Hi All,
Im a newbie so be gentle :-)
I live in Sheffield and found this company on the old google search: www.jenningsforddirect.co.uk got a good deal on a Focus exactly what Im after, my local dealer wouldn't match the price or the package (getting 2 years AA cover included)
HOWEVER ..... Ihave never bought something this big b4 online and a bit nervous about it was wondering if anybody had any experience of this company or had heard of them b4??
There is a 30 day moneyback garuntee but that sounds a bit unbeleivable to be honest, how easy would it be to take it back if its 200 miles away???
Has anybody here bought a car online before could give me some do's and dont's would be great
Any comments appreciated
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Jennings are a Ford dealer selling Ford Direct cars, just like any other Ford dealer and just like any other main dealer of any marque - all their websites have links to a national used car database.
They sell from a national database of used Fords (usually ex hire cars). To be honest there are so many Ford dealers and so many Ford Focus II about I doubt you would need to travel 200 miles to find what you wanted - unless there was a very particular extra you wanted.
When I bought my first Focus I went to one dealer who found one on Ford Direct which was a distance away - I had to commit to buy it there and then which I wasn[t comfortable with. A quick visit to another Ford dealer in Leeds and I find what I was happy with on the forecourt for the same price.
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Hi there, only just joined the forum myself but I do have experience of this kind of deal.
I assume that it isn't a brand new unregistered car? If it's used then daveyjp has hit the nail on the head when he says it's likely too be an ex hire car. A few years ago we went to buy a 6 month old Vectra from the local dealer. They did a search and came up with one exactly the colour and spec we wanted. I asked who it had been registered to and was told it was probably Vauxhall management but they couldn't definitely tell me.
Anyway we bought it and when it was delivered it was exactly what we wanted and we were happy with it. The registration document showed that the previous owner was a car hire company, I wasn't pleased about this but as I said we were happy with the car and it had a decent warranty. One day the ECU came up with a fault and to cut a long story short it ended up back at the dealers waiting for Vauxhall to agree to replace it, this took weeks! We ended up going to another dealer and part exchanging for their managing directors wife's Freelander which was only a few months old. We kept this for several years until we bought a brand new Freelander over 400 miles away in Chesterfield.
Our next deal was just over a year ago when we bought a brand new Honda CR-V even further away from home. This transaction was done via the Internet and phone and we had no problems at all. You may wonder why we went to all this trouble when our nearest dealer is only 15 miles away. We saved well over £2,000!
Anyway, sorry about the long reply but the points are to try and find out if it is an ex hire car and try to get the reply by email so you have evidence of their answer. If you are not bothered about it being ex hire then that's not a problem. Don't be afraid of dealing over the Internet, just investigate the company and see how long they have been in business for and Google them to see if any customers have positive or negative comments.
Hope this helps.
Andyfr
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Excellent advice there guys thanks.
Had a bit of dig arround and looks like jennings have been arround forever (according to the web) 1917 so seem like a decent enough dealer.
I have phoned them again and had a bit chat with the sales guy, he confirmed everything you guys said, however he said one of there branches was a 'Ford Direct supersite' (his words) one of only 7 in the UK so the cars on the site are in stock not avail nationally and jennings get additional 7% discount from Ford on these cars and pass this on to the customers so the cars are cheaper, But i think this might just be sales blurb!!!
But he did say he can get the ford direct cars from the national stock exchange as well but I have to pay to secure it. anyway they have a car Im after in stock so its just a deposit i need to pay however....
does anybody know who the other 6 Ford Direct supersites are and there might be one closer I can actually visit in person as i think i may be more confident in person
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I've had 4 Ford Direct cars - 3 Mondeos and a Focus II - 3 were ex rentals and one was from a company fleet. Had no significant problems with any of them and they did big miles.
For what its worth I found I could never get a comfy driving position in the Focus and only kept it a year to return to another Mondeo.
MPZ
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Just bought 3 x Fiesta from there Dunston branch 2 weeks ago. By far the easier and nicest car deal I have ever done.
Part exch price was £600 a car over the normal, and the Fiesta price was well below the cheapest on the internet.
This was from howver from the business section.
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The Jennings Forddirect supersite is at South Shields, Tyne and Wear.
It is just that - a sales site, They refer servicing to their small chain of franchised Ford dealers.
Think they have a good enough reputation locally.
It may be the stock actually on site is exclusive to them, and not available via other dealers from the general database.
If the car is bang on the right spec and money, then there's no reason not to buy it.
Like other posters, I tend to think a local Ford dealer will be able to source something suitable off the database.
Some Ford dealers are prepared to get 'your' car on site without an absolute guarantee of you buying it.
The cars are pretty much as new and another way to look at is you would not see a brand new car before you ordered it, either.
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