Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[gillberry]

Hi all , has anyone any experience of using internet brokers for buying new cars or do you know someone who has ? They appear to have massive savings but any experiences people may have would be appreciated .

Thanks Simon .

[SV8Predator]

No experience directly, but I have spent some years selling new cars from main dealerships (although not now, I'm glad to say).

The 'internet brokers' are selling something that they haven't got, ie, they hold no stock.

If a customer wants to purchase a car, the broker then has to find it.

Thus there will be limited availability of colours, specifications, etc.

There could well be a 'get-out' clause and they try to say that none are available at that price any more, but I can get you 'X' at £1500 more.

The cars offered may be 'Pre-Registered' or 'Delivery Mileage', more on these later.

These are only opinions, of course, they may be the best thing since sliced bread.

Be aware of where the cars come from. They may not be UK market spec. I remember that we would have a lot of grief from Irish customers who were expecting warranty jobs on their vehicles if they broke down over here (England) only to be told that UK-spec cars have a 3-year warranty but Irish (Republic)-spec cars only have 12 months warranty. This was for Fords, I must add, I cannot speak for other brands.

If you buy from a main dealer (especially in today's trading conditions) you will be greeted with open arms. Forget list prices, most dealers will be delighted to sell at just over 'cost' price, because it get their monthly sales figures up and then the bonuses from the manufacturer kick in.

Buy a car in December, March or August. No one else is. You will get BIG savings in those months. Especially if you plan to hold on to the car for a few years and are not too bothered six or seven years down the line if it is a 58 or 09 plate.

If you're offered a 'service pack' or similar. that offers you two year's servicing for £250 (for example) then buy it. You will save money on the servicing, and it's paid for up front, which will feel very good when the car is due a service.

BUT the beauty of the service pack is that the salesperson gets a very nice commission for selling the service pack, and that will make him/her amenable to getting you a better price for the car itself.

Now for the pre-registered cars. Very often a dealership will offer these cars which are already registered and are apparently brand-new cars with three, four, maybe eleven miles on the clock. (A 'Demonstator' is a used car which will have anything from 50 miles to 3000 miles on the clock)

The re-registered cars seem brand-new and the saleman will tell you that they have been registered by either the manufacturer of the dealer 'to get registration numbers up'.

This is bullshit. As soon as a car is registered it becomes a used-car. And there's no economic reason for a manufacturer to turn their new cars into used cars. In the trade these are termed 'sub-standard'. That means that there was a problem with it. You'll never find out what the problem was, it could simply have been a small dent in the tailgate that's been repaired and painted, or it could have been something much more serious. Whatever, it will have been repaired and of course still has the manufacturer's warranty, but only from the date of registration.

These cars can be bargains, but make sure you pay MUCH less than the equivalent new car, remembering the very good deal that you can get on a new car anyway.

Sorry that this has turned in to an essay, but it might be useful for someone.

[Penman]

hi

[Brian M]

My wife does not share my love of classics and insists on having a new BMW.

In 1984, I found I could get one in Germany for the price of a Sierra, and through a business contact who had all his salesmen in BMW's I specced a 316 to UK standards and including my trip to collect it saved myself £2500 on a car that at the time would have cost £10000 from my local dealer.

We kept that car for 18 years and then bought another in 2002. By this time the internet was the route I chose and through Broadspeed.com, I saved £5000 on a £20,000 car. The car was sold through a dealer in Holland, was delivered to them on time, and when I went to collect the car it had over £400 of extra features that were not on my option list, but which Broadspeed and the dealer thought were standard on UK supplied vehicles.

The price was agreed in sterling three months before delivery, taking away any exchange risk.

Having agreed the price but before confirming my order, I enjoyed visiting my local BMW dealer. The Salesman realised I was a genuine buyer and firstly offered me a coffee which I never got because I told him the sum I was prepared to pay for the car and he just laughed at me.

The trip to collect the car was memorable. I kept humming the tune "Trains and Boats and Planes" as I took a taxi to Luton Airport, flew to Amsterdam, took a train ot the dealer's town, was collected by the dealer from the station, drove my new car back to Hook of Holland and took the ferry to Harwich which is only 30 miles from my home.

I have since recommended Broadspeed to three friends who have purchased a Mercedes, a VW Golf and another BMW and have all been pleased with the service provided.
_________________
Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[gillberry]

Thanks for the reply Brian , altough I'm not ready to buy just yet as you do I've been researching options for cars and buying and a £4000 saving through internet seems to good to say goodbye to . Having said that maybe in todays climate when I take my test drive the salesman can make a very good offer .
Don't worry our classics are staying I just need an everyday modern that is also well capable of towing our Cheltenham .