The 'Fun' in buying cars .........sort of...........

[Thrustyjust]

Our Volvo XC60 has a year left before we a/ buy it b/ hand it back on pcp. So, with that in mind, we have been on the search on what to do. We know that if we order a new Volvo xC40 , we need to do it by October currently to get it next June. Yes, daft I know. So, rather than in the depths of winter, seemed a jolly good idea in looking for alternatives/ try different cars and generally get annoyed with sales people on  sunny days instead. 

We tested the XC40 and went for a drive . Well actually, it took us, as you press the button on the wheel and it then takes control !! Very unerving and not an option on the list. We would like a T5 version so more power , but engines are hard to come by hence the delivery dates. Equity in the current car means squat if we ordered now sadly. Really nice car mind you. The new XC60 is huge and we dont need such a big car, so out the question.

So, onto Mercedes. The GLC is a really nice finished car. Really nice interior and a really pleasant car to sit in. Until you pay 'snob tax' of £1450 first year VED and £450 for the following 4 years. Just for being £5k over the £40k threshold. Well done Mr Goverment. Nicely assessed on how to tax vehicles . So, I pay the same if I do 500 miles as 50k miles a year . Similar vein as our Westies . The lady that took us out also ripped her tight skirt on getting out , which was a bonus.................  On looking on CarWow and having local dealers emailing me, I can easily get £10k off the car , if I stomach the VED for the time we have it or lease it with it included maybe ?

Went to VW . Thought they must be keen to sell cars to get money back into the pot after the scandals. So, the wife wanted to look at the T Roc . See she likes goats ............weird.......... Luckily it was too small in the boot for doggies. So we headed to the Tiguan. After being asked if we needed to see a salesman , we did after having a sit in the showroom car and walk around outside looking at different versions for ideas.

Me to salesman : Hi, we wouldnt mind having a look at a Tiguan and maybe a test drive please

S.M : Yes, thats fine, no problem. We need to do the paperwork first to see if its what you can afford.

Me : Well we might not like it on a test drive , so maybe quicker that way round

S.M : Lets just see what we can do with costs.

Me: Er.............OK .....................

So, some 45 mins to an hour later, we had some ideas on figures. Wife was bored, I was thinking about the Mercedes girl. 

S.M. So, you Volvo has negative equity . Also, the car you are looking at, the SEL, I have added metallic paint, interior B.S that, paint protection B.S this, Tyre protection B.S that and comes to £34k. 

Me : That doesnt sound great so far.

S.M Does it still sound like you could be interested , if I speak to my manager

Me: We still dont know if we like the car to drive 

S.M : let me speak to my manager and get some keys

So, we go for a drive. Albeit the car was alarming it had 10 miles of fuel left and wasnt happy about that. I said what about fuel and was told, its fine , there is plenty. Maybe plenty if I am going to the roundabout a mile away and back, I suspect 

Wasnt as polished as the current Volvo to be honest. 180 bhp petrol , was lethargic and I felt the car was a bit wobbly when I was in the back ( need to get some stiffer springs, but I know about those things ) 

S.M Well I have spoken to my manager ( went for a coffee out back) and he says that the best price is £33.5k 

Well while he was out back, the wife was on Autotrader getting a valuation on our Volvo and me on Carwow.

Wife : seems we should get £6k more on the Volvo than they are offering

Me : (showing phone to wife) Its come up on Carwow as the same dealership as we are in and one of his colleagues sat behind us offering a deal on the same car we were quoted.

Salesman returns

S.M Have you had any thoughts on the car and can you agree buying it today ?

Me : Not quite. Quick question, do you know this guy ? ( shows phone to S.M) He is offering me the same car for £7k less than you have actually quoted me ................ Also trade in price for the Volvo is £6k below book price.

Guy then becomes lost for words. We decide that they had no intention of doing a 'fair' deal at all with us and I wonder how many people pay full wack for a car ? . 

So, its going to be a Volvo currently. Still not sure if we keep the current one and buy it at the end or chop it for an XC40 as an ex demo first edition as the T5's arent that common to get new.

 

[Steve (sdh2903)]

If you can handle the fact of not owning the car then it will be far cheaper to personal contract hire than pcp on that amount. Good deals on tiguans at the minute.

You will also not have the full outstanding balance put against your credit file if that's something that may concern you. Just the cost of the lease.

The Mrs currently has an A4 1.4 petrol black edition. The lease is less than 6k over the 2 years. Less than the forecasted depreciation. 

Only problem is you have to be a bit open minded on car choice, and if your big on options the price jumps.

[jeff oakley]

The best way to get test drives is to call the main office of the manufacturer. Most will offer an extended test drive if you meet a criteria, i.e home owner.

That way you have not got to put up with the BS you have. If he had said to me let's see if you can afford it, I would have been less than pleased to say the least.

This is what you get when they play the selling game they do now, salesman, I will be your friend against the big mean sales manager.

Everyone has a different view but I would not PCP any car but buy a dealer reg used car, they take a hit funded by the manufacturer which otherwise people do.

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

I don't think it will be many years before your daily diver car will just be rented by the month. I'm looking at them like that these days. Can't be arsed with the crap from salesmen.

