Would appreciate any advice from my learned fellow lifers.
I'm thinking of buying a new a car, probably a Fiat 500 and wondered what the score was these days. It's a long time since a last bought a car.
Is it worth buying outright (possibly trading in my old car) for cash like the good old days, or are there better deals to be had?
I'm thinking of the ones that include servicing/warranty etc. It seems the market has changed a bit and I haven't kept up with it.
Any advice appreciated.
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I'd always buy cash at the moment,
Did this with Nissan once to get a £1500 contribution that wouldn't have got if paid cash up front.
In January I bought a new car (interest free credit is your friend) and there was a moment when the dealer said it was the absolute lowest price anybody could get anywhere, within an hour I had a quote for about £1200 lower and played one dealer off against another.
Be friendly with the dealer but not friends.
The best time to buy is near the end of a month, and near the end of a registration number period as the dealer is under pressure to move units around those times.
Research can save you a lot of money.
https://www.drivethedeal.com/
Be confident and have rhino thick skin, ask for the earth and be prepared to walk away.
Indeed the first second and third rule of car buying club is be prepared to walk away.
PM me for any more stuff, have fun.
When you sell it, you would not have VAT in the price.
Retired, homeowner. Budget of 12/15k cash for the car. Credit score won't be sky high as I haven't taken any credit in the last 10 years, and no mortgage.
Dealers will be awash with their pre-reg cars in the next couple of months with delivery mileage only, no older than a few months and full remaining warranty. Typical saving on new start at 20%
Paul Getty
The first one i went to came up with a really high price , but because i went to the other 2 dealers i manged to get the original dealer to quote at at better price than the other 2 , saved a small packet.
Make sure you ask for rubber mats and a tank of petrol thrown in as well.
They will try to push you towards finance as they earn a bonus for that , i'd be looking for at least 10 - 15 % off the list price.
We've always bought cars about 18 months old, but will look at all the options.
As long as Mrs M-A-M doesn't insist on a red car 'cos it looks nice :-)
Lots of nearly new deals out there. I got my father in law a Honda Jazz with a grand total of 232 miles on it and 2 months old and abou £4K off.
New cars are expensive these days for what they are, so doubly make sure whatever you get it's what you want. Personally I tend to buy German much to my late grandfathers disgust (he didn't talk to me for about 6 months the 1st time I bought an Audi). Generally strong cars with strong residuals as well.
We tried to buy my wife a newish Mini earlier in the year, we were sat in front of the salesman in the showroom and all was going well when he started to explain the finance and lease options to us. At this point I said we were cash buyers and I would hope that would be reflected in the form of a discount.
His face was a picture, he panicked and said he would have to speak to his manager so off he went. 10 minutes later he returned and said they would much rather put us on finance however if we insist on paying cash no discount will be offered, the price is the price.
She is now driving around in a new Ford Fiesta.
Dealers worth their salt should enjoy customers who want a bit of a ruck, if they're not up to it they are the losers.
I hope your wife likes her Fiesta, bought mine in January and think it is a great car for city life.
The long and the short of it was I got 3k off the car but it left an odd 50 quid on the price, telling him to fill the car up with fuel or knock the £50 off and he has a deal. He wandered off yet again to see his boss, coming back he said they would do neither. Asking me if we were prepared to lose the car over £50, I immediately asked him if he was prepared to lose a sale over £50. Collecting my bits together I left, forgetting my car keys I returned in minutes to see the smug gits standing there I quickly told them I'd forgot my keys. The manager gave me some garbage about the price of cars fluctuating the whole time and they would take the £50 off the price, I told him he'd had his chance and kept walking.