Buying a car

[tomscaper]

Hi

My girlfriend and I are currently looking to buy a new car, and are looking for some advice how to go about this. We were in a dealership yesterday but the guy serving us was pretty much trying to pull a fast one and get us to sign before getting the full details.

Neither of us have ever bought a new car before, we would prefer to buy a car which is interest free but there doesn't seem to be that much in our area.

One we looked at the interest rate as 11.9% APR although he did first say the interest rate was 7 but that ended up 7% Flat.

To be honest it is a bit confusing and hard to trust what they are saying.

Any tips?

[Hightower]

I think you only get interest free when you put a massive deposit down or something. You can have my '97 Clio for a small fee?

[somabc]

You can have mine, its been modified to run on hay not petrol.

[tonyd]

Don't do it! The deprciation on new cars is horrible, I know, I lost far too much on my last one. Nearly new offers most of the benifits, but with the initial deprciation already gone. I'd only contemplate it for a car that was being offered at a heavy discount. As for 0%, I think you'd be very lucky to find deals like that in the current finanial climate.

[ChrisH]

Don't do it! The deprciation on new cars is horrible, I know, I lost far too much on my last one. Nearly new offers most of the benifits, but with the initial deprciation already gone. I'd only contemplate it for a car that was being offered at a heavy discount. As for 0%, I think you'd be very lucky to find deals like that in the current finanial climate.

I will second that. You will loose a lot of money in the first year. Far better to buy a car a year or 2 old.

[Scotmk]

Unless you are made of money, I would not recommend buying a new car. You will loose 30 - 40% of the value the instant you drive of the forecourt in it.

You are better of buying an almost new 2nd hand car (even an ex demo model from the showroom). You can end up with a higher spec car for much less.

Thats my opinion anyways.

[flyinghaggis]

It depends on the car but whatever you're buying I'd try and look at 2-3 year old models of the one you're looking at so you can gauage how much it's going to lose in depreciation over 3 years. You can then decide whether to get a new one of save some cash on a second hand model. If you're being quoted figures of 12% APR I'd be inclined to go for the second hand option if you don't want to buy it outright.

What make/model of car are you planning on buying btw?

[Andrew_C]

Agree with the above. Local Renault are offering a 0% on Clio until the end of the month.

I'm looking too, I just can't afford to put 400 gallons of anything into a car per year. Must get something more economical than a 2l hot-turbo Saab. Anyone want to buy one? It may have had a careful owner...

[tomscaper]

We were also looking at a 3 year old ford focus, but again the interest over 5 years was crazy, of course buying it out right would be the better option but we can't afford that as were saving for a house (which is another story)

Our problem currently is that the places we have spoken at, they will tell us one thing and the next moment tell us something totally different.

We tried asking questions but not really sure what to ask. Any advice on the things info we need to get out of them, such as warranty info, interest, etc.

If i was buying a PC i would be fine but i have no clue when it comes to cars.

[maz8462]

My daughter bought a brand new Astra.....interest free!!!! Had nothing but trouble with it, so after 18months traded it in for a brand new Peugoet convertable, flashy little thing. This with what she owed on the original Astra ended up costing her over £23.000. Diddled or what!! Now she's in debt up to her neck, and driving round in a V reg Vectra a right heap!!! Had to sell the Peugoet for less than £10000 to stop herself from getting in any deeper. My advice, DON'T BUY NEW!!!! As you can see my daughter didn't listen either!

[Ueline]

Like everyone says - don't buy new - 2yrs old is good
Organise your own finance to take the confusion out of the equation - they're less likely to be able to rip you off. Get your own loan and go with the 'cash' - then you can get a good deal.
If you find something you like then always haggle, ask for new mats or something to close the deal.

[strawberry]

have a look in a magazine called the parkers price guide, should give you an idea of which cars to buy. At present some some cars are very cheap because they use too much fuel so people are looking to sell. a new car will lose around 30% of its value in 2 years, add onto that the interest and you will be mighty skint.

Also you can get a classic for not a lot of money, i'd love to have an older golf GTi if i was earning enough to fuel it!.

[plexer]

Don't buy new but don't buy too old either the diesel we just bought was 18 months old and the meriva we had before that was 6 months old when we bought it.

Having the bulk of the warranty is good.

Ben

[StewartKnight]

I only buy new.

I'm rubbish at fixing cars, and we live in a rural area, with 2 kids and a baby. We don't want to break down, so we buy new, with the 3 - 5 years warantees

[plexer]

You don't have to buy new to get a warranty.

Sometimes you will get a good deal if you go with the garages finance becuase they get a commission to sell it, this is ok but organise your own finance in advance once you've signed the garages paperwork to get your good deal pay that finance of with your own.

Obviously check out any early repayment fees etc...

Don't forget, mats, flaps and a tank of fuel.

Ben