might just need a service" which I took a train to London and then a train to Portsmouth, just before christmas and the day before a train strike, so I could drive it back to Edinburgh with it making louder and more terrible noises, in the snow.
Works every time.
We liked the car we hired on a holiday, so the day after we got back I looked them up on auto trader, test drove one locally (because it was EV, which we wanted but i'd never driven, we had actually hired the ICE version) and then bought the one online that looked best, got it delivered a couple of days later. Simples.
What I do is, I spend about 18 months obsessively combing ebay then I find the perfect car except with a single massive glaring issue, and also it'll be somewhere really inconvenient.
This reminds me of finding a decent looking 2nd hand X1 M series online. I messaged the dealer about it and didn't hear back. Messaged again. Nothing. Eventually I call, by now getting quite keen on it, worked out how to get to the place to test drive it etc. Then had the most bizarre conversation with the dealer. "Oh, that one. No, I wouldn't really recommend it. It's got a dent." He basically told me to go somewhere else.
The last one I bought I got from Cinch - knew what we wanted (500e, about 2 years old, mileage relatively unimportant, what have they got) That looks the best - press Buy and job done, delivered 10 days later.
FWIW - did the opposite with the PX too - Cinch didn't offer a good price so did the WBAC and Motorway thing, got a good offer from M'Way, dealer was a bit crap on comms for collection but otherwise turned up when they said, didn't haggle on price at all, drove away and cash in my bank later the same day (would have been instant but the accounts person was on lunchbreak - I was mildly dubious but as I had all their details and the driver had a letterheaded collection slip I was prepared to 'take a risk') I did have to have my own £2500 for the deposit on the new one this way, which then came mainly back a few days later in positive equity of the M'way sale against the PCP settlement (bought new one before old one was collected)
The one before Cinch didn't have quite the right thing so put in an Autotrader alert - anything of this or this, three years, less than 30k miles, under £x and within 50 miles of me - set your limits a bit higher than desired so you can see what you're missing out on too. I'd regularly get an email alert to click through to see as new stuff got added (incl Cinch by the way) until a week or two later one popped up at an Indy dealer 10 miles from me. Saw it the next day, put a deposit on it, was driving it 5 days later. PX on this was easy - dealer said I'll give you X against it, I said make it Y so cost of new car is Z, he said OK and we shook hands. But that was owned outright by me already so no finance stuff.
The last one I bought I got from Cinch - knew what we wanted (500e, about 2 years old, mileage relatively unimportant, what have they got) That looks the best - press Buy and job done, delivered 10 days later.
This is where i'm at. cinch os looking hella ideal for me. I can't get my head round how "not kicking the tyres" and just buying unseen is a good idea though.
I mean i think its a great idea but it feels wrong.
Agree with Op, modern cars are all getting a bit bland and dull to drive
Must admit I thought the thread was going to be about how expensive new cars are these days
If i could pay someone a fee and say. "Bring forth the best used car that will take a dog and some paddleboards, for X amount by the end of nxt week." I would throw them my money.
So, basically you're looking for the non-bike equivalent of STW.
Surely the STW verdict for this brief (or any brief really) would be a choice of the following, according to size:
- Skoda Octavia (probably estate)
- Berlingo
- Transit Custom (or Transporter if you're minted)
Reading advice about cars and car buying here, is just as frustrating as reading about cyclists on pistonheads 🤣
There are a small number of us who sit in the middle of that venn diagram and I think we usually stay out of the argument on both sides!
Work out roughly what you want, whether that's through logic, gut instinct, or just liking the look of it, then go and find the closest you can at MotorPoint.
Go to Motorpoint and pick one?
That's what we do - go to Motorpoint, have a poke around everything we like the look of, wait forever for a salesperson to sort a test drive, give up, walk out, stop at the main dealer on the way home and buy from them.
Last 2 cars i bought a paid a car finder company to research and deliver my exact model. Cost £500 was well worth it.
pretty sure, what youre describing is what was traditionally known as, "a shop"
As you havent given a budget, you could go to any Main Stealer, or better, private second hand garage, and walk out with a car. easy.
If youre looking to maximise your return and minimise your risk then thats different.
Ive always, chosen the car or cars i want first. Look at size, shape, engine etc. perhaps a bit of research into that model and whether they are any good in general. get a short list of 2 or 3 models.
then chuck it into auto trader and facebook market place, pay your money, take your chance.
