What's the quickest and cheapest way to get a new car?

[musicmum75]

I have had my car for over 20 years but today it went for its MOT and it's a write off! My dad gave me that car so I have never actually bought one so not really sure what to do next.

Obviously I now need a new one asap but have never gone through this before. What's the quickest but also cheapest way to get a new car? By new I mean new to me. Happy with second hand. I can't afford to buy out-right so would have to finance it.

Depends on ur budget. Decide on ur budget . Don't buy brand new. Go for pre registered. The garage register it to them. This means they pass on the savings to u. I just bought a car that had 11 miles on the clock- practically brand new. It basically, but even basic cars have quite a few features. I was not planning on new.

Also many dealers will try and match anything you see, e.g you see a pre registered i10 on a comparison site for a particular price 200 miles away, u show your local dealer- they will often try and match it. They want ur business

I changed from a Ford Fiesta to a Hyundai i10. It smaller and automatic. Suits me.

My local garage has a website with all their available cars. I found one I liked, took it out for a drive around, they took mine in PX and I had it all done in about an hour.

My advice would be to sort your finance first and quickly. Then once you have the money you are ready to buy immediately. Do NOT pay the asking price!! Haggle with them, let them think you're not that sure etc.
If you've got absolutely no idea how much money you'll need then you need to do some homework first - you must have a general budget in mind? If your max is say £20k then look on autotrader for Yaris Hybrids and filter out the things you want/don't want and then you'll see what you can get for within your budget.
Good luck!

These days unfortunately second hand cars are in high demand and there is little profit for dealers. New cars you’re better placed to bargain.

they are usually priced to shift and there is little to no wiggle room. Obviously ask, and try things like free servicing, extended warranty etc if they won’t budge on price.

but I would be prepared to pay full price if you want that car. The garage I went to said small second hand cars normally sell in days so they are fine turning people away.

Yes, I didn't get far with haggling this time, I did haggle in a full set of replacement tyres and an MOT (prev had about 4 months left) but that was as far as I got. Always worth a try though especially if you can show the same model on for less elsewhere.

Thank you all. Your advice has been so helpful. I have asked Chat GPT which has advised me to look at the Hyundai i10 so will have a look at that.

You could also try a car supermarket like Motorpoint if there’s one near you. I’ve found them consistently cheapest when I’ve looked to buy, you can test drive as many cars as you like and on my last car the price dropped between me reserving the car and collecting it and they passed the lower price on to me. They have pre-reg and second hand so you can choose what suits your budget.