Car Supermarkets

[GeordiePengy]

Has anyone bought a car from a car supermarket? Would they recommend it over buying from a main car dealer? What was the after-sales service like?

[zipadeedodah]

A friend of mine bought a car from a car supermarket - and to be honest, has had no end of problems. He seemed to be having to take it back every month or two with something else that had gone wrong. The staff there didn't seem very interested at all.

Saying that, it's like anywhere - many people will buy good cars from a car supermarket and have no problems. From what I've seen though, I, personally, wouldn't buy from one.

[sigma]

If I recall, a car supermarket was featured on a consumer programme and didn't fair well at all. The prospective customer even had to pay for a test drive.

[bazmoore]

i bought a new volvo online from trade sales who advertise in the express on a saturday.
i saved a whopping �6000 on the main dealer price and had no problems whatsoever and would definitely do it again.
the car was supplied with a full 3 yr volvo warranty which i had no problem getting attention from my local volvo dealership with the airbag problem that raised its head after 18 months.
baz

[thundercrack]

car supermarkets are much cheaper than main dealers, but you get what you pay for. I just bought a car from a supermarket and saved about a �1000 on a �7000 car. I was given a three month warranty( which is useless, as the policy only covers bits that actually break, not worn with age) and a free 3 months a.a. membership. the only pitfall was that the service book was stamped" basic service only"
so, not much done there then! but I saved money, so one outweighs the other, and you can wander about looking at loads of cars with no salesman pressure, (unlike most main dealers.) I know which I prefer.

[Panic Button]

Like Baz I bought from Trade Sales. Fantastic price.
Car superb.
No smarmy salesman or free cup of coffee.
You can see how they keep prices down, and I don't know what they are like if there is a problem, but I was well happy with my purchase.

[Josyjo]

Luck of the draw, I'm afraid. I work for a main dealer, and would say the aftersales care is generally better from us than a car supermarket - but you don't always need aftersales care. Depends whether or not you have any problems with your new car.... And not all main dealers are all that hot on the aftersales, either. Make sure you testdrive the car you want to buy, and check the service history if it is a used model. Try to get something that is still under its MANUFACTURERS' warranty - usually under 3 years.