What have you done to your car today?

Tbh the Corolla looks crap anyway it's just so bland and dated not to mention slow. How much money have u got to spend? As any sort of warm/hot hatch is going to be a shed when your trying to buy one for around 2.5k.
Have u looked at the Fiesta ST150 or the Mondeo ST220? There much better value for money around 3k
 
geekman said:
I could tell you my tale of non-woe from buying my car from a dealer if you want? :p

There's bad dealers and bad private sellers, just as there are good ones.
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Yup, but generally the lower the price the higher the chance of finding the bad dealer. Some dealers flogging £2k cars are lovely, but most are not. Some dealers flogging £40k cars are awful, but many are not (and it becomes more and more difficult to avoid dealers as the price increases anyway as private sellers often just don't sell higher value cars as often).

Generally, the rule of thumb I work to is that if it's a cheaper car, don't touch a dealer. By the time you've taken his margin off and allowed for the fact he's probably like the guy Acme found then you are buying £1000 cars for £2500...

Your example can only be explained by the fact the comparative private seller was a dreamer - if the car was worth £1k more privately no dealer would have sold it for £1k less :D
 
It wasn't a shed, it was actually (cosmetically) in very good condition aside from the little scuffs and the tiny dink (bear in mind it is 10 years old) - but when considering that as well as the fact that all the consumables were nearing expiry, and the weird noise, it was a no.
 
Dav4 said:
Tbh the Corolla looks crap anyway it's just so bland and dated not to mention slow. How much money have u got to spend? As any sort of warm/hot hatch is going to be a shed when your trying to buy one for around 2.5k.
Have u looked at the Fiesta ST150 or the Mondeo ST220? There much better value for money sub 3k
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I like how it looks, and it should have been near perfect for the money he was asking for it! They do go cheaply. I went to look at this one specifically because it looked to be in good nick, and was offered with a warranty and such. (and had a price to match, which I had hoped to knock down a little)

Never mind... Back to pipe dreams while I save up a little more cash.
 
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Acme said:
I like how it looks, and it should have been near perfect for the money he was asking for it! They do go cheaply. I went to look at this one specifically because it looked to be in good nick, and was offered with a warranty and such. (and had a price to match, which I had hoped to knock down a little)

Never mind... Back to pipe dreams while I save up a little more cash.
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Why don't u just go for a nice 1.6/2.0 Golf, Focus or Civic? It will still feel like a rocket compared to your current car! Might be better building up on the power than going straight to a hot hatch from 65bhp.
 
The thing is for that sort of money you need to be prepared to look for a very long time to find a 'hot hatch' that isn't knackered, especially from a dealer. They all usually do "look in good nick" in the adverts, and that one has probably had a hard life being passed from pillar to post and caned to within an inch of its life by people pretending it's a Civic Type R.

When considering the fact that a warranty on a car of this value is likely to be not worth the paper it's printed on, it's best to look for a private seller - some guy who has looked after the car for a few years and doted on it.
 
If you look at the adverts, £2750 is actually approaching the top end price-wise for non-SC T-Sports. Which is why I was expecting it to be better than it was.

Anyway, I actually far prefer the drive of my Polo to that Corolla, which is why I'm now thinking about looking at Polo/Golf GTI's next.
 
Acme said:
I like how it looks, and it should have been near perfect for the money he was asking for it! They do go cheaply. I went to look at this one specifically because it looked to be in good nick, and was offered with a warranty and such. (and had a price to match, which I had hoped to knock down a little)

Never mind... Back to pipe dreams while I save up a little more cash.
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Warrantys are useless.
 
Acme said:
You only think that because you have heard Fox and other people chirp on about it. Shush. :p
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I got given AutoGaurd 6 months warranty with my car. I looked at the documentation and it practically covers nothing and the stuff it does cover it'll only ever pay out like 50%. It's utter crap, like if I want to fix my headunit they'll only pay 30% or something
 
Sell your car private Acme.
It always makes me suspicious seeing Hot hatches etc at car dealerships as I've noticed looking at the Focus ST225's over the last 6 months that around 70% are trade sellers. I don't see why owners of cars like that will take massive losses on trade in price rather than sell private unless there is a fault somewhere. I only got offered 1.5k for my ST220 trade in when its worth 2.5k-3k so unless it's faulty why would I take such a hit.
I never trust dealerships 12 months Mot's either as u know they run them all through there mates garage that's going to let a few advisorys go amiss.
 
Dav4 said:
Sell your car private Acme.
It always makes me suspicious seeing Hot hatches etc at car dealerships as I've noticed looking at the Focus ST225's over the last 6 months that around 70% are trade sellers. I don't see why owners of cars like that will take massive losses on trade in price rather than sell private unless there is a fault somewhere. I only got offered 1.5k for my ST220 trade in when its worth 2.5k-3k so unless it's faulty why would I take such a hit.
I never trust dealerships 12 months Mot's either as u know they run them all through there mates garage that's going to let a few advisorys go amiss.
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Yep completely agree. Honda were not that great to me, very pushy etc and at first offered me crap deals and crap money for my car. Seat were pretty good but I never did get an offer only that the car was in mint condition (it's not :confused:) The only decent car dealer I've come across is the one who I bought my current car from who had it get MOTd at a place I and many family know well it's very strict and it was priced right for the condition of the car.
 
Yes but I don't want one. :p

People seem to be having trouble understanding this. :D

Its fine, I'll save a bit more cash which will open my options up. :)
 
Acme said:
Yes but I don't want one. :p

People seem to be having trouble understanding this. :D

Its fine, I'll save a bit more cash which will open my options up. :)
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You have weird tastes u like an old man looking dull Corolla that looks like it was made in 1992 yet u don't like ST's or Clio 182's :eek::p
If u didn't like the way the Corolla drove then your going to have to dismiss them. And don't get another Polo there's ton's of better cars than them.
 
[TW]Fox;28428393 said:
Yup, but generally the lower the price the higher the chance of finding the bad dealer. Some dealers flogging £2k cars are lovely, but most are not. Some dealers flogging £40k cars are awful, but many are not (and it becomes more and more difficult to avoid dealers as the price increases anyway as private sellers often just don't sell higher value cars as often).

Generally, the rule of thumb I work to is that if it's a cheaper car, don't touch a dealer. By the time you've taken his margin off and allowed for the fact he's probably like the guy Acme found then you are buying £1000 cars for £2500...

Your example can only be explained by the fact the comparative private seller was a dreamer - if the car was worth £1k more privately no dealer would have sold it for £1k less :D
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I suspect the reason mine was cheap was because the dealer had simply priced it according to the other examples with the same mileage, without considering the options mine had installed which made it more valuable. The majority of the higher priced private sales I'd watched sold pretty quickly - I think I was just lucky to happen to call the dealer the day mine was uploaded.

It seems incredibly short sighted to just automatically rule out a vast portion of the used car market. A lot of smaller independents take their stock from main dealer part ex's, which are often the best of the sub £5k market.

And of course there's a huge amount of sheds like the one Acme found. But it's surely worth going and having a look to decide for yourself, rather than just assuming it'll be crap because it's not from a main dealer or a private sale.
 
hxc hating alarm update; it just went off 3 times and the fob works about 1/3rd of the time. I literally hate this thing and want it gone.
 
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