buying a uk car

homer1982

Hi everyone

This is my first time on the motoring forum. I am definitely going to the UK early next year to purchase a used car, it will be my first time going over there for this purpose.

I am looking for a diesel car that is some what economical and does not have exceedingly high emissions and it must be at least a saloon.

Can anyone tell me what their opinion is on the best type of car value wise including the VRT charge?

Thanks

MuppetCheck

With exchange rates at the moment check the prices here. Have you narrowed down the cars you are interested in?

homer1982

I have been looking at :
Toyota Avensis 2009 - 2010
BMW 318d 2008 - 2009
Opel Insignia 2009 -2011
Lexus 220
Ford Mondeo 2009 - 2011

I have checked some prices of these cars here as against the UK including the exchange rate and VRT and it still makes sense to travel there.
I have even thought of getting a smaller car, has to be 4/5 door maybe an Opel Astra 1.7d

What do you think? Any other suggestions?

bazz26

OP, you need to go decide what car you want first, do research on it and then decide where to buy it.

Out of interest, why have you decided to go to the UK? If it is to try and save money then there are no bargins there anymore, any of the tidy stuff especially diesels are in short supply and those that are available are fetching strong money. The only cheap stuff over there at the moment is stuff with a colourful past or no history at all.

As I said you first need to decide on a particular model, look and test drive a number of them here, do research on the model and prices, then decide if it is better to go to the UK for one. While you might not save money by going to the UK but you might get a cleaner car with higher spec. But do some of the leg work over here first rather than just jumping in.

homer1982

I have test driven a few cars here but most of the cars here don't have all the extras that come as practically standard over there and the engine sizes are mostly different to here from what I can see. And yes I have talked to dealers about price and most are still too high in my opinion, one dealer gave me he's lowest price for a 2010 Avensis that he himself imported from the UK and the difference between he's price and one almost identical in the UK was 4500 and that's without even haggling over there. That includes the exchange rate and VRT.

bazz26

Have you links to the cars in question?

homer1982

bazz26 wrote: »

Have you links to the cars in question?

I don't have any links to cars in general, all I am looking for is some knowledgeable people that could give me a few examples of the type of car I could be interested, and after reading these posts and others I have not completely given up on buying a car here if the price is right.

Can anybody give me some of their preferences for a diesel car that is economical and my preference is for a saloon, not any estates.

TGi666

what is you budget OP? also how many miles do you cover a year?

bazz26

What sort of budget do you have? Once you give a budget people can start giving suggestions.

homer1982

bazz26 wrote: »

What sort of budget do you have? Once you give a budget people can start giving suggestions.

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. The budget would be between 13k and 16k

ofcork

With the avensis most of the uk cars are 2.0 diesel or 2.2 diesel and pretty similar spec to here,they have t2 tr etc while we have terra aura strata luna.The only different one they have is a 1.8petrol manual which is not sold here and price wise i dont think the difference is huge on cars in this price range.

Mc Love

I would nearly go for a mondeo - you should get a lovely one over there for your budget and probably have money to spare!

jjf1974

Mc Love wrote: »

I would nearly go for a mondeo - you should get a lovely one over there for your budget and probably have money to spare!

There is fine mondeos over there alright but make sure to check millage as alot of them were company cars.

bazz26

I'd be looking at the likes of the Honda Accord, Mazda 6 and VW Passat CC.

plasmin

OP- do u know any reliable places/garages in UK to buy secondhand diesel car? I am exploring this option myself.

homer1982

cais wrote: »

OP- do u know any reliable places/garages in UK to buy secondhand diesel car? I am exploring this option myself.

At the moment I'm just going through Car Giant and Auto Traders UK but I would like to accept any information on good trusting garages to visit while over there.

ablelocks

rather than post another thread, I thought I'd just ask here - is it still worth it to purchase in the UK?

7 seater, Galaxy or similar - budget €15-20k?

we bought our last car (renault grand scenic) in the uk, but exchange rate was better and the VRT was less (and there were fewer kids to be transported)

edit : is there any price variation between scotland and england? I have friends in glasgow and birmingham.

TheDriver

i looked at UK and found cars were no dearer here and spec has improved a lot also. I was looking at Insignias and they weren't much cheapers if at all over there and spec was actually better here. Also its a vauxhall which is pants for resale...

BigEejit

We have been looking for an petrol automatic verso for the wife and found that as you go north the prices seemed to get cheaper alright, not by loads but there was definitely a difference of at least 500

DHFrame

Why are we telling people there is no benefit to purchasing a car in the uk?.

Like this statement here is total rubbish: "Out of interest, why have you decided to go to the UK? If it is to try and save money then there are no bargins there anymore, any of the tidy stuff especially diesels are in short supply and those that are available are fetching strong money. The only cheap stuff over there at the moment is stuff with a colourful past or no history at all."

A 3min search tells me a 2009 A4 TDI with 49000 miles is €24950 in Ireland. 2009 A4 TDI with 27000 miles £12983 €15000 in the uk. VRT is 3500. Now I am either stupid and completely missing the point or there is been some mis advising here. And all this chitter chatter about uk cars being dodgy is also mis advice. In the uk you can have any car history checked and technically checked by the RAC. You are at more risk purchasing an Irish car imo. To me it's a no brainer. For the price of a flight, a ferry and possibly a hire car you can save yourself nearly 10k. And that was a 3 min search.

I am looking for a TT TDI for around €15k. The cheapest on carzone is €25900 and that's got 65000 miles on the clock.

