How far would you travel for a car?

Eliot · 4 Aug 2011 at 07:55

I drove to leicester, which is nearly 200 miles i think, for my gti6. The journey back was immense though and worth it

especially coming from a fiesta mk which was inferior in every measurable way bar economy

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2011 at 08:13

paradigm said:
Why, do they not have mainstream cars further away from you, or are you in the only location in the UK where mainstream cars are guaranteed to be perfect?

You can buy a Focus LX from down the road - there is no need to take the risk of it being yet another crap second hand car after doing a 300 mile drive in order to buy one.

ubersonic · 4 Aug 2011 at 08:28

Furthest ive done for a car was a 506 mile round trip.

crinkleshoes · 4 Aug 2011 at 08:30

For me it depends on the car.

If there's only 1 car that's exactly what I want for the right price... I'll travel for it... but I will have extensively grilled the seller before making the trip! You do still get people who lie to you... but if you ask enough questions, you can generally figure it out.

If it was a normal car for which there are quite a lot on the market... no, I wouldn't bother travelling that far.

Also... if it was very low value (say sub £2k)... I wouldn't travel for that either... unless it was a £2k car that shoul've cost £4k and is exactly what I'm looking for... funnilly enough, that scenario's never happened...

Matt82 · 4 Aug 2011 at 08:36

did almost 300 miles, each way, once

woodpigeon4 · 4 Aug 2011 at 09:57

Went from london to yorkshire to pick up my car. Only paid £3900 for it (part of the reason I decided to go so far was because it was cheap), and it was extremely difficult to find that car in the spec I wanted anywhere near where I lived.
Thinking back on it, could have been an extremely costly mistake, but I've done 5000 miles in it since and I'm really pleased with it.

lordrobs · 4 Aug 2011 at 09:58

So who has had the longest wasted trip to see a "mint" car that was anything but?

Matt82 · 4 Aug 2011 at 10:04

lordrobs said:
So who has had the longest wasted trip to see a "mint" car that was anything but?

erm i went to bradford (from essex) to see an S4, but the overall general condition was below par, despite being a "minter", it had lots of niggly little problems

Meatball · 4 Aug 2011 at 10:23

I went from Uxbridge, Greater London to Ayrshire, Scotland to pick up my MX-5 Berkeley

. One Ryanair flight there and a 7.5Hour drive back later and she was home.

Basher · 4 Aug 2011 at 10:30

I'll generally be buying from authorised used stock from a dealer, so I'd get them to bring it to me.

Dr Who · 4 Aug 2011 at 10:38

[TW]Fox;19739068 said:
If I was buying a £500 banger, 10 miles, tops.

If I was buying smoething decent, there is no limit to how far I'd travel. My last three cars were both over 200 miles away.

this

My 205 GTI was purchased 186 miles from home

moss · 4 Aug 2011 at 10:42

Done a round trip of over 600miles to get the MR2.

MOOGLEYS · 4 Aug 2011 at 12:06

Did a round trip of 850 miles to pick up my carlton a few years back. Was an Epic drive back through the Highlands of scotland..

But as mentioned really depends on the car..

Perywinkle · 4 Aug 2011 at 18:09

About 1000 round mile trip when I picked up the Manta, half of that was a BA flight to Glasgow mind

Skyboat · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:15

Did a 260 mi. round trip to look at my Puma. Luckily the guy's father who was selling it had a funeral down near me the week after so saved me another trip to go and pick it up

Scania · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:23

Again, like Fox says, it depends on the car, all of my recent ones have been within a 50mile radius from home.

I do know of a chap who has a VW Transporter with a Flat bed trailer, he drives from Warsaw (yes, Poland!) and back from Leeds Car auctions regularly!

RedvGreen · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:25

I view private sales (and selling privately) as an EPIC waste of time. If finances allow, buy the car from a 'reputable' dealership/group. This gives you buyer protection, warranty and many other things that a private deals do not with the beauty that it takes less time.

First car: MR2 Roadster, bought 2nd hand from Toyota Main Dealer.
Sold via auction company.
Second car: Lotus Elise SC, bought ex-dealer owned from Lotus Main Dealer.
Part-ex'd.
Third car: BMW 135, bought brand new from BMW Main Dealer.

For the correct deal/price, I would travel ANYWHERE in the UK as I did for the Lotus.

Dr House · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:29

Bought my first Bmw in dusseldorf and drove 700km back to prague.

Scania · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:31

f00f1ght0r said:
I view private sales (and selling privately) as an EPIC waste of time. If finances allow, buy the car from a 'reputable' dealership/group. This gives you buyer protection, warranty and many other things that a private deals do not with the beauty that it takes less time.

All well & good, IF finances allow....

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2011 at 21:33

f00f1ght0r said:
I view private sales (and selling privately) as an EPIC waste of time. If finances allow, buy the car from a 'reputable' dealership/group. This gives you buyer protection, warranty and many other things that a private deals do not with the beauty that it takes less time.

Whereas I think the complete opposite. A private sale is ALWAYS preferable to a dealer. The 'extras' you get from a dealer are worthless guff with the exception of a decent warranty.

But then its entirely possible to buy a car from a private seller with a decent warranty - infact, this is best case scenario.

Dealers add zero value to the buying process beyond that warranty. None at all.

You appear to have never bought a decent car from a private seller - so I don't really understand where your opinion comes from.