New car brokers/car discount outfits

Stevo_666

Advice needed folks.

I'm looking at getting a new family car as the current one is getting a bit long in the tooth. It's been quite a while since I've been new car shopping and want to know if anyone has experience of using one of the new car brokers or discount sites recently.

The main ones I know of are:
- 'Drive the Deal' (used them quite a while ago and no issues) - they negotiate a price on your behalf with UK main dealerships, then present you with one offer which you then accept or decline - and after that you deal directly with the dealership.
- 'Carwow'. Seems to get a fair bit of press and have a pretty extensive website with car reviews etc. A reverse auction site where they send your specification to UK main dealerships who then contact you to bid for your business and you pick which one you want to deal with.

Those seem to be the big two which generally get good reviews in the internet, although not uniformly good and as always I'm taking the feedback with a pinch of salt. I've also heard of others such as Broadspeed, 'Orange Wheels' etc.

I'm a cash buyer - not interested in any form of loan finance or leasing unless there's a decent sized discount for taking out a small loan etc then paying it off asap (which I did when we bought the last one - the discount was bigger than the loan which got repaid after the minimum 3 months). Nor do I want to pay any fees directly to the middle man or buy the car from the broker/middle man. Also no pre-registered cars.

Price is obviously the main factor otherwise I wouldn't be asking about this sort of thing. Quality of service is also important as I haven't got time to waste sorting out other peoples' incompetence.

Also I know about new car depreciation - we know what we're after, we want it specced the way we want it and intend to keep it for a long time (as with the current one which will probably take up bike lugging/trips to the tip & spare car duties). So no lectures about being a mug please

Any thoughts/experiences on any of these outfits, good or bad?

Flâneur

Can't comment on the use of one, however used the price to haggle down a new car from VW recently. Matching the cost of the car and they still lumped on the supporting deposit etc.

DId us their finance for the minimum term to get the deposit contribution and the 3 years free servicing etc. Similar to you in the past, did the math and worked out it was better for us.

Side note, where is Vtech when you need him ;0

shirley_basso

Clydesdale are doing 2.8% personal loans which are pretty bloody good value up to about 25K

grenw

Get a quote from Carwow etc and use it to haggle with your dealer of choice. That's what I did a year or so back. They'll try to match it or at least get close.

city_boy

GrenW wrote:

Get a quote from Carwow etc and use it to haggle with your dealer of choice. That's what I did a year or so back. They'll try to match it or at least get close.

This.

If you're looking at a bespoke spec, the main dealers are the best, if not only, option I guess.

I'm lucky enough to have a company car, but my company buys all the cars outright in cash. Between me and the company we tend to play two or three dealers off against each other and my last three cars (all bespoke specs) have come with between 12.5-20% discount.

Timing will also be critical too. Just before new reg cars come out or towards then end of their sales quarter when they've got the last few units to shift to hit targets!

mouth

If you have a definitive spec in mind and are insisitent on new, your only real option is going to be a main dealer. If you're prepared to compromise even slightly then take a look at carwow. My father in law bought an ex-demo x5, sub 5k, service plan etc, didn't care what colour the trim or exterior were and paid cash. He traded it in a year later and got more than he'd paid. in a nutshell, he told them what he was prepared to pay if they wanted to sell the car that afternoon.

It's easy enough to play off a main dealer against another - we have two Ford franchises within 15 miles, and there are differences to be had even when we were looking at the exact same spec.

As for taking a loan etc it really depends which works best for you. Most of them get such a kickback off the warranty and service packages, not to mention the actual finance itself (0% deals are usually self-financed by the manufacturers) that they'll try and steer you along this route. A colleague recently bought his on finance because of the free stuff they put in, but forgot the early release fee of £400 or so.

keef66

Colleague of mine just retired and took a lump sum to buy a new car. Used CarWow to get about £16k off a golf R estate. Dealer in the southwest was cheapest so he took the train down and drove it back. I’ve used it to get some quotes on anew car too

Stevo_666

Thanks folks - some good points here.

A couple of votes for Carwow's prices (especially Keef's colleague who got the Golf Estate), although I suppose it depends on what car and how badly the dealer needs to meet sales targets.

Stevo_666

Mouth wrote:

If you have a definitive spec in mind and are insisitent on new, your only real option is going to be a main dealer. If you're prepared to compromise even slightly then take a look at carwow. My father in law bought an ex-demo x5, sub 5k, service plan etc, didn't care what colour the trim or exterior were and paid cash. He traded it in a year later and got more than he'd paid. in a nutshell, he told them what he was prepared to pay if they wanted to sell the car that afternoon.

