Buying a new car

[kitty1950]

We are looking at buying a brand new car, has anyone any tips on how to get the best deal and what to look for, also what questions to ask on discounts etc. We could pay cash or do a 0% finance deal. Neither of us are any good at haggling. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks, Kath.

[ChuckFickens]

The best deals on brand new cars are to be had by not buying one.

Get one that's 6 months/1year old and let somebody else pay for the worst of the depreciation.

[kitty1950]

Thanks Chuck, good answer, we are open to buying a nearly new model it all depends on the trade in for our old car which is a Dhaihatsu Terios+ 1998 R reg.

[buildersmate]

Deals are obtained by ensuring the dealers know there is a competition for your business.
Unfortunately this generally means taking the trade-in out of the equation and selling the old car privately separately later.
The way I do it (and I did want a brand new car) was to phone about 6 main dealers within 100 miles of where I live, explained the scenario, explained exactly what I wanted (the options and colour), explained the financing (cash) and ask for the best price. All were happy to work like this over the phone; most of them wanted to ring me back for the price (some gave it immediately), and did so within a short time with a price and terms (mostly £250 to secure the car paid by debit card) and the rest on pick-up of the car.
The prices varied from £14.6k up to £15.4k. The car was a VW Golf.
Whether or not you can use this technique will depend on the 'commonness' of the specific model you want - dealers have an arrangement where they locate a specific model / options from within a 'pool' - ours was transferred from yet another dealer.

[kitty1950]

Thanks buildersmate, I don't think it would work for us doing it that way as we don't really know what car we want, all we know is it needs to have room in the back for a folded wheelchair, which I need to use occasionally. We can afford to wait and look around for a bit as we have 8 months tax and 9 months MOT but part exchange is a big part of the deal as we wouldn't get a great deal for ours privately.

[kitty1950]

By the way we are hoping to get something around the £10,000 mark. Kath

[redcrx]

i think you need for find a car that you like, or an idea first.

plus some companies will still offer their variation of the scrappage scheme (the government one has finished)

why not spend a day going to you nearest large town/city and calling in all the main dealers and just looking at what cars are out there.

[kitty1950]

Cheers redcrx, that looks about the best bet at the moment.

[R1Geezer]

my main advice is DON'T! wait a year and buy whatever it is at auction for less than half price. Or pay the ame and get a magnificent car instead of a hank of overpriced brand new junk, what's the budget?

[R1Geezer]

and what are you thinking of buying?

[Count-A-Strong]

we've just bought an 8 month old Renalt Megane (new shape, incidentaly) for Mrs Strong which had done about 5400 miles. The list price was 17,200 and we've paid about 12,500 (OK so we'll pay more with interest on the loan but most people use some sort of finance).

[gingejbee]

I'd buy the latest copy of What Car? (or borrow from library) - full of info. for buying new or nearly new cars including target prices , financing, latest deals and offers; useful to have with you in showroom - shows you mean business!

[Andyvon]

What would you say if someone suggested this as an investment opportunity Kitty? You have money you wish to invest so you could invest it in shares, ISAs, property, gold, or maybe simply put the money in a high interest account. Whatever you choose, you can reasonably expect your investment to increase over time.

Now, consider what new car dealers suggest you do with your money. Buy a product from them for £10,000 or more, the moment you drive the product away you've lost thousands of pounds, and then you continue to lose money on the deal every day the car sits in your drive - without you even driving it! Eventually, your £10,000 product is worth just £200 - by which time the dealers want you to go back to lose money all over again! Brilliant!

Surely, isn't buying a new car madness? True, there are lottery winners and some people around who have so much money they can throw it away without caring. But that's crass and are you in that fortunate group Kitty?

Surely it makes sense to buy a decent used car, maybe 2 or 3 years old. If you have £10,000 then what about a fully restored classic from the 60s,70s or 80s. There are many classic dealers around and a Volvo or Mercedes estate would be ideal for the wheelchair. Classics are reliable, cheap to run and maintain and will generally hold their value. They also have bags of character, unlike these non-descript, computer-generated Euroboxes and Asian tin with such ridiculous names - Meriva, Kia, C'eed etc. Where did they get those from?

Good luck.