I would welcome a bit of advice about what I should pay for a 2nd hand car. I need to change my current Passat for a similar sized car asap. My wife and I have trawled around the local garages and have decided on either a year old Passat or a year old Mondeo. We would like an Accord or a CRV but don't want to pay that much money. We have seen the following cars and would like some advice on the prices we should be aiming to pay.
1. 1.8 petrol Passat, S. 13,700 miles on an 04 plate. VW asking price £10,900. Parkers Guide has a retail price for this car at 10,000 miles of £11,300; this price is for a car not from a franchised dealer and not in an 'approved car' scheme. The Passat is from a franchise and is from an approved car scheme. We have not seen this car; it is on the VW website as a VW stock car which my local dealer can get for me. This would work thus: test drive a similar car (maybe a higher spec), agree a price and pay a deposit. When the car comes I don't have to buy it if I don't like it for some reason after driving and inspecting it (I get the impression it has to be a pretty good reason) and walk away with my deposit returned.
2. 1.8 Mondeo LX, 12,000 miles 04 plate. Ford Direct asking price £8,950. Parkers price for a 10,000 miler is £9,720 on the same basis as above.
My current car is a 1998 Passat 20v with 96,000 on the clock which is worth £2,250/£1870 for private/trade in respectively according to Parkers. It is in very good nick for such a car: a bit of wear around the gear lever cover thingy and a dodgy electric rear window. Oh, and when the cam belt snapped 2 weeks before Xmas I had all the valves renewed! The dealer I would be getting the car from is the one who did the fixing. Will this affect the trade-in value if I go there? Would another VW dealer know this from the computer database?
I have a couple of questions:
What should I aim to pay for either of the above cars.
Should I trade in my current car or sell it privately? I have been told that I can get £500 off straightaway not having a trade-in. Is this true? I've not yet got an Autotrader to check on current prices and market for a 6 year old Passat.
i will be paying cash. Will this make a difference? I've been told different things: no finanance means no commission so a higher price and cash today via a Switch card is worth another £500 off.
Fianlly: how does one go about haggling down the price of a car; what weapons can one use?. For both the above cars the forcourt price is less than Parkers so that's no use. I hear all sorts of stories about getting a good price not really how to do it I can imagine it wil go like this:
Me: I'll give you £9,000
VW: We'll go to £10,500.
Me: Er, OK
Help. (I know I can simply walk away of course)
Cheers
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1. Why the hurry?
2. The Mondeo is probably the better car; the Passat has the better image. £10,900 is not a bad price at all and as it's a 1.8 it'll have the 150 bhp turbo engine (against 130 for the 2.0 and 125 for the 1.8 Mondeo). In fact you won't get one for less without serious haggling.
The Mondeo deal is a little too expensive though - I've seen franchises doing them for under £8,500 and if you wanted to go that route, you could pick one up from auction for less more easily than you could the Passat.
The Passat will have the reputation of being more reliable, but servicing will be cheaper on the Mondeo and there'll be no cam belt to do when the time comes.
In the end, the dealer only has a certain amount of money to play with. Anyone can give you £1k off a car that's £2k overpriced - which doesn't mean you shouldn't haggle, but you have to be realistic. There comes a point when it's worth the dealer's while to wait for the next customer.
If you want the convenience of trading in, then by all means do so. The Parkers private sale price seems low for your car - there's only one like it in AutoTrader nationally for less but loads for significantly more. Glass's trade in valuation for your car is similar to Parkers' though, depending on condition. I would say you'd probably stand to gain £500 - £800 from selling privately and obviously it'd make comparing different deals from different dealers much easier and quicker.
As for haggling weapons - make sure the salesman knows you're serious - it seems to be that you should dress reasonably smartly, take the wife with you, have the debit card at the ready, be reasonable but don't agree with everything the salesman says, engage with him, and make it clear that you want to buy today if the price is right - but you have another option. Use the web or whatever else to find that option. Ultimately though, if a car is cheap the salesman may be able to afford to see your business walk.
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Hi,
Having just recently bought a "nearly new" car myself (Fiesta zetec 1.4) I'd recommend checking out the Car Supermarkets. I personally found Ford dealers asking far too much, not to mention Volkswagen dealers too (as I originally considered buying a Polo 1.2S)
Nearly new cars still have the manufacturers warranty so I really can't see any advantage from buying at a franchised dealer -- there's a few negatives though, especially price !!
One thing to be careful of when buying from Car Supermakets is the service history, some cars are ex-lease/rental & have gone past their service dates so warranty will be void - doesn't have to be stamped by a main dealer though, any VAT registered company is perfectly acceptable to maintain warranty, try to make sure it's been serviced using manufacturers part though as this may save any future hassle
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I was a little confused about the price of the Mondeo last night - although a search on AutoTrder did reveal a 1.8 LX at £8,495: www.dealer.autotrader.co.uk/_kingford.htm That's more or less as cheap as the supermarkets.
The ones I'd seen were through the people my parents bought their Focus from - www.pwmillar.co.uk at £8,695
As for the Passat - assuming it is a 1.8 then it's cheap but there are cheaper 2.0 S models out there. It depends how much you want the extra 20 bhp. £10,495 would be about right for the Passat from a franchise; maybe a couple of hundred less from a supermarket.
A lot depends on where you are in the country and what is convenient for you.
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Cars first,
Driven both and owned a Mondeo (although mine was a 2.0 Zetec). Both are fine cars but IMO, you'll probably enjoy the Mondeo far more. Perky handling and performance are great and strangley, has less of a "repmobile" tag than the Passat.
Only downside of the Mondeo is that it'll shed more value quicker than the VW.
The prices you quote seem OK.
So, the deal! Two tips:
You say you're a cash buyer. Then take the cash (but be careful!!). Keep what you want to pay in an envelope and when chatting to the delaer, show him the wedge! Make it about a £1k less than the asking price and see where it ends up.
Another tip is "low-cost - high-value" deals. If the dealer's not budging too much on the price, try to get them to throw in some specials - first service free, CD upgrade, SAT NAV, even a full tank of fuel. These may not appear significant but they all add up and could actually save you more money in the long run. Remember, the dealer will get all this stuff at trade price so the cost to him will be less than it is to you.
Good luck
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has less of a "repmobile" tag than the Passat.>>
Whatever put that thought into your mind...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Mondeo is a definate repmobile - passat is more a "middle manager mobile"!
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Keep the current one.
Why do you want to change it?
Save money, and don't swap to a newer car.
On the other hand, a newer car may suit your lifestyle & desires...
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We want to change the Passat for a couple of reasons:
1. I get a car allowance instead of a car at work. This scheme dictates how old and how many miles an eligable car should be. The Passat is just outside the age limit and close to the miles.
2. Just before xmas the camblet snapped (I was misled by a VW garage about when to change it. Doh!). Currently the car is worth about £2000 and it cost me £900 to fix it. It seems a good time to get rid, at least now I get about £1100 from it.
3. After the snappy cambelt it does not seem to drive correctly. The engine seems a bit 'hesitant' and not as powerful as it was. Hard to explain, it just seems 'different'
All these factors suggest to me time for a change.
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