I am considering buying a car from the car supermarket, Trade Sales in Slough. Has anyone any handy tips on this or comments, good or bad? I am worried the cars are not UK specification and will create problems later on.
Ian S
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I have a 1986 Opel Corsa 1.3ls which I imported from Belgium when new. I have had some difficulties getting insurance companies to recognise it and one of the reasons for not selling it has been that I did not think I would get a good price compared to a UK Vaux Nova of similar spec.
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So Huw paid about £5k for his Corsa 16 years ago. Even if it's now worth nothing, it's cost him £312.50 a year in depreciation. Is that a problem?
HJ
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Its certainly not a problem - but an observation. I had some difficulties with the insurance but do not think I ended up paying over the odds. There has never been any trouble with parts. I am delighted with the car - it has been 99.9% reliable and has been costing me next to nothing to go back and forth to work for years. I haven't even had it serviced, yet it always starts and returns nearly 40 mpg despite being on the original plugs - which haven't been out for about 6 years. Every couple of years I have to scrape the cake off the inside of the distributor cap - but that is it. Even better National Tyres sold me a life time warranty on the exhaust about 6 years ago - for £9.
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Huw: you must be joking. No service, same spark untouched spark plugs?
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Obviously a future Ka buyer then ;-D
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I'm not joking - the Corsa has never been serviced and the plugs are original. It goes to MOT in October;if it fails I am considering offering it to GM for research they might want to do into a totally neglected car. It has only failed to start twice in 16 years - both electrical faults fixed for less that a pound.
Sorry to hijack the thread but I have no fear of the 'imported quality' car.
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Ian
I recently bought a Ford Ka and found that Trade Sales were not as competitive as you might think, though it does depend on the car. They do the basic for £5.5K. Add on £200 to get it on the road and you get £5.7K with a one year warranty. Local dealers do the same for £5.8K - £6.0K with a 3 year warranty. I even saw one at £5.5K. Also Trade Sales cars are imports so this might effect the resale value. I think TS are more competitive for expensive cars. Try a search in google for other car sites.
Also, check out www.drivethedeal.com. (Listed in HJ's facts.) They will supply from a UK car dealer. A basic Ka on the road with a 3 year warranty is £5.5K.
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Well done, Leif. That's how the discussion should have progressed: Sensible points, well made and of value to everyone reading the thread.
HJ
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I bought a Fiat Punto sporting 1 year ago. The car has been great and came with all the extras aircon sunroof cd changer etc.
I do think they could improve their sales staff. I have used motorpoint and their staff are much friendlier and spend a bit more time with the customer.
One tip be a bit cautious about the cars that are in stock ie on display. Check them out thoroughly Most people will order their cars in advance from the computer lists of cars being delivered these can be secured with a 300 deposit. the cars on display may have been rejected once delivered because of blemishes etc so its caveat emptor check everything especially if they appear to be the last of a particular model they have got.
Better to see that they have 20 of your car and choose one of these.
Last tip the website is very good and lets you see which cars are due to be delivered....
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