My wife is looking at spending her savings on a used car.
Since it’s about the same price as what I have “invested” in bikes, skis and motorcycles, I’m not gonna say anything, but if anyone wants to pass on tips for dealing with car salemen I’m all ears.
So far all I got is don’t finance at the dealership, deal with the bank and save a few points.
Anything else?

Buy private.
Pay for an inspection if you must, but car dealers make money by selling you a car from someone else with a massive wedge on top.

Negotiate the best deal on the purchase price that you can with the dealer believing you will be taking finance. Take the finance, go home and then pay the finance off in one go over the phone. Dealers make money on finance so you have a better chance of getting a deal if they think they will get commission.

Be prepared to walk away, there are loads of cars for sale

Regarding buying private, having been looking at a car for my girlfriend the last few weeks there doesn’t appear to be nearly as many private sales as there used to be. Your choice might be limited , more so as with more expensive cars

Regarding buying private, having been looking at a car for my girlfriend the last few weeks there doesn’t appear to be nearly as many private sales as there used to be. Your choice might be limited , more so as with more expensive cars

‘Be prepared to walk away, there are loads of cars for sale’

Rule #1

I agree with JGG. I said I would never buy from a dealer but the car we wanted just didn’t come up in a private sale.

Get a red one. No, a green one.

Don’t ask the wrong questions at the wrong time. If you ask about free mats before you ask for a discount then the salesman knows he/she has you.

Your first offer is always your best one, it only gets worse after that so pitch low and don’t worry about offending anyone.

Be prepared to walk away

My experience was similar to jgg too. Not many private sales these days. Maybe people part ex when they get an expensive problem.

I did manage to find a private sale but I was pretty flexible on what the car was, so long as it was in mechanically good condition

I reckon that would be good advice for a dealer too. DO NOT really on the awful Auto Protect or similar warranty either (oe warranty good tho) . That’s mainly for the dealers benefit as they just point you to that when there’s a problem. I’d happily pay a bit over the odds for a car in good condition given the cost of some repairs these days.

Auctions are an option too, a lot of good quality stuff goes through them

The extended warranties are usually worth naff all.
Read over it.

Example. Bought a 37 month old Fiesta ST from Evans halshaw in 2009. 36k and it drank a litre of oil every 1000 miles from the get go. Wasn’t covered by the £200 warranty.

Same car; quickclear windscreen only half worked from day one. Didn’t have any ice or mist to test it with a Evans halshaw. Next morning it was broken. Not covered.

Sharks.

Also avoid things like paint protection. £200 for some shampoo.

Pick fault with everything.

Delt with a few in the last few years. They seem to be waiting for someone to walk up and pay screen prices with little / no haggling. Some were offensive when trying to discuss anything from discounts to faults with the cars.
The cars probably haven’t been serviced or looked at. A lot of them Inc the main dealership ones will paint up a damaged car. Trying to find an honest car around me (Huddersfield) is like trying to find a virgin in Newcastle.

Private sales – no matter what the seller might tell you most people seem to sell cars either because there is something wrong with it or there is a big bill coming up. You have no come back in a private sale.
You might pay more through a dealer but at least you have an element of protection.

+1 Rockhopper

I’ve bought dozens of cars over the years and there is only one guarantee, cars cost money – just some cost more and some cost less…

It really depends on how much you are spending, how new you want the car and where you live.

Our last few cars have all been new (or nearly new) and here the dealer has access to far lower rates of finance than me and you can get hold of – current two cars interest rate doesn’t add up to 1%.

Back to the OP. Is your wife just after transport, or something else?

If transport then just go buy a new Kia/Hyundai/etc in whatever size/colour she wants and get the 7 year warranty. Job done.

If something else, there’s more of a premium – and premium costs.

Bangernomics was my speciality for many years. Private sales have become less attractive since the growth of webuyanycar etc. Look at the dealer ads in autotrader online and sort out a bank loan first.

Auctions are an option too, a lot of good quality stuff goes through them

I hadn’t been to auctions for years. We used to go quite a lot about 15 years ago. Boy have they changed. So much faster. Our local has 5 lanes running simultaneously. Probably 30 seconds for each sale so one car every 6 seconds and they only open up and start the cars a couple of minutes before the sale. You’ve got to know what you are looking at. Also the fees for private buyers are very high so not a level playing field when bidding against dealers. Still some good deals but you need your wits about you.

