Buying a new car

[Tony Baloney]

There are loads of finance options but the smaller/cheaper cars will often have 0 deposit, 0% finance over 4 or 5 years as they can obviously do this on a Seat Ibiza or the like. For a bigger car like the Sportage these deals with zero contribution from the buyer typically don't exist as either the monthly repayments would be massive or you would be paying it off for years.

[Zulu]

Thanks for the thoughts lads. The 15 reg is not a consideration for me but I would do approx 20,000 miles a year with a lot of motorway driving and some pretty lengthy trips thrown in so I'd like to have something I enjoy being in. I'm not that interested in owning the car outright as I used to do that but would prefer to change car every 3 - 4 years now. My understanding is with a PCP I can pay a deposit of whatever I want, pay monthly and then after 3 years I have a guaranteed value which if lower than the actual value of the vehicle leaves me with a deposit towards a new car. For example Skoda were giving £1500 towards a new superb and 0% finance (Audi were contributing £4500!), if I put £3000 deposit and the difference between the guaranteed value and the actual value after 3 years was around £3000 then I'd have my deposit back without putting my hand in my pocket. Only if I got another Skoda of course but still, it seems like a pretty good deal to me but maybe I'm not grasping the full story?

I won't buy anything more than 3 years old so with dealer contribution and lower interest rates I reckon I might be better off with a new car that will always be under warranty, would't I?

[GJL]

Are the smaller diesel engines up to big mileage GJL? In my mind they wouldn't but I'm not basing that on evidence.

I've seen plenty of the new 1.6 TDI VW engine with well over 100k miles on and going perfect. The secret is regular servicing and no shit diesel. IMO cars coming out of England are better maintained and the diesel over there is generally better. I brought over 100 cars out of England last year and have had very little issues. Be warned though you need to know what you are at if you go to public auctions or car supermarkets. Lots of scrap over there too. I buy out of closed trade auctions that give very detailed descriptions of the cars and flag any issues like previous repairs or mechanical faults.

[Tony Baloney]

Are the smaller diesel engines up to big mileage GJL? In my mind they wouldn't but I'm not basing that on evidence.

I've seen plenty of the new 1.6 TDI VW engine with well over 100k miles on and going perfect. The secret is regular servicing and no shit diesel. IMO cars coming out of England are better maintained and the diesel over there is generally better. I brought over 100 cars out of England last year and have had very little issues. Be warned though you need to know what you are at if you go to public auctions or car supermarkets. Lots of scrap over there too. I buy out of closed trade auctions that give very detailed descriptions of the cars and flag any issues like previous repairs or mechanical faults.

These lads should just buy their cars from you amd save the hassle 

[GJL]

Are the smaller diesel engines up to big mileage GJL? In my mind they wouldn't but I'm not basing that on evidence.

I've seen plenty of the new 1.6 TDI VW engine with well over 100k miles on and going perfect. The secret is regular servicing and no shit diesel. IMO cars coming out of England are better maintained and the diesel over there is generally better. I brought over 100 cars out of England last year and have had very little issues. Be warned though you need to know what you are at if you go to public auctions or car supermarkets. Lots of scrap over there too. I buy out of closed trade auctions that give very detailed descriptions of the cars and flag any issues like previous repairs or mechanical faults.

These lads should just buy their cars from you amd save the hassle 

I like your thinking Tony. 

[Harold Disgracey]

Bought a 2012 Seat Leon 1.6 Ecomotive last year, had almost 40k miles on it. Got it for a very reasonable price and am more than happy with it. The sat nav and free road tax were a bonus.

[rosnarun]

whats shit diesel and how do you recognise it?

[GJL]

whats shit diesel and how do you recognise it?

It is diesel that has been mixed with home heating oil or laundered green/red diesel. Very hard to recognise but the best way to avoid it is to buy from one of the big respected retailers like BP, Maxol etc although there are no guarantees. Avoid small independent retailers especially on the border.