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Wed 16 May 2018 16:45

Any - Too good to be true? - Theophilus

Mrs T liked her Honda Jazz so much that when the time came for a change she wanted another …

Armed with quotes from the usual discounters – DtheD, Broadspeed, UK Car Discount, etc. I found I could achieve a saving of up to almost £1,600 off the on the road price of £15,740 and popped along to my local dealership. The sales team seemed very reluctant to put down their phones and talk to a prospective customer, but I did get myself a cup of coffee! Eventually I managed to attract a salesman’s attention, but apparently he was “not the guy to speak to”, however I learned that they were “very keen to get my business” … whilst only offering a maximum discount of £800.

So back to the internet, and came across another broker whom I had not previously heard of – Autoebid. I was given a quote of £12,085 on the road, delivered to my door. With some trepidation I placed my order, and waited (with a few sleepless nights, surely a saving of 23% on list price was too good to be true!).

9 weeks after placing the order a shiny new Jazz SE arrived at the door, registered with my wife as the first owner – everything just as promised … how do they do that? And how do the main agents justify their indifference to making a sale?

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Wed 16 May 2018 19:01

Any - Too good to be true? - Andrew-T

Can't possibly comment, having never ordered a new car, and knowing full well that as soon as I take possession of one I would immediately be a few £K worse off, even (I am sure) after a generous discount like yours.

As I doubt that any except the most naive punters pay list price, I suppose it always comes down to how quickly one gets bored with shopping around, as you have done.

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Wed 16 May 2018 20:49

Any - Too good to be true? - bathtub tom

As I doubt that any except the most naive punters pay list price, I suppose it always comes down to how quickly one gets bored with shopping around, as you have done.

I don't know many people who have bought new cars, but none I'm aware of have ever haggled or used a broker. A neighbour is going through the process and expects salesmen to turn up at their home with new cars for them to view. I expect they'll buy from whoever does.

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Wed 16 May 2018 21:30

Any - Too good to be true? - daveyK_UK

autoebid and carwow seem to be the most competitive on Citroens.

uk car discount used to be good on citroens, but havent come close to the 2 firms mentioned in recent years.

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Sat 19 May 2018 08:41

Any - Too good to be true? - Leif

As I doubt that any except the most naive punters pay list price, I suppose it always comes down to how quickly one gets bored with shopping around, as you have done.

I don't know many people who have bought new cars, but none I'm aware of have ever haggled or used a broker. A neighbour is going through the process and expects salesmen to turn up at their home with new cars for them to view. I expect they'll buy from whoever does.

They must be very wealthy people. I got a local dealer to match a broker price. A mate got 25% off a new BMW 5 series, a colleague got a ridiculous discount on a BMW 4 series, and another colleague got £10k off a SUV after I told him about brokers. I can’t imagine paying full whack without good reason.

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Thu 17 May 2018 10:54

Any - Too good to be true? - Engineer Andy

I find HJ's tool for comparing new car deals from brokers to be very useful - I'm not sure it covers all brokers, but quite a lot, including all those you mentioned.

The highest percentage saving I saw on there (obviously I didn't check ALL cars) was for the unloved (and boring) Nissan Pulsar - at one point 35% off the list price, even for the sporty 1.6T petrol with 190+ hp on tap.

The 20% you got off the Jazz is quite a deal itself - getting anything in double figures off a Honda is a feat in itself! Well done and also to Autoebid!

Just make sure you've got all the keys, handbook/logbook and EU certificate of conformity - some suppliers don't hand this over straight away as their cars might not be 'new' to them even if they are unregistered...one of the brokers (not yours) had developed a reuptation for doing this.

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Thu 17 May 2018 11:16

Any - Too good to be true? - skidpan

Just make sure you've got logbook

You will not get the V5 from the supplier if it is a brand new car, it will arrive in the post after a few days.

EU certificate of conformity

You will not get one of those if its a UK supplied car. Only one I have ever received was when i bought a German import.

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Thu 17 May 2018 11:27

Any - Too good to be true? - gordonbennet

That really is a very good price for a new Jazz on the road, well found.

