Buying a used car from a dealer

Matthew-1985 · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:54

I've been looking at used cars from local dealers (don't want to buy private after the POS I got last time) and was wondering what I should expect to get included in the price such as tax, warranty etc. Also do they expect you to haggle to get the price down and how much lower would they normal go? I don't want to look stupid or anything.

One more thing if I got a car for say £2000 how do you pay for it? Cash or can you use a debit card for that amount? :confused:

Sorry for the stupid questions.

PS. I am looking at getting a 2000 W VAUXHALL Vectra 2.0 LS with 81,000 miles on it? What sort of price should I be paying? And are they nice cars?

Thanks.

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:55

No, the 1995-2002 Vauxhall Vectra is absolutely not a nice car. It is infact probably the worst car of its type you could possibly be. Virtually anything else you chose will be better, probably in every single way. You should not buy one.

Instead, consider either a Nissan Primera or a Ford Mondeo.

Entai · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:57

Or a 231bhp BMW E39 530i Sport Manual, hey TW

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:57

Good luck finding one of those

Firestar_3x · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:57

Paid just under 7k for my last car using my Debit card, no issues at all.

Also please don't buy the vectra, like fox stated get a primera or mondeo instead perhaps even a 406 if you can find a good one

AndrewP · 27 Sep 2006 at 22:51

Matthew-1985 said:
One more thing if I got a car for say £2000 how do you pay for it? Cash or can you use a debit card for that amount?

I paid for my car with my debit card, but before the payment was authorised we had to ring the bank and give them some security information (postcode, DOB etc. and a regular incoming/outgoing payment).

You'll probably get offered a couple of hundred off straight away if you don't have a part exchange, feel free to haggle for tax, fuel etc.

Limited warranties are pretty standard, won't cover consumables like brakes and tyres.

Don't buy a Vectra.

Draeger · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:32

Just bought a 2004 Vectra V6 3.0 CDTi SRi from a local dealer a few days ago. Posted here about it and the haggling thing.

I hate haggling, I'm really not good at it. I went in and spoke to them. The car was advertised at £10,995.

I simply put an offer on the table at £10k plus I wanted new tyres put on it. Said I was off to look at another similar spec car and if I liked it and it fitted the bill, I would be putting a deposit on the other car.

So, just putting an offer to them of "xxx" amount otherwise you will walk away worked for me. They came back and agreed to £10k and not only fitted the tyres, they gave it a full service too before I picked it up last Saturday.

Agree with the above posts, the old shape Vectra wasn't a particularly good car all round. Think about what you are buying before making a decision. A Mondeo of the same age will be a better bet IMO.

As far as paying for it, we did the same as AndrewP did. Just used the switch card to pay out £10k!!!!. The HBOS security centre called and checked it out whilst we were there and asked for a security question to be answered, then it all went through without a hitch. Sometimes they dont even ask for a security question of any kind, they just give the dealer an auth code number that he punches in to the switch machine to get it through.

ste_bla · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:35

[TW]Fox said:
No, the 1995-2002 Vauxhall Vectra is absolutely not a nice car. It is infact probably the worst car of its type you could possibly be. Virtually anything else you chose will be better, probably in every single way. You should not buy one.

Instead, consider either a Nissan Primera or a Ford Mondeo.

They arnt that bad Fox

It does A>B goes fairly well

Having a look on Parkers same BHP on most models same top speed and only a second extra to 60mph eg;

Mon - 97 1796cc 113bhp 121mph 10.2sec
Vec - 97 1799cc 113bhp 124mph 11.1sec

Although I dont like the fact the use a cambelt and not a chain so thats a nice price..

moss · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:41

ste_bla said:
They arnt that bad Fox

I quite like the look of some Vectra's but they are fairly unreliable, theres quite a lot of fairly serious common faults, especially with the diesels.

[TW]Fox · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:46

ste_bla said:
They arnt that bad Fox

Yes, they are.

Having a look on Parkers same BHP on most models same top speed and only a second extra to 60mph eg;

Mon - 97 1796cc 113bhp 121mph 10.2sec
Vec - 97 1799cc 113bhp 124mph 11.1sec

So what? The Vectras issues are far more fundamental than just being a second slower to 60. They are gash, full stop, no reason to buy one, get something else. 406 is a better Motorway car, Primera is more reliable, Mondeo better to drive, etc.

Although I dont like the fact the use a cambelt and not a chain so thats a nice price..

Yes a Cambelt with a totally Vauxhall change interval of something pathetic like 42k miles as well..

eidolon · 27 Sep 2006 at 23:46

Matthew-1985 said:
One more thing if I got a car for say £2000 how do you pay for it? Cash or can you use a debit card for that amount?

I paid £14k on my switch card at the Honda dealer for the CTR, same process as if I was buying my groceries, no additional checks or anything.

Cueball · 28 Sep 2006 at 00:01

[TW]Fox said:
No, the 1995-2002 Vauxhall Vectra is absolutely not a nice car. It is infact probably the worst car of its type you could possibly be. Virtually anything else you chose will be better, probably in every single way. You should not buy one.