Lease instead. It’s not an investment, you will be chucking your money away anyway, so why not crooze around in something brand spanking new?

Depends on budget in some respects when looking at dealer versus private. Also as above many cars advertised privately are snapped up by dealers and then readvertised at higher prices. I have never had particularly successful experiences buying from dealers, they are skilled at hiding stuff and a long list of add ons once you think you have agreed a price. I have had better joy getting discounts on new cars. Parents/friends have used the big “car supermarkets” with success as there is usually a decent choice for each model and there is no negotiation so everyone gets the same “non deal”

If looking privately don’t ignore gumtree, ebay etc as these are good sources now. The days of AutoTrader dominance seem a distant memory

If you need any advice or are after a particular car send me a message and I’ll see what i can do to help. I’m the sales manager at a manufacturer retail center so I’d hope I can give you some pointers.

Just been through this. We initially wanted a VW Golf, 1-2 years old. The local VW dealer was rubbish and offered us a poor deal.
Went down the road to the Honda dealer as they had a nice Civic Tourer for sale (64plate) but when speaking to the salesman he advised they had an offer on a new but pre-reg Civic hatch. Turned out to be a better deal to buy brand new (but pre-reg) then 2nd hand.
It may be worth waiting until march when the registrations are due to change as the dealers may be wanting to shift more stock.

My Dad was over at BCA Blackbush a couple of weeks ago, he said prices were not far off retail. I don’t know who’s buying there. I’m really not sure I’d bother with auctions nowadays.

The couple of dealers I’ve visited recently both lost interest in talking to me when it became clear I wasn’t buying that precise car, right now. They had no interest in discussing budget or alternative cars.

The only good dealer experience I’ve had was buying from a specialist that also does servicing for the marque. Genuinely knowledgable and enthusiastic, they’d serviced the car for the last four years for the previous owner and knew it well. Only relevant for more interesting cars I guess, less so if you’re just after a shopping hatchback !

In my opinion, you shouldn’t ever buy anything you can’t afford, ie no FINANCE!

How much money has she got to spend without any extra external capital?

I have been a salesman, sales manager, business manager in a dealership. Still in the industry now but from a different aspect. Rather not share exactly who I work with directly but always happy to help a singletrack forum member with industry tips.

The truth is nowadays margins are very poor for dealerships both new and used cars. The auction market is very busy and prices currently are at their seasonal high NickJb I am guessing you were at Manheim Colchester which is 4 lanes and europes largest car auction.

The retail car market has changed massively over the
Last few years and is set to change further. Very few bad cars or proper franchised dealer groups so pick a car and set your budget, don’t expect massive discounts anymore as if you are getting one the likelihood is the car was overpriced in the first place!

Man I love this forum; so much good advice. Full disclosure, wife and I are living in Canada and she’s after an x-Drive BMW X3. We have two rear-wheel drive cars and neither could make it out the driveway last snowstorm. Our budget is about $30K Canadian (£18,000) which we can do without financing.

PapaWheelie my work colleague has a later Xdrive X3 with the on demand 4wd. It’s a great car 8speed auto box. The tyres will probably be summer tyres Pirelli Cinturatos over here. Budget for some decent all weathers. They will be runflats probably on a BMW.

In my opinion, you shouldn’t ever buy anything you can’t afford, ie no FINANCE!

How much money has she got to spend without any extra external capital?

tbh with our last car we had the cash to pay but took the finance and kept the money in the bank, same rate of interest but this way we’ve the cash if we need it.

If you like the look of the silver Mondeo, go in asking if they have a red Mazda 6, when they say no, start to leave and then wait for them to offer you the Mondeo

as above take the finance we had the cash but they gave mrs tts 15k interest free over 3 years.. as she keeps her cars till they fall apart it was a no brainer.. shes only had three cars in her life all bought brand new and driven till they dropped.. first two lasted 26 years between them latest is about 3 years old.. she drives them like dodgems!

If looking new, fill in carwow and see what dealers offer you. I bought one of the last old shape XC90’s for 12k off list price a couple if years back, offered from Ryebrook in Warrington via carwow. They seemed to get 2-3k off most other models I looked at too.

