To ask how not to get screwed over while car shopping.

[forfuckssakenet]

Need to buy a car . Can't be bothered with it, not good at it and have little patience for salesperson chat.

Not even sure the best way to go financially? Hire purchase? Pcp? Bank loan? Not in a position to purchase outright do would have to be one of these options.

I really want to get a good deal (or st the very least not get conned) and I need your help to achieve this!

Any tips? Also any car recommendations would be much appreciated!

I lease my car. Peugeot do a just add fuel or a passport plan. I prefer this option and get a brand new car every two years. Some hate it and see it as a waste of money.

Personally I think bank loan is a good way. You can shop around for the best loan deal, and then shop around for the best deal on your car as well.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-finance/

Bank loan imo.

Then you have the cash to buy, which usually gets you a better deal. You have to remember the most car sales people get a better bonus if thru gey a higher price for the cars. So its in your interest to haggle.

I always find the last week of the month is better for buy cars. Again sales people usually have a monthly quota to fill and their bonus will depend on how many cars they sell (as well as what they sell them for). Many will want to just make sure they fill their quota. We have always had the best deals near the end of the month

I do really low mileage so I get a bank loan over 3 years but run the car for 5 years. That way I own the car outright at the end of it and have 2 years without any loan payment. What I was paying on loan payments I save.

I'm in much the same position as you & definitely already fed up of it! I was going to ask a similar question, but might just join you on your thread if that's ok?!

I'm hiring a car at the moment (after my car died) and it's getting costly as it's dragging on. That, & the school holidays looming, I just need it sorted.

I need something reliable, I want something 'different' & I don't want to spend a fortune.

I'm looking for a petrol, automatic, but they're like hens teeth in used cars.

I like the Citroen C4 Cactus (the one with the rubber on the sides. They're a bit marmite I know, but I like them). However, there aren't many petrol, automatic, used ones around (that aren't black or silver).

I like the Nissan Qashqui, but it's apparently heavy on the fuel?!

I'd love an Audi A4 convertible, but several places I need to park make this decision unwise. Plus I really need a 5 door.

I like the Audi Q5, but don't want to spend that much.

I would really like to buy one from a nice individual that's had it from new, but it's not easy to find private sellers (nothing 'parked up', I've tried autotrader, eBay, gumtree) am I missing a trick?

Today I'm considering a Mini Countryman...but not until I've had more ☕️

Is there anything you've seen that you'd like?

I've heard from a salesman that the customers who get the best deals are the ones that repeatedly visit for test drives over the space of a month or more. It makes it a challenge for the salesman to complete the sale.

I always go in with a price in my mind of what I want to pay and keep getting the dealership to cut their offer until we agree on a price by telling them it's more than I want to pay. Stupid extras like floor mats are now sold separately so you can haggle on these too.

Unless you can get a 0% or very low interest finance deal at the dealership then I would go with a bank loan as you can get some around 3% these days. Most car finance loans I've seen recently have been around 8%.

Also, I have a qashqai 1.2 petrol and it does about 35mpg in town and 40+ on motorway journeys.

Thanks Steph, that mpg doesn't sound too bad to me.

The little Peugeot 108 (brand new) that I'm renting doesn't do that much better and it's only the size of a sewing machine.

Any other thoughts on the Qashqai?

If you are looking for a new car, I would highly recommend carwow.

You put in your specifications and dealers across the country compete with each other to offer you the lowest price. Our PCP was £90 a month lower thanks to this website.

Main dealerships have various codes of conduct they have to abide by. Going on the last week/day of the month will only work if they haven't hit their targets.

I would secretly be car wow. Some of the discounts I have been offered of new cars are amazing

I need to car shop too and like you OP, don't really have the time or inclination to traipse around speaking to garages and dealers.

I put my spec into autotrader and found a car in a garage that would part exchange on my car. I researched the garage and saw positive reviews so I phoned them up, got a price for my car and have a loan at 3.4% for the remaining balance. I wouldn't do HP, interest is too high.

I'm test driving it next week and if I like it will buy it there and then. I know what car I want, I've found one to my exact specification and unless there's something ridiculously wrong with it, I'll just get the purchase done and dusted!

Do your research on the various car magazines/websites so you know what you should be paying. Then go in & haggle accordingly. If they can't match the price you're prepared to pay, ask what they will include such as a service plan. I would always expect car mats, tank of fuel & that sort of thing thrown in.

Take a man with you!

Latte - the Cactus is great to drive. Work had one in their pool so I have done a considerable number of business miles in it! Very economic and practical and good on long journeys, but not so unwieldy that you can't throw it round town and multi-storey car parks.

Be aware though that the standard speaker fit is only at the front and that they don't cope with heavy bass very well - so if you like your music you may want to look for one that has had the audio pack upgrade. The diesel also has a bit of a flat spot in 2nd but if you go for the petrol then you shouldn't have this issue.

Also the design of the new Citroens means that when it's blustery outside and the wind is blowing towards you in at a certain angle, it can make quite a loud high pitched whistling noise. Frightened the beejesus out of me the first time it happened (in the middle of the night, middle of nowhere!). Nothing wrong with the car - it's just the wind catching through the grille and making a bit of weird noise! The DS3 does this as well.

OP first of all, do your research. Honest John is good for car reviews. What are you looking for? Speed? Reliability? Big boot? Cheap to run? Make a list of your 'must haves' and then the 'nice to haves'. Get a monthly repayment price in your head that fits your budget. Once you have these things laid out, you can start researching online and narrow down the cars that you want into manufacuturers and types.