It's easy enough to play off a main dealer against another - we have two Ford franchises within 15 miles, and there are differences to be had even when we were looking at the exact same spec.

As for taking a loan etc it really depends which works best for you. Most of them get such a kickback off the warranty and service packages, not to mention the actual finance itself (0% deals are usually self-financed by the manufacturers) that they'll try and steer you along this route. A colleague recently bought his on finance because of the free stuff they put in, but forgot the early release fee of £400 or so.

I do want new and have a definitive spec in mind, so it would be a factory order with a lead time of probably 3-4 months based on what I can see on the interweb. Even so, both Carwow and Drive the Deal websites allow you to specify the exact options you want on a particular model before you press the 'contact us' button - it is just like being on the manufacturers 'car configurator' page but without the fancy 360 degree pics.

As for finance, depends what they offer but a small loan with a short minimum duration in return for an extra discount or other freebies would be OK (or something with an early release penalty that isn't too steep like you say) as the amounts wouldn't be material.

Flâneur

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Stevo_666

Flâneur wrote:

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Take your (and City Boy's) point on that - I can be patient as we don't need to replace anything now. I guess most dealerships work on the normal quarter end dates but a bit of research needed there.

Something also tells me that second half of June and Dec may be a good time when people are usually thinking about holidays/Christmas rather than cars and there isn't the rush on for the bi-annual new plates. That said, not sure how it works if it's a factory order with a few month lead time and whether just a deposit counts towards their targets or whether they actually have to register the car?

fuel2000

I used a broker called autoebid to buy my new new golf estate. They negotiated a price that was cheaper than Carwow, even including their fee. My local dealer couldn’t match the price either. Car was delivered to my door as well. Very happy with their service.

Stevo_666

fuel2000 wrote:

I used a broker called autoebid to buy my new new golf estate. They negotiated a price that was cheaper than Carwow, even including their fee. My local dealer couldn’t match the price either. Car was delivered to my door as well. Very happy with their service.

Thanks - will take a look at their site.

ballysmate

Stevo 666 wrote:

Advice needed folks.

I'm looking at getting a new family car as the current one is getting a bit long in the tooth. It's been quite a while since I've been new car shopping and want to know if anyone has experience of using one of the new car brokers or discount sites recently.

The main ones I know of are:
- 'Drive the Deal' (used them quite a while ago and no issues) - they negotiate a price on your behalf with UK main dealerships, then present you with one offer which you then accept or decline - and after that you deal directly with the dealership.
- 'Carwow'. Seems to get a fair bit of press and have a pretty extensive website with car reviews etc. A reverse auction site where they send your specification to UK main dealerships who then contact you to bid for your business and you pick which one you want to deal with.

Those seem to be the big two which generally get good reviews in the internet, although not uniformly good and as always I'm taking the feedback with a pinch of salt. I've also heard of others such as Broadspeed, 'Orange Wheels' etc.

I'm a cash buyer - not interested in any form of loan finance or leasing unless there's a decent sized discount for taking out a small loan etc then paying it off asap (which I did when we bought the last one - the discount was bigger than the loan which got repaid after the minimum 3 months). Nor do I want to pay any fees directly to the middle man or buy the car from the broker/middle man. Also no pre-registered cars.

Price is obviously the main factor otherwise I wouldn't be asking about this sort of thing. Quality of service is also important as I haven't got time to waste sorting out other peoples' incompetence.

Also I know about new car depreciation - we know what we're after, we want it specced the way we want it and intend to keep it for a long time (as with the current one which will probably take up bike lugging/trips to the tip & spare car duties). So no lectures about being a mug please

Any thoughts/experiences on any of these outfits, good or bad?

It's no good, I've fought the urge but can't hold out any longer.

Mug!!

Stevo_666

Ballysmate wrote:

It's no good, I've fought the urge but can't hold out any longer.

Mug!!

It's nice to know that there's someone even tighter than I am

mouth

Stevo 666 wrote:

Flâneur wrote:

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Take your (and City Boy's) point on that - I can be patient as we don't need to replace anything now. I guess most dealerships work on the normal quarter end dates but a bit of research needed there.

Something also tells me that second half of June and Dec may be a good time when people are usually thinking about holidays/Christmas rather than cars and there isn't the rush on for the bi-annual new plates. That said, not sure how it works if it's a factory order with a few month lead time and whether just a deposit counts towards their targets or whether they actually have to register the car?