Agree with Op, modern cars are all getting a bit bland and dull to drive
I've driven a fair number of different cars via cycle race sponsorship. Race promoter goes to some local dealer who provide cars for the Commissaires during the race. Very few of the cars I've driven actually stand out.
Had a BMW convertible during the World Champs in Glasgow, that stood out for being terrible and was replaced rapidly by a Volvo XC90 which was brilliant but I'd never own just due to it being an ostentatious SUV thing, totally unsuited to driving around a town.
Most of the rest of the cars have just been bland boxy things with a multitude of annoying sensors and lane assist stuff, all of which needs turning off every time you start the engine.
All that said, my ageing estate isn't going to last much longer and I've been in the same situation as the OP - I cannot be arsed to do anything about it although thankfully I have an excellent local garage so anything I'm interested in, I'll run it past them and they'll tell me everything that goes wrong with that model! 🤣
cinch os looking hella ideal for me. I can't get my head round how "not kicking the tyres" and just buying unseen is a good idea though.
2 Weeks 250 miles to try it, better than 20 mins test at the dealer
"You tell him your budget, style of car, and he finds the car, then drops it off.
When I was in my late teens my then girlfriends elder brother had a mental breakdown and ended up being sectioned so one of the things we'd do as a sort of date is go and visit him in a secure mental unit in the evenings.
One of the other residents there that we'd meet at visiting times was quite chatty but all his conversation seemed to exclusively revolve around what clothes you liked, what your measurements were , in terms of sizing for t-shirts, trousers etc, so I politely humoured him, played along and told him all that.
I few days later we visited again and he handed me a pair of jeans, some t-shirts and a jacket - all in my uncommonly lanky sizes.
He'd broken out out the mental hospital, shop lifted what he's taken to be 'my order' and then broken back in again so that he could gift them to me.
OP - have you thought about having a car stolen to order?
Not what I was expecting to read on a car buying thread...
I love buying cars. I browse Autotrader even when I have no intention of buying a car.
Just to add: PistonHeads are quite good for this sort of thing - don't forget to add you're a cyclist.
"You tell him your budget, style of car, and he finds the car, then drops it off.
When I was in my late teens my then girlfriends elder brother had a mental breakdown and ended up being sectioned so one of the things we'd do as a sort of date is go and visit him in a secure mental unit in the evenings.
One of the other residents there that we'd meet at visiting times was quite chatty but all his conversation seemed to exclusively revolve around what clothes you liked, what your measurements were , in terms of sizing for t-shirts, trousers etc, so I politely humoured him, played along and told him all that.
I few days later we visited again and he handed me a pair of jeans, some t-shirts and a jacket - all in my uncommonly lanky sizes.
He'd broken out out the mental hospital, shop lifted what he's taken to be 'my order' and then broken back in again so that he could gift them to me.
OP - have you thought about having a car stolen to order?
That's brilliant on so many levels 👏
Going back 20-25 years ago when second hand automatics where less common, we went to a big local second hand dealers to look at one but it had been sold by the time we got there. The "salesman" confidentially said they'd be able to source a similar one very quickly. We both came out convinced that the way he'd said "sourced" left us in no doubt he meant "stolen to order". Very odd.
Work colleagues and friends sell me their financially written off cars for effectively scrap value and I tinker them and keep them running for years after.
On the few occasions I have bought cars from a dealership/used car company I've dismissed many on autotrader beforehand for having ditch finder tyres / crap MOT history, having narrowed it down I've usually dismissed a few on viewing, the unicorn cars that I've bought have been good honest well looked after cars that have served us well for many years. It takes time and patience to find older, good used genuine cars.
Autotrader is good for getting an idea.
As mentioned above, I spent a long time looking at various vehicles on line, and decided on a specific spec, engine and auto transmission - so rocking horse poo. I just kept looking then added some to a watch list that were within travelling distance - most of the ones I wanted were in the South. Found one that was as close as I could get to my original spec, in the right colour, but manual, and kept an eye on it whilst I had some cash released, but it went for sale before I could go and view it.
At the same time, the exact spec vehicle turned up at a dealers, just 30 miles away. Right size, right interior, right engine, but not quite the right colour. Went to see it and bought it there and then. Dealer network locally, so servicing can be done within 10 miles from home - bought an extended service pack.