Instead, consider either a Nissan Primera or a Ford Mondeo.

I thought the Mondeo was a bag of **** compared to the Vectra, IMO. Very cheaply built inside. I felt the Vectra was more 'finished' inside.

Plus I love Vauxhall cars.

[TW]Fox · 28 Sep 2006 at 00:03

Cueball said:
I thought the Mondeo was a bag of **** compared to the Vectra, IMO. Very cheaply built inside. I felt the Vectra was more 'finished' inside.

Are we talking about 95-02 Vectra versus 96-01 Mondeo? If so, thats simply not true. And you are probably the only person in this country to think that

Plus I love Vauxhall cars.

That explains your comments then, you are a fanboy. People who love an entire marque are hardly great for opinions becuase they are biased and their judgement is tainted by their desire to show their favourite manufacturer in a good light./

And no, I don't 'love' either Ford or BMW. Both manufacturers produce more cars I don't like than ones I do.

Cueball · 28 Sep 2006 at 00:15

[TW]Fox said:
Are we talking about 95-02 Vectra versus 96-01 Mondeo? If so, thats simply not true. And you are probably the only person in this country to think that

I bet I was only of the only people in the country who had their Mondeo dashboard held together with gaffa tape as well. The interior literately... fell appart.

When I drove a Vectra, I liked it. It wasn't anything specific, the whole thing was "nice". I bought one, 8 years later, it's still knocking around (albeit I'm not the owner of it anymore). Still looks in good condition.

I still see my old Mondeo as well. Ahhh, sexy sky-blue. Looking a bit paler and rustier than last I remember her. Life in a scrapheap does that to a car.

Maybe, just to please you, I'll hop off down to a Ford dealership and test-drive a Mondeo. I don't know what I'm expecting though when I got a perfectly good BMW sitting on my driveway (as well as an indestructible Micrashoppingcart).

Jez · 28 Sep 2006 at 00:17

While i am not going to argue mondeo vs vectra (i really couldnt care less about either of them dynamically

), purely on looks alone, and the general feel of the two vehicles, i do prefer the vauxhall offering.

To be honest i dont think i'd want to be spending 2k on any of these cars, none will be particuarly inspiring to drive, whether thats what Matthew cares about is another matter. If its just going to be an A-B car, then i dont see why he shouldnt go for whatever he likes the asthetics of best.

If it were me i'd much sooner stick 2k into something a bit more powerful with RWD and better dynamics than this large-hatch class will offer.

[TW]Fox · 28 Sep 2006 at 00:18

Cueball said:
I bet I was only of the only people in the country who had their Mondeo dashboard held together with gaffa tape as well. The interior literately... fell appart.

Thats certainly not my experience, nor that of anyone else I know. My Mondeo is still in excellent condition and nothing fell off or fell apart. A truely brilliant car.

When I drove a Vectra, I liked it. It wasn't anything specific, the whole thing was "nice". I bought one, 8 years later, it's still knocking around (albeit I'm not the owner of it anymore). Still looks in good condition.

I looked at Vectras before I bought the Mondeo, the interior felt cheaper, the asthetics of the dashboard were terrible, the handling was stodgy, infact the only good thing about the whole car was the fact it didnt look bad.

Maybe, just to please you, I'll hop off down to a Ford dealership and test-drive a Mondeo. I don't know what I'm expecting though when I got a perfectly good BMW sitting on my driveway (as well as an indestructible Micrashoppingcart).

I've got a perfectly good BMW sitting in my drive way now as well, but I still appreciate quite how good the Mondeo is.

Sone · 28 Sep 2006 at 09:18

Cueball said:
I thought the Mondeo was a bag of **** compared to the Vectra, IMO. Very cheaply built inside. I felt the Vectra was more 'finished' inside.

Plus I love Vauxhall cars.

Which spec was it though, i went to test drive a 1.6lx and though it was terrible, every thing felt cheap yet my ghia feels 100x better. Same with passats, we have some 1.9tdi 110 s, and 1.9tdi 130 se's and the SE looks and feels 10x better (but the passat no leather steering wheel is terrible)

Cueball · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:15

Funny you should say that, it was the 1.6LX

Looked great and I thought it was actually fairly good, until I actually got to use it/live in it for a few months, then its faults really showed.

I guess that one experience has tainted my view of Mondeos.

BigDannyO · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:48

to the OP...

i just bought a used car from my local nissan dealer. I managed to get £250 off the asking price, 6 months tax, service, MOT, valet, 12 months warranty and a full tank of petrol

Pick it up tomorrow and have already arranged to pay by switch (£5000 :eek:

). Salesperson suggested it as it would be an instant transaction.

Sone · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:54

Matthew-1985 said:
I've been looking at used cars from local dealers (don't want to buy private after the POS I got last time)

mine was the other way around, dealer car was a pos and privately bought car is fine. Now going with other people i like buying private as you can normally tell more about people. Most important thing i look out for is replacement car, if you buying a 99 focus and an 06 focus is sitting on the drive, chances are its a good car because otherwise they wouldent of bought another.