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Used UK car purchase in Ire- advice please

  • 02-07-2014 12:15pm
    #1
    IrishChica
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3 ✭


    Apologies if a similar thread exists, I haven’t been able to find one.

    I am looking to buy a used car (hatchback 2010/2011- a very common search, it seems). Most cars in this category and at my budget seem to be imported from the UK. I will only buy from a reputable (do they exist?!) SIMI dealer.

    ADVICE: I know full Service History is a must but I would really welcome other advice too; e.g. any background checks I should do myself.

    MILEAGE: I want low mileage but at the same time am suspicious when it is very low. I’ve heard 12,000K/year is average. How do dealers really find UK cars with low mileage? Are they rental/company cars, is this potentially a problem, and can I find out that information myself?

    PRICE: I don’t have a trade in, what discount can I expect? There’s usually €500-600 off, but can I press for more?

    Thank you for your advice.


Comments

  • #2
    bazz26
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 51,364 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    IrishChica wrote: »
    Apologies if a similar thread exists, I haven’t been able to find one.

    I am looking to buy a used car (hatchback 2010/2011- a very common search, it seems). Most cars in this category and at my budget seem to be imported from the UK. I will only buy from a reputable (do they exist?!) SIMI dealer.

    Buy from a reputable dealer yes but don't put too much faith in whether they are a SIMI member or not as being a SIMI member adds very little value for the customer. It's just a country club for members made up of dealers.
    IrishChica wrote: »
    ADVICE: I know full Service History is a must but I would really welcome other advice too; e.g. any background checks I should do myself.

    You purchase the likes of a cartell or motorcheck report on the car, also study the car's service history and ring the garages that serviced it to verify what they did matches that in the service history. Remember that most UK cars have a very detailed service history so if you find a car has either a missing service history or patchy one where things don't add up, then walk away.
    IrishChica wrote: »
    MILEAGE: I want low mileage but at the same time am suspicious when it is very low. I’ve heard 12,000K/year is average. How do dealers really find UK cars with low mileage? Are they rental/company cars, is this potentially a problem, and can I find out that information myself?

    Everybody wants low mileage because people think low mileage directly relates to wear which is not automatically the case. I could show you low mileage cars that are rough as feck while I have seen high mileage cars in mint condition. This is one of the reasons clocking of cars is big business here, people will nearly always dis-guard the higher mileage car straight away.

    12k km per year is below low mileage for a diesel car especially a UK car. They would probably do on average upwards of twice that annually.


    IrishChica wrote: »
    PRICE: I don’t have a trade in, what discount can I expect? There’s usually €500-600 off, but can I press for more?

    Thank you for your advice.

    There is no set formula for getting a straight deal discount. It all depends on how the car is priced compared to similar cars, how much the car owes the dealer and of course how good a haggler you are. The most powerful weapon to have when negotiating, is the power to walk away from the deal if the money or something else is not right.


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