[Thrustyjust]

At the time Jeff, our Volvo was playing up and the last of the latest range of XC60's were being sold off by Volvo before the new version appeared. So, we got a 10 grand discount by Volvo and we had to contribute £5k , which was from the half sale of the old car. We then had a service contract for 3 years, a 3 year warranty and all we had to do for 2 years was put fuel in it. All for £310 a month. Which is also at 0% , so costing us nowt. We could easily buy the car on a personal loan next year and works out at £3 a month more than we are paying now. But the wife preferred the older XC60 . I find it nice and does a job and is very nice, so thats the quandry. If she was 100% happy it will be staying . She drives it daily, as I cycle to work. 

As for buying a nearly new car, we did this with our Skoda Citigo. We had a banger to use while I built the westie, but its brakes were a bit iffy and wasnt worth fixing, so we PX's an ex employee car from Skoda UK from the local dealer ( ironically now been taken over by the VW dealer above !)  We got a 5k mile car which was just about a year old . We had to get some bits done under warranty from harsh cleaning chemicals at head office eating the colour from the door seals, which they argued until they saw how white they were . But we bought it cash . New at £11.5k and we got for £7k . They had loads to clear, so we could pick one and also the flush out was available from other local dealers. Happy with the deal and the car, its brilliant. The dealer did try and charge me a crazy service cost in November though, so that tarnished the relationship with them, especially when I emailed them to justify their costs and I got ignored. So, a £260 bill for 3 ltrs of oil, a filter and pollen filter ended up at £110 at my local guy with an air filter also thrown in the price. 

Yes, the dealer at VW used the words, 'see if you can afford it' and I think that put the wife straight off. I let it go over my head as affording it isnt a problem and gave him the benefit of the doubt. 

Its a similar story at Kia , with a work colleague buying a car from them. They were really rubbish to her and even when she ordered the car they had no customer interest at all. 

PCP is great if you get a good deal. As to finding £35 k to buy a car , its not always a sensible approach to buy and the hassle of selling or PX'ing later on is solved. Also no issues with warranty for the full term and servicing can be a included if you do some bartering.

The sales guys do seem to show an arrogance amongst most dealerships and can say that Volvo and Mercedes seem to show a more mature and sensible approach to car sales and wish others would take notice to punters coming in the door.

[SteH]

It really is painful being a car fan and having to deal with car sales guys. I’m sure there are some decent ones out there but few and far between in my experience. I currently have a GLC on a 3 year lease from a Mercedes main dealer, with one year to go. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get the deal done in the first place. We actually took 2 x GLC’s for me and my business partner and literally had to drag the deal out of them. They seem to have that many customers they just can’t cope! And as for the sales reps knowledge of the vehicle....

The service department is just as bad (Mercedes Warrington). My latest experience was having all 4 tyres on both vehicles replaced under warranty. (Google GLC tyre skipping) We took one car early morning and went to pick it up at the end of the day and drop the other one off. Service guy said that’s all done for you .... it wasn’t, they hadn’t changed them! When they did change them I got the car back with no dust caps! A minor issue, but if they can’t manage to put dust caps back what else don’t they do!

GLC is a really nice car though, shame the road tax has gone up significantly, I didn’t realise that.

[Thrustyjust]

Someone we know bought a new ML from the same dealer we went to. Well it went in for a 1000 mile service. 20 miles down the road, all alarms on the dash. Basically they didnt do the sump plug up. It loosened and destroyed the engine. He said that the car went back to Germany for a new engine , weirdly. Said customer care at the dealer was totally woeful. Said the car was never the same with the new engine. I believe he sold it as bought another brand.

Any quirks with the GLC other than the tyres ? The sales lady said about the tyres on the test drive and said it was a recall .

[SteH]

The new tyres have transformed manoeuvring at low speed, it used to feel like you’d crashed into something when reversing into a parking space! I can’t help feeling that the new tyres are just a really soft compound that are masking an underlying mechanical design issue. Apparently the LHD versions don’t have this problem.

I have the 250d AMG Line with I think the Premium Plus package. It’s a very nice spec and goes well enough. Very stable on the road, presumably the 4wd helps with that. We previously had a 2013 XC60 which was terrible to drive in comparison. It was FWD and suffered horrendously from torque steer.

The worst bit of the GLC for me is the ICE. It doesn’t have Apple Car Play or the Android equivalent, I think you can now spec it but not if you want sat nav. The sat nav is poor and to update the maps you have to buy a special SD card from merc at a stupid price and then download and do the update yourself! I’ve refused to pay for it and now just use my phone for nav. Then there’s the fact that the screen isn’t a touch screen and they give you a touch pad AND a click wheel to control the thing. Two devices that are sat on top of each other and pretty much do the same thing – badly! It’s a real shame as the car itself is very good. It really feels high quality inside which I notice significantly when I use the wife’s Golf.

I’m already dreading what I’m going to do when it comes to replacing it next year though. I might just buy it off the leasing company and save myself the hassle!

Oh and servicing costs were a surprise to me not having had a “premium” make before. Approx £250 for the first service and then quoted £570 for the second. I got them down to £475.