Sales periods are usually easy to find out - take a look at their advertising and it'll say "....this offer ends on......", these usually correlate with the manufacturers sales periods. One point though, they're never usually in a rush to sell a factory order. Normally they try and push anything they have on site/in group stock, or at least anything already in the country at the docks. A colleague was basically told if he wanted discount on a Golf, he needed to compromise and buy something already built rather than being very picky. More than one dealer told him that too. And this was about two weeks into the emissions scandal. Couple weeks later he tried for a discount citing he was worried about residual values and so on. Sales manager called him and offered him his deposit back if he was getting cold feet, but he was basically never gonna save a penny.

Stevo_666

Mouth wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

Flâneur wrote:

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Take your (and City Boy's) point on that - I can be patient as we don't need to replace anything now. I guess most dealerships work on the normal quarter end dates but a bit of research needed there.

Something also tells me that second half of June and Dec may be a good time when people are usually thinking about holidays/Christmas rather than cars and there isn't the rush on for the bi-annual new plates. That said, not sure how it works if it's a factory order with a few month lead time and whether just a deposit counts towards their targets or whether they actually have to register the car?

Sales periods are usually easy to find out - take a look at their advertising and it'll say "....this offer ends on......", these usually correlate with the manufacturers sales periods. One point though, they're never usually in a rush to sell a factory order. Normally they try and push anything they have on site/in group stock, or at least anything already in the country at the docks. A colleague was basically told if he wanted discount on a Golf, he needed to compromise and buy something already built rather than being very picky. More than one dealer told him that too. And this was about two weeks into the emissions scandal. Couple weeks later he tried for a discount citing he was worried about residual values and so on. Sales manager called him and offered him his deposit back if he was getting cold feet, but he was basically never gonna save a penny.

That makes sense - the best deals will be on cars that are in stock. I have time, so if something pops up that is in stock and is very close the the spec we want, then it's a possibility.

ballysmate

Stevo 666 wrote:

Mouth wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

Flâneur wrote:

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Take your (and City Boy's) point on that - I can be patient as we don't need to replace anything now. I guess most dealerships work on the normal quarter end dates but a bit of research needed there.

Something also tells me that second half of June and Dec may be a good time when people are usually thinking about holidays/Christmas rather than cars and there isn't the rush on for the bi-annual new plates. That said, not sure how it works if it's a factory order with a few month lead time and whether just a deposit counts towards their targets or whether they actually have to register the car?

Sales periods are usually easy to find out - take a look at their advertising and it'll say "....this offer ends on......", these usually correlate with the manufacturers sales periods. One point though, they're never usually in a rush to sell a factory order. Normally they try and push anything they have on site/in group stock, or at least anything already in the country at the docks. A colleague was basically told if he wanted discount on a Golf, he needed to compromise and buy something already built rather than being very picky. More than one dealer told him that too. And this was about two weeks into the emissions scandal. Couple weeks later he tried for a discount citing he was worried about residual values and so on. Sales manager called him and offered him his deposit back if he was getting cold feet, but he was basically never gonna save a penny.

That makes sense - the best deals will be on cars that are in stock. I have time, so if something pops up that is in stock and is very close the the spec we want, then it's a possibility.

Well if you will be content with something close to spec then go for a used one.
I know deep down you aren't a mug. Listen to that inner voice.

bianchimoon

Stevo 666 wrote:

Mouth wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

Flâneur wrote:

End of Q targets, always worth a target point if the timing works

Take your (and City Boy's) point on that - I can be patient as we don't need to replace anything now. I guess most dealerships work on the normal quarter end dates but a bit of research needed there.

Something also tells me that second half of June and Dec may be a good time when people are usually thinking about holidays/Christmas rather than cars and there isn't the rush on for the bi-annual new plates. That said, not sure how it works if it's a factory order with a few month lead time and whether just a deposit counts towards their targets or whether they actually have to register the car?

Sales periods are usually easy to find out - take a look at their advertising and it'll say "....this offer ends on......", these usually correlate with the manufacturers sales periods. One point though, they're never usually in a rush to sell a factory order. Normally they try and push anything they have on site/in group stock, or at least anything already in the country at the docks. A colleague was basically told if he wanted discount on a Golf, he needed to compromise and buy something already built rather than being very picky. More than one dealer told him that too. And this was about two weeks into the emissions scandal. Couple weeks later he tried for a discount citing he was worried about residual values and so on. Sales manager called him and offered him his deposit back if he was getting cold feet, but he was basically never gonna save a penny.