Sorry for the abruptness but it really pisses me off when people know there is a deal over the sea and all you get is no no no. It's weird. There are massive savings to be made. Just do the comparison. The Irish market is terrible. High milage tatty crap for big sums of money. the uk cars are better spec, lower milage and definitely cared for more than here. Some sections of carzone have 10 cars compared to 100s in the uk. We purchased a 2008 Auris terra 3 years ago here for €10000 and we regretted it ever since. We could have saved a fortune. Rant over.

jd80

It is to note that if you purchase a 'new' (less than 6 months old or 6000 km or less on clock), you will have to pay VAT in the Republic in addition to VRT

jjf1974

DHFrame wrote: »

Why are we telling people there is no benefit to purchasing a car in the uk?.



A 3min search tells me a 2009 A4 TDI with 49000 miles is €24950 in Ireland. 2009 A4 TDI with 27000 miles £12983 €15000 in the uk. VRT is 3500. .

You should do a longer search there is plenty audi A4 tdi's on carzone for a lot less than that with low millage.There is a 2011 model for 25k,most of these cars are being sold by simi garages who will give you a warranty.There are several websites in ireland that give you a cars history and the AA among others will check out a car for you.

shooter88

DHFrame wrote: »

Why are we telling people there is no benefit to purchasing a car in the uk?.

Like this statement here is total rubbish: "Out of interest, why have you decided to go to the UK? If it is to try and save money then there are no bargins there anymore, any of the tidy stuff especially diesels are in short supply and those that are available are fetching strong money. The only cheap stuff over there at the moment is stuff with a colourful past or no history at all."

A 3min search tells me a 2009 A4 TDI with 49000 miles is €24950 in Ireland. 2009 A4 TDI with 27000 miles £12983 €15000 in the uk. VRT is 3500. Now I am either stupid and completely missing the point or there is been some mis advising here. And all this chitter chatter about uk cars being dodgy is also mis advice. In the uk you can have any car history checked and technically checked by the RAC. You are at more risk purchasing an Irish car imo. To me it's a no brainer. For the price of a flight, a ferry and possibly a hire car you can save yourself nearly 10k. And that was a 3 min search.

I am looking for a TT TDI for around €15k. The cheapest on carzone is €25900 and that's got 65000 miles on the clock.

Sorry for the abruptness but it really pisses me off when people know there is a deal over the sea and all you get is no no no. It's weird. There are massive savings to be made. Just do the comparison. The Irish market is terrible. High milage tatty crap for big sums of money. the uk cars are better spec, lower milage and definitely cared for more than here. Some sections of carzone have 10 cars compared to 100s in the uk. We purchased a 2008 Auris terra 3 years ago here for €10000 and we regretted it ever since. We could have saved a fortune. Rant over.

I totally agree having been there done that many times,its worth it..

bazz26

DHFrame wrote: »

Why are we telling people there is no benefit to purchasing a car in the uk?.

Like this statement here is total rubbish: "Out of interest, why have you decided to go to the UK? If it is to try and save money then there are no bargins there anymore, any of the tidy stuff especially diesels are in short supply and those that are available are fetching strong money. The only cheap stuff over there at the moment is stuff with a colourful past or no history at all."

A 3min search tells me a 2009 A4 TDI with 49000 miles is €24950 in Ireland. 2009 A4 TDI with 27000 miles £12983 €15000 in the uk. VRT is 3500. Now I am either stupid and completely missing the point or there is been some mis advising here. And all this chitter chatter about uk cars being dodgy is also mis advice. In the uk you can have any car history checked and technically checked by the RAC. You are at more risk purchasing an Irish car imo. To me it's a no brainer. For the price of a flight, a ferry and possibly a hire car you can save yourself nearly 10k. And that was a 3 min search.

I am looking for a TT TDI for around €15k. The cheapest on carzone is €25900 and that's got 65000 miles on the clock.

Sorry for the abruptness but it really pisses me off when people know there is a deal over the sea and all you get is no no no. It's weird. There are massive savings to be made. Just do the comparison. The Irish market is terrible. High milage tatty crap for big sums of money. the uk cars are better spec, lower milage and definitely cared for more than here. Some sections of carzone have 10 cars compared to 100s in the uk. We purchased a 2008 Auris terra 3 years ago here for €10000 and we regretted it ever since. We could have saved a fortune. Rant over.

Maybe try spending a bit longer than 3 mins on carzone because €25k is one of the most expensive 2009 A4s on there. I'm sure I could find an equally overpriced example in the UK to make a more fair comparision.

The Pontiac

Isn't the exchange rate a lot more favourable than it was a few months back? Thus making it worthwhile again, maybe.

The Pontiac

Just picked a car from car giant.

2009 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi 75k £6,199 (€7,166) + Vrt (€2,664) = €9,863 + Ferry

Not sure how that compares to Irish prices?

bazz26

The Pontiac wrote: »

Just picked a car from car giant.

2009 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi 75k £6,199 (€7,166) + Vrt (€2,664) = €9,863 + Ferry

Not sure how that compares to Irish prices?

I'm sure this higher spec model with similar milege could be bought for close to that with some haggling:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Ford/Mondeo/ZETEC-1.8/32913614595551210/

shinkansen

Cars are savagely over priced (and under specified) in Ireland, Scotland and England has much more car, for much less euro.

Am getting a car for my mom later this year here, a Honda Jazz or the like, for 5 grand ish here even with vrt could get nothing like that in Ireland.