The hardest bit is deciding what you want ! I don't regret going from a large saloon car to a van. Bonus is the van is much more powerful and far easier to drive. It's a nice place to sit for hours.
I decided what make/model/spec I preferred, browsed the national main dealer (Toyota) second-hand list for a couple of weeks, and made a shortish list in Excel. Keeping all the details of 8 or 10 possible cars in my head was never going to work. The very same cars were all on Autotrader too. Then I ranked them into a sort of order based on mileage and price, and ended up getting one from a Toyota dealer about 150 miles away. Not necessarily the most 'convenient' or cheap for that matter, but it's 18 months old with 7000 miles, and was about 70% of the price of a brand new one
"You tell him your budget, style of car, and he finds the car, then drops it off. He also tests it, and negotiates for you. I think he takes a 10% cut of the sale price, but he buys at trade prices so it's not too expensive. P.s. I don't get commission 🤣 he's just been really great and helped us avoid buying a dud."
Surely what they've just described is a car dealer?
Walk in, "I would like a ......." they show you a few options that they've supposedly checked over and will give some sort of warranty to and you walk out having paid ~10% above the trade price.
You've got me looking at car buying services now and wondering if that's what I need.
I'm trying to find a Ford Galaxy of a specific trim and age for less than £12k. But being in East Yorkshire there's not much around and you're very quickly on your way over towards Bradford and Manchester to look at something that's a complete waste of a day. If for £400 someone is going to do all the searching and filtering out the rubbish, negotiating a price and basically sorting everything for me then that sounds very tempting.
I know it's like sacrificing my masculinity and I should be going kicking tyres and haggling with dealers but I really just want someone to bring me the car I want without the hassle. Is anyone brave enough to out themselves on here and admit to using such a service? Did it work out for you?
I know it's like sacrificing my masculinity and I should be going kicking tyres and haggling with dealers but I really just want someone to bring me the car I want without the hassle.
I wouldn't know the first thing to look for - and on a modern car there's not a right lot you can actually look at anyway! Rapidly coming to the conclusion (especially from following this thread, thanks all!) that I'm going to have to rely on Cinch (much as I can't stand that Rylan guy on their adverts) or an Approved Used dealer.
I've had a couple of cheapo cars in the past (back when I was a poor graduate) and I'm not putting up with the extra hassle and maintenance costs anymore.
Just go to a car supermarket and tell them what you told us.
modern cars are all getting a bit bland and dull to drive
Don't be silly. Every day practical cars are bland and dull, but they always have been - unless by 'exciting' you mean 'shit handling'. Hot hatches and sports cars still exist.
Walk 200yrds up the road when the scrap man in the village sticks anything with a MOT and a bit of life left in it up for sale.
I'm currently in a 08 Astra hatch which has done 8000 miles for me and no issues on MOT a month ago, £600. Last week there was a 206 estate for 695. Couple of months back a nice volvo with leather for £1500.
I can go ask....
last time i tried that at three dealers on the way to edinburgh with a vague request "what berlingo/partners have you got access too"
they then went on to try and sell me what they had there which lasted about 30 seconds before id stop them and say - specifically i am looking for a berlingo or a partner those are the only vehicles i want - oh we dont have any of those , - ok thanks then we wont waste any more of your time.
at least i knew there was one at edinburgh.
Surely what they've just described is a car dealer?
Yes, but without having to have stock or premises by having a guaranteed buyer they should be a good bit cheaper...
Went to Available Car (Donnington in my case).
Walked around, tried the dog cage in a few.cars boots to suss out what worked, went and bought it.
No haggling, no BS, just got it. 20 mins to sort paperwork. They have a return policy if it's crap when you drive it away (or can do a test drive if you want first. I didn't. 19k miles at rhe time, if it's bad then it would have been returned.
Went to Available Car (Donnington in my case).
I bought my last car from Available Car.
They were great, but I knew the specific car I was going for.
But if I were in a 'what shall I have next' frame of mind I'd certainly have a saunter around their stock in the future.
How does returning a car with Cinch work? I get that they'll come and collect it but what about insurance that you've just changed over? Sending V5's back? I'm guessing any car you've part exchanged is long gone so you're left without a car?