That makes sense - the best deals will be on cars that are in stock. I have time, so if something pops up that is in stock and is very close the the spec we want, then it's a possibility.

Dealerships will always want to do a deal on vehicles they have had in stock a while or pre-registered to hit sales targets. All dealerships have to play by the same rules for brand new cars, manufacturers costs are the same for all dealers to buy the car and the manufacturers don't like/won't let their franchised dealers competing against each other by price cutting, so a pre-registered car to the spec you want will be your best deal. Also as a cash buyer with no part exchange you're not as attractive as they have less options to do a deal with ie can't make any money on your part exchange or give you some finance commission back. Keep looking the car with the spec you want will be out there as a demonstrator or managers car and you'll get a decent deal. I recently bought a Lexus Hybrid specced up for cheaper than an equivalent Auris/Prius and a lot cheaper than Toyota C-HR. We did play a few games with 'pretend' incoming texts saying that was another dealer in the next town offering a better price on our part ex. All part of the game eh

veronese68

Ballysmate wrote:

I know deep down you aren't a mug.

Yes, but he's got a huuuuge pay rise for doing no extra work (possible brown nosing apart) and needs to spunk a load of cash before the EPO gets her hands on it. Some would call it luck.

ballysmate

Veronese68 wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

I know deep down you aren't a mug.

Yes, but he's got a huuuuge pay rise for doing no extra work (possible brown nosing apart) and needs to spunk a load of cash before the EPO gets her hands on it. Some would call it luck.

shortfall

What car does Derren Brown drive? Surely that's the one to go for?

veronese68

Shortfall wrote:

What car does Derren Brown drive? Surely that's the one to go for?

lostboysaint

I have a very good relationship with a particular car dealer (group of dealers) which means that when I want something changed - as I did a couple of weeks ago - I phone them or email them, tell them what I'm looking for, they find it and I drive away a happy chap. As long as the marque that my contact is dealing with keep producing quality cars that I like driving then it's not an issue. I've tested them against all the car dealer websites and the like and they've never been beaten. I've also recommended them to plenty of other people and have, to date, "sold" some 20ish cars for them on that basis (not including the 14 my family have had from them).. It all started because of a friendship, that transmitted to excellent service and has continued because of that.

More than happy to recommend them via pm if anyone wants to know who it is.

Stevo_666

Veronese68 wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

I know deep down you aren't a mug.

Yes, but he's got a huuuuge pay rise for doing no extra work (possible brown nosing apart) and needs to spunk a load of cash before the EPO gets her hands on it. Some would call it luck.

Cheeky tw@t. It was pure skill

Captain Fagor

Carsnip might be worth a look.

Stevo_666

Captain Fagor wrote:

Carsnip might be worth a look.

Thanks - I did. Looks like there are good deals on certain models, so really depends if something close to the car you want comes up.

rolf_f

lostboysaint wrote:

I've also recommended them to plenty of other people and have, to date, "sold" some 20ish cars for them on that basis (not including the 14 my family have had from them)..

Your family are better to car dealers than mine. I make it that my near family have bought about 11 cars in 50 years! And, of those, only about 6 will have come from dealers......

lostboysaint

Rolf F wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

I've also recommended them to plenty of other people and have, to date, "sold" some 20ish cars for them on that basis (not including the 14 my family have had from them)..

Your family are better to car dealers than mine. I make it that my near family have bought about 11 cars in 50 years! And, of those, only about 6 will have come from dealers......

I was a bit shocked when I added up the number the other day after collecting my latest. That's four of us and my parents.

pblakeney

Rolf F wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

I've also recommended them to plenty of other people and have, to date, "sold" some 20ish cars for them on that basis (not including the 14 my family have had from them)..

Your family are better to car dealers than mine. I make it that my near family have bought about 11 cars in 50 years! And, of those, only about 6 will have come from dealers......

8 cars in 37 years for me, and the current one is expected to last another 7 years.

mouth

PBlakeney wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

I've also recommended them to plenty of other people and have, to date, "sold" some 20ish cars for them on that basis (not including the 14 my family have had from them)..

Your family are better to car dealers than mine. I make it that my near family have bought about 11 cars in 50 years! And, of those, only about 6 will have come from dealers......

8 cars in 37 years for me, and the current one is expected to last another 7 years.

14 cars and 2 motorbikes in less than 20 years for me. This doesn't include wife cars. Am I doing something wrong?