I've Seen A Car I Like. Please Help!

[user1471867483]

I have no male influence - It's a Toyota AYGO x-trend at a main Toyota dealer. It's £10,995 cash and is 3 years old. The MOT runs to June 2024, but the road tax ran out Sept 2023 - I don't get that? What should I do? Should I ask them, if I'm interested in purchasing it, if they could tax it for me and extend the MOT all in for what they're asking for it of £10,995?
Thank you in advance.

No harm in asking. They can only say no. Have you googled the price of similar cars of the same age and specs? If it is a private sale you should really get it checked out independently by the AA or similar.

With tax it's quite normal for you to tax when upon ownership. You can check online how much the tax is.

Road tax isn't transferable so if they have it in the garage there won't be tax on it. You have to tax it yourself now. Not like the days when the garage would go to the post office and do it for you.

Assuming it's at a dealer's it's likely to be priced with wiggle room for offers. If it's a Toyota check where you are with the warranty as I think they include five years so some should be left.

As others say tax isn't transferable and even when it was dealers often cashed in the disc. Last two times I've bought we just did everything on line as part of the handover. The new V5 (logbook) turned up in the post within a week.

You have to tax it yourselves it wont transfer. I think its a good price. I dont think you can extend an mot but you can ask them for one and bring it in when its due. .likely they will give it a service and valet and tank of petrol not much more. Think you will still have 2 years warranty but check.
Chevk the last mot and if there were recommendations then that gives you wiggle room to get them fixed b4 purchase. Unlikely though with such a new car. Good luck OP. X

What's the mileage? You can always make them an offer and ask the to MOT it so it's extended.
You tax it yourself now.

Thank you. It's 5,318.

Have a look on Autotrader - there is a comprehensive list of what to look out for on used cars, and what to check - take it with you when you examine the car.
Look at the logbook to see how many previous owners - a quick turnover/several owners is a red flag.

Time your purchase to get the best deal.
Dealers have an influx of second hand cars as the new registrations come in and people trade up, so March and September. There is a lag as this rolls forward so the end of these two months are the most opportune timings for secondhand. If you can hold off for a bit you might bag a much better deal.

Trade is slow if there is a prolonged spell of bad weather (or very hot weather!), so this can also prove to be a good opportunity for making a better a deal. Also mid week is slower than weekends.

Absolutely try to make an offer but before you do, ask for an MOT and a full service as part of any sale. Also include a tank of petrol.

If you manage to get a good deal, try to arrange collection at the start of a month - it will save you having to pay for a whole month for the sake of a few days at the end of a month.

It's 5,318 mileage and it's manual 🙎

That's very low for a 3 year old car. Most people do much more than that each year. That would put me off personally.

Please tell me why. I'm a terrible novice.

My car will be 3 years old this year and the mileage is 4995 so there are quite a lot of very low mileage cars - second cars for a SAHM, retired people like me who mainly drive local journeys etc. I get lower insurance for being a low mileage driver which is good!

Don’t let the low mileage put you off OP. It’s probably been someone’s local runabout. Go and ask for a test drive! It’s a main dealership so you’re not going to be sold a dud (it’s safer than a private sale) but you might have less room to negotiate compared to private sale. And at no point say you don’t know what you’re doing!

I wouldn't let the low mileage bother me. My dad once bought a car with 2000 miles on the clock and it was over 5 years old. Dad rang the garage who serviced it (had a full service history) and they told him that the owner only took it out once a week to do the shopping.

Low mileage isn't as bad on a petrol car. Diesels usually need to be driven more than that.

Where has the car been since the tax ran out / Has the dealer had it since Sept ?

What date was the car first registered ?

The mileage is good ! There are people who don't use their car often, I bought my current car when it was under 2 years old and the mileage was well under 2,000 and the Dealer said the lady was even older than me ! :) and changed her car frequently !

I think it's just sat there waiting to be sold. It's been from one branch to another.

Sounds like a nice little car. If it's only 3 years old it'll still be on its first MOT, so there'll be nothing to look for on a previous one. It'll be in SORN status while on the dealers forecourt, and probably still under warranty.

You could try and get some extras if they won't bring the price down, maybe free service, or free breakdown cover. But it seems pretty reasonable to me. And don't worry about the low mileage, sounds like its just been used as a runaround for the proverbial vicars wife.

@user1471867483

There won't be a previous MOT to the one it has. It's current one will be its first as it's only 3 years old.

I was always taught to buy on condition, not mileage. I agree 5.5k is low but on what I assume is a petrol engine it's nothing to worry about. If it's sold through the Toyota Dealer network then it should have a couple of years warranty left. If not then a good 'approved used' warranty is not too bad as an option.

If you like it, it passes the Autotrader test and the sniff test (dogs, smokers etc) I'd go for it.

Make sure it has been serviced by time rather than mileage, as that is a very low mileage that would not have necessitated a service. Check any advisories on MOT and ask garage to sort them. You could also ask for an up-to-date MOT, and haggle over a year or two of full servicing.
With low mileage there will be little wear on the tyres but they may have started to perish if it has been standing- check the sidewalls for splitting etc.
Toyota Aygo are great little cars. Ours just ran and ran until we needed an auto. Very cheap to run and cheap to repair as needed.

I always negotiate free mats front and back if they are not included in the car!

I've had a couple of those Aygos and they're fab! Very economical to run.

I'd only be put off now if the screen wasn't Apple play as their old interface is crap and you can't even get a map on it.

I just want to thank you all for your replies. It just shows how good it is to reach out and ask and ask and ask! I had to spent £231 yesterday on my 17yo Citroen C1 (exhaust area) 🤷‍♂️ and it's due its MOT beg. March so I'll have to get it to pass that and then I'll go round looking for a newer car. I can't keep paying out hundreds per year on it anymore.

Thank you all again xx

Unless you know for certain it will pass I wouldn't worry too much about the MoT. Anything that age, assuming you trade it, will go straight to auction.

Do outfits like Motorway worry much about short MoT?