Buying a used car

[ben0239]

I am looking to buy a new or nearly used car, does anybody know of any good car dealers who give discounts to members of the armed forces and if so how much.

 

[Civvy_Shot]

Most franchised dealers have a discount scheme in place for new cars - the % discount depends on model, manufacturer etc. Usually from 8-15%.

(This is a seperate deal from tax-free/tax-paid sales.)

Nearly new, you'd be better off looking at pre-registered if you're buying from a volume manufacturer as they're often a bit cheaper than a fully discounted new one - again it depends on model.

Also, you may get a better deal if you or a member of your family works/has worked for a big company/organisation such as BT, Royal Mail, Police, Civil Service etc. Similar discounts, but you may also qualify for schemes such as 0% finance, free insurance, cashback, deposit paid etc.

 

[lemonsuckas]

spend a bit of time going round the dealers in your area or a little bit further afield if you can. i have just bought a used car for cash and the dealer i finally chose gave me 700 quid off the price for cash sale.

saves him a bit of paperwork sorting out the finance and all. some dealers are dodgy and wont even respond to your e-mails or messages.

 

[Civvy_Shot]

spend a bit of time going round the dealers in your area or a little bit further afield if you can. i have just bought a used car for cash and the dealer i finally chose gave me 700 quid off the price for cash sale.
saves him a bit of paperwork sorting out the finance and all. some dealers are dodgy and wont even respond to your e-mails or messages.

Which is technically illegal. And has been for many years.

More likely that you'll get discount for no part exchange as a used car will have a varying margin in the screen price which will include something for 'over-trade allowance'. If the part ex is a shed it also it's a pain to the dealer to send it to the block.

As for 'saving the dealer a bit of paperwork sorting out the finance'. Utter cojones, I'm afraid. A decent (i.e not Arfer in his Portakabin) dealer will as a minimum get paid a Volume Related Bonus by the finance company for the amount of business he gives them. The dealer might only earn £20, but margins in the business are so slim these days that it adds up over the year.

Oh, and yes some dealers don't call you back. True. Curse of the trade in fact. WHich is why the bigger ones have a call logging system so that this doesn't happen. However if you bung a one line email saying "give me your best deal on Model A" to every dealer in the county you'll be shall we say a low priority compared to someone who wants to buy a specific car that is in stock.

 

[lemonsuckas]

would have traded in my old one but i dont think the fifty pence i would have got for it would make much of an impact in my finances, unless anybody out there wants to buy it