Can understand your worry though till it actually appeared in the metal.

What sort of deposit are we talking about and when did you have to pay up, if you don't mind saying that is.

As for sales people not welcoming business, maybe it's more lucrative for them (commission etc) to chase known easy retail customers for renewing pcp's etc than try and match an online deal some savvy walk in customer has in mind...not knocking you here just trying to put myself in the sales bods shoes for a moment...selling a car to you literally might not be worth the time of day to the salesman.

Edited by gordonbennet on 17/05/2018 at 11:41

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Fri 18 May 2018 15:46

Any - Too good to be true? - Theophilus

What sort of deposit are we talking about and when did you have to pay up, if you don't mind saying that is.

No problem ... it was £250, paid by credit card so I reckoned I could always chase the CC company if everything went pear-shaped.

My anxiety levels rose however when I got an email from the supplier saying that the car was now in stock and asking for the balance to be paid by bank transfer ... and then hearing nothing more for a week, and the salesman dealing with the purchase being "out of the office" and mobile phone disconnected!

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Fri 18 May 2018 16:20

Any - Too good to be true? - gordonbennet

No problem ... it was £250, paid by credit card so I reckoned I could always chase the CC company if everything went pear-shaped.

My anxiety levels rose however when I got an email from the supplier saying that the car was now in stock and asking for the balance to be paid by bank transfer ... and then hearing nothing more for a week, and the salesman dealing with the purchase being "out of the office" and mobile phone disconnected!

That would have put the wind up me too, i'd have wanted to pay cash on delivery or maybe a second deposit in between final order and delivery, though hopefully that CC payment would have given some protection, still a nerve wracking time.

In my previous work i've been at dealerships early the morning after them going pop to clear the stock of cars, yet only the afternoon before just normal everyday customers were paying large deposits none the wiser what was going to happen, tearful exchanges taking place, most upsetting.

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Fri 18 May 2018 18:02

Any - Too good to be true? - Engineer Andy

What sort of deposit are we talking about and when did you have to pay up, if you don't mind saying that is.

No problem ... it was £250, paid by credit card so I reckoned I could always chase the CC company if everything went pear-shaped.

My anxiety levels rose however when I got an email from the supplier saying that the car was now in stock and asking for the balance to be paid by bank transfer ... and then hearing nothing more for a week, and the salesman dealing with the purchase being "out of the office" and mobile phone disconnected!

Is that second payment method standard when buying through a broker? When I bought my (delivery miles only EU import) Mazda3 at Motorpoint, I paid the same deposit via my credit card and the balance on handover day at the dealership in Derby with a Building Soicety cheque.

Handing over so much money without seeing the product ready to go would be rather worrysome for me, especially as per Theophilus, everything went quiet and no-one else could presumably help.

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Sat 19 May 2018 10:34

Any - Too good to be true? - Theophilus

Handing over so much money without seeing the product ready to go would be rather worrysome for me, especially as per Theophilus, everything went quiet and no-one else could presumably help.

To be fair to Autoebid, they were very good at keeping in touch and endeavouring to allay my concerns. It was the supplier (a different company, with whom Autoebid had negotiated the deal) who proved elusive.

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Thu 17 May 2018 13:29

Any - Too good to be true? - Engineer Andy

Just make sure you've got logbook

You will not get the V5 from the supplier if it is a brand new car, it will arrive in the post after a few days.

EU certificate of conformity

You will not get one of those if its a UK supplied car. Only one I have ever received was when i bought a German import.

When I said logbook I mean the one that you get stamped when its serviced (good to have even if all cars from 2005/6 have electronic service records), not the V5C. I didn't realise the CoC was only for certain countries - my Mazda3 had one, but it was imported from Cyprus, so maybe its only added when a vehicle is imported from one EU country to another etc.

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Fri 18 May 2018 13:08

Any - Too good to be true? - skidpan

Just started looking for a new motor for the wifes uncle. Nothing fancy, keeps them forever (had Fiesta 15 years nearly) nothing too big (our Note was considered too big for him).