As PP have suggested, go to the garage in two stages. First is for the test drive - and it doesn't matter where you go for this. Look for a garage that can fit you in quickly - there's nothing to say that you have to buy the car from them! Do the drive, go away and think about it. Then go back at the end of the month - they have sales targets so if there's any flexibility it will be then. However the days of knocking £££ off cars have largely disappeared as the codes of conduct have been tightened up considerably. Do be aware though that garages DO make a good margin on selling you extras - breakdown, extended warranty, paint cover, GAP insurance. ALL of these are available separately and you can buy them online MUCH cheaper.

Whether you buy on HP, or PCP (lease) or take out a car loan depends on what you want to do. On HP or a car loan then you'll own the car outright at the end - is that what you want? If you're planning to hang on to it for at least 5 years or more then it might be right for you. If you want to hand it back once it's 3 years old and get a new one again, then PCP might work for you. However if you do a lot of mileage then be wary of this because if you go over the agreed mileage limit on your lease then they will screw you to the wall for the excess mileage (a charge for every extra mile you've driven).

What type of car to recommend you would depend on why you want it. I do lots of motorway miles, so for me I need a decently powered car that's good at motorway cruising, comfortable for long journeys but economical with fuel costs. DH spends his life driving in and out of very busy towns and cities so his car is small and nippy because it's easy to stuff it into very tight parking spaces. My mate has a massive 7 seater with a boot bigger than my bathroom - because he has 4 kids and a dog! Depends on what your life is like.

Take a man with you!

OP I usually look about for something I like then find the best deal. The idea hat cash will get you a better deal is from the dark ages where the actual garage gave you the finance. Now they get their money whether you pay cash or credit so makes no odds to them. Don't see a bank loan as the only way, many places have better finance deals than they do cash nowadays. Like x per month and it includes everything but fuel, you won't beat that on a cash payment when you have to add In services etc.

I would say try to take someone who knows a little about how things work with you, I'm not sure why it has to be a man though. I know much more than my DH when it comes to cars.

Also tell true salesperson you don't want their patter, you have already decided you want to buy a car, if he just gives you the facts you need you can make a decision, but you don't want his sales shit to try and make you buy something you already want. I do this to every salesperson I meet and it cools things a bit so I can think rationally. Anyone with a heavy pitch I tend to walk away from as it detracts me from the facts

First question: brand new or second hand? If second hand are we talking bang-o-nomics or a car still in warranty/just out?

For brand new use carwow- you specify the car you want and all the dealers bid for your buy. Best way I've seen to get a deal (and beats any deal I've been able to negotiate in person). Interestingly finance is always cheaper than outright buy because finance companies will generally do a contribution. I think that generally the finance/pay off with a low interest personal loan seems the cheapest although Toyota are currently offering 0% finance so very cheap.

For second hand use something like cargiant to give you a sense of the market. Because everyone has access to auto trader on their phone it's very hard to fudge the actual value of the car. If you see a car you like, compare it to similar models/mileage/age to see what the market is asking. You'll generally be able to request a few hundred quid off a dealership price.

Best value will be private sale, but then will not come with any guarantee around mechanics/electrics.

Basically- more info needed. Once you know what kind of buy you want to do, then you need to look at what car based on your needs.

PS a colleague at work said if you want to lease a new car he said look for dealers up north. They will generally do much better deals than London/southern dealers and will often deliver the car as well.

You might get a good deal at a car auction. Lots of people are now doing 3 yr leases and then the car gets traded in. So there are lots of cars in the 3 yr old market.

I've got a Cactus. I do like it.

It's not always cheaper to pay cash. I have a Skoda Citigo on PCP. I made it clear I wanted to buy it the cheapest way possible and could pay cash if necessary. There was no discount for cash.

PCP got me 0% credit and free servicing that was not available on PCP. Makes no sense but that's what it was.

Be aware that they will give you the hard sell on GAP insurance, autoglym preparation and something else I can't remember. Refuse all these, they're all a waste of money, hugely overpriced and where they make a lot of their money.

I refused GAP insurance as it was £500 which seemed like a lot. Later on I looked and you could get the same thing independently for about £150.

But PCP can be good value vs a loan as the finance is provided by the manufacturer and the likes of VW have enormous financial power.

Second the comment that there are a lot of well priced 3 year old cars out there due to the strength of the PCP market and also company leases.

Before I got my citigo I had a company car that I enquired about buying but they wanted over £10k for it, which seemed too much for me.

A few weeks later I bought a very similar car that was an ex lease car from another source for just over £6k, which was a bargain in comparision.

That's what I'm doing when I get rid of my lease car.

There are loads of good lease deals at the moment. I got a Skoda Yeti with 10,000 miles pa, top spec for £195 a month with no deposit and I love it!

The cost is less than depreciation and after 2 years I can get a Brand new model.

Take a man with you

Fuck that

Another carwow recommendation here! I got a fantastic offer and even if you don't go through that route it is a great bargaining tool to wave at other dealers.

I also agree with previous poster that the Skoda PCP is a very good deal - not that it would help OP with a Citreon Cactus!

Take a man with you

Fuck that

Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game!

There's not much profit for the dealer in the car itself. Cars are now just an opportunity to sell finance and other products. GAP is worth having, but buy elsewhere for about 1/4 of the price the dealer will offer. Under no circumstances take Supagard or similar, it's almost 100% profit and the dealer scratch monkeys won't apply it correctly, more likely they'll do more damage to the paint than good.