Go look at a Mitsubishi Outlander. Either previous he 2010-2013 Outlander xls or the newer shape GT. Cracking drivetrain in the s-awc version and the balance of a 10yr powertrain warranty.
It’s as close to being an SUV without being an SUV.
Also, check Autotrader.ca for the same cars out of Alberta (1000km radius) If you’re in the BC interior its worth a weekend in Calgary or Edmonton to buy. Alberta’s economy is still hurting enough that the used car market is well below BC.
Do your research on Canadian blackbook and VMR so you know what your target should be ballpark.

i used carwow. best deal was from the car people in wakefield.
the same model of car private and on autotrader was coming out at the same price, with 3 x the mileage. mine is a ex modability.

if troubles arise, dealing with a car company is far easier than dealing with a private sale individual.

oh, and i used finance……why take your own money out of the bank, when you can use theirs?
but, this is my only debt nowadays, apart from weekly food and such.

Lease instead. It’s not an investment, you will be chucking your money away anyway, so why not crooze around in something brand spanking new?

This.

Go look at a Mitsubishi Outlander. Either previous he 2010-2013 Outlander xls or the newer shape GT. Cracking drivetrain in the s-awc version and the balance of a 10yr powertrain warranty.
It’s as close to being an SUV without being an SUV.
Also, check Autotrader.ca for the same cars out of Alberta (1000km radius) If you’re in the BC interior its worth a weekend in Calgary or Edmonton to buy. Alberta’s economy is still hurting enough that the used car market is well below BC.
Do your research on Canadian blackbook and VMR so you know what your target should be ballpark.

To add..
Car proof should be readily available from any dealer. If its not. Walk. Dealers don’t have to declare damage over a certain amount (5k combined iirc) but any damage is a negotiating point and always worth an inspection. 1k on a fender could still have been a sh*tty repair behind the paint.
Alberta cars have all their service history recorded on the car proof. BC wise, they don’t (only recalls or insurance renewal mileage) and unless the garage has done the servicing from new, you’ll get nothing…unless the prior owner requests it from their garage or, you can persuade a garage to pull records and delete the personal info.
Fun sleuth story. 5yrs back I had a 2008 Mazda5 lined up, self inspection looked mostly good aside from water in the spare wheel well that was from the “detail pressure wash” anyway, I dropped a refundable deposit on it subject to satisfactory 3rd party inspection. No service history but I tracked down the car using the VIN to a kia garage. Did a bunch of chasing up to find the previous owner and ended up finding out that the owner was in a civil suit against the kia garage as it had an unresolveable oil consumption issue and they had bought it back below her purchase price fenced it off to auction before being bought by the dealer who I was looking to buy from.
My deposit refunded – bullet dodged.
Anyway, moral is, use the tools available to you to find out what you need to before you sign on the dotted line.
Walk away from rebuilt cars. If you need to use a dealer, use a main dealer as they will only be dealing with verifible cars. A relatively new car at a ‘family’ run independent dealership almost certainly has some kind of oddity in its past.
Bear in mind also that Craigslist has served to drive up private sale ‘values’. People see what dealers are asking and ask a little bit less. It used to be that in BC private sales were 5% tax, dealer 12%. Level taxes now at 12%.
BC dealers can charge you additional documentation fees. Like to add global warranty, paint protection, nitrogen etc. It wouldn’t be surprising to see their additional fee on a premium car add almost $1000 to the sticker. They do this after negotiation also.. so ensure you specifically include their doc fees in your offer.
your best bet for a deal? Possibly an in-and-out deal on a 36/48mo lease return direct from BMW. But there will be no saftey inspection, you’ll be buying as is.

Not all car salemen are cocks and if you are fair and reasonable so will they be … if you are after a specific car and you see it then just buy it …. don’t lose a great car to save a few quid because you will have the car you want and you can get on with your life …. do get the best high street finance rate though

Don’t make the mistake we made when buying the wifes motor, which was telling the salesman we’d driven 3.5 hours from the highlands to see it.

Sold to the man with a big mouth for ticket price.

Just out of interest, for the industry insiders, How many deals are secured with finance as opposed to a cash sale?

*looks at large old glass whisky bottle full of pennies*