First thought was basic Sandero but not only is a bit too basic (radio and seat height ajusters are extra) its also as big as the Note so not going there.

Next thought was the Celerio. Cheap, small, well kitted (for the money) and being a Suzuki should be durable (no idea where they are made - India?).

So looked on Autoebid, offering a saving of £302 off the list of £7999.

Looked at Carfile who I know well, £368.28 off so a bit better.

Then looked at Drive the Deal who always seem to get a good rating, £1226.01 off. Now that looks possibly too good to be true.

I trust the carfile price having used them 3 times in 5 years but Autoebid are not in the running. Drive the deal look good (providing he is happy with the car when he sees one).

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Fri 18 May 2018 23:44

Any - Too good to be true? - daveyK_UK

I rate the Celerio, but i think its worth paying the extra for mid-spec SZ3 trim.

The space inside the Celerio is the best in class and the engine is willing and very fuel efficent.

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Sat 19 May 2018 21:05

Any - Too good to be true? - KB.

For those who take any notice of the NCAP ratings it might be worth noting the Celerio only gets three stars and an adult occupant figure of 61% - neither are great compared to most other recent competitors - and those are 2014 figures ... post 2016 the tests were more stringent.

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Sat 19 May 2018 21:24

Any - Too good to be true? - barney100

So you have bought a car from a broker and it develops a fault. How keen would local dealers be to fix it under warranty?

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Sat 19 May 2018 23:23

Any - Too good to be true? - daveyK_UK

It will have a manufacturer warranty and the broker will be no more than a middle man for a dealer or on a rare occasion the manufacturer/importer themseves.

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Sun 20 May 2018 00:14

Any - Too good to be true? - bathtub tom

I had no concerns about buying an 8-month-old car from a non-franchised dealer. It had never been serviced and had not met its first (one year/10Kmile) service requirements.

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Sun 20 May 2018 13:41

Any - Too good to be true? - Detch

Carwow, 7.5k off a VW Passat and dealt with the dealer direct.

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Sun 20 May 2018 15:41

Any - Too good to be true? - Leif

So you have bought a car from a broker and it develops a fault. How keen would local dealers be to fix it under warranty?

The garage will simply charge it to VW, so they will be quite happy to do the work.

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Sun 20 May 2018 16:57

Any - Too good to be true? - veloceman

They do, but I believe they get paid a reduced hourly rate compared to you and I.
I guess this is to discourage claiming for unnecessary warranty work.

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Mon 21 May 2018 17:56

Any - Too good to be true? - skidpan

So you have bought a car from a broker and it develops a fault. How keen would local dealers be to fix it under warranty?

If you buy from a reputable broker like Carfile (and I believe Drive the Deal work the same way) they only introduce the buyer to their dealer and there is no record anywhere that the car has been bought from a broker. If the dealer is distant and you take it to your local daeler they should treat you like anyone who needs repair/service, its work at the end of the day. Treat you well and you will return, treat you badly and you should vote with your feet. When we bought the Leon via Carfile we used one of our local dealers who proved to be totally incompetent (did not tighten sump plug) so when the next service was due we used another local dealer who was fine. We used him for subsequent services and he sold us tyres at prices better than we could get in the interweb. It no different to buying a car locally then moving home 200 miles, you are not expected to travel to the seller for work or service.

We bought a Puma from Motorpoint. Brand new, pre-reg import (Germany). People at work told me I was mad, would be unable to get the car serviced, unable to get warranty work done and be unable to sell the car on. Our local Ford dealer was more than happy to service the car and did the one warranty repair it needed (boot release) with no quibble. I told him it upfront it was an import, actually it was obvious since the service book was German, and when I went to collect it he said he had replaced the service book with a UK one and fully stamped it. When we came to sell it dealers were happy to take it in PX at normal prices, the Honda dealer we tried said he was happy to take anything providing it was not a Renault. Sold it privately to a local person. Only difference was the £4000 we saved when we bought it. Car is still taxed and MOT'd 19 years later.

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