Where can I buy my next car?

Hello cpj1987,
Either Snoopy or Omen mentioned recently about buying cars at an auction. This could be the cheapest way to buy a car. Having never done such a thing tho', I wouldn't know.

I bought my last car from MJA in Sunbury. I know of friends you have used cargiant, but I guess thats not convinient for you as you live in the Northwest and cargiant is based in North West London.

you can try carcraft, they seem to have showrooms in Northern England. They also do part xchange

Hi cpj1987 and glad to see you on the forum.

I think the answer to your question depends on so many things .... your budget is important, first and foremost, and do you want to buy privately, from a dealer or even an auction?

I have this discussion with my work colleague almost every week as he is constantly on the look out for second hand cars as I will probably be too soon.

I think you have a lot to balance out here ... money is a problem and credit may be on the cards. You current car is thirteen years old and probably has little, if any' value as a trade in. I suggest you look at what you can afford every month, first and foremost, see what that would bring you in finance or a bank loan and take it from there. A dealer will always have ways and means to use your part exchange as a deposit.

I think once you know what your repayments can buy you, you search through the AUTOTRADER website and see what you can afford. There will be many trade sales there who should be able to arrange finance as well although I would personally prefer to deal through a main or large dealership just for better back up. Buying a second hand car is always an anxious move as you are aware! And a few hours of research are necessary. It's all about finding your budget, matching that with a car and available finance and bobs your uncle. Not that simple I appreciate but saying yes to any deal is always stressy!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

Just one thought ... to buy a car at auction is only advisable if you have a friend in the motor trade who can accompany you and bid on your behalf. The dealers get the best deals. But remember you will need cash up front within 24 hours of your winning bid.

Don't go to Chapelhouse! - think the closest one to you is in Southport. We bought a used car from them, collected it on Wed evening and by Friday afternoon it is back with them and is broken!! They seem to charge a lot for finance too - even though it is 5 years 0%, the cost of the cars are more.

After having signed on the dotted line... I made the fatal mistake of having a quick look on a few other websites to compare the cost of the car we had just bought.
Tesco cars seemed quite cheap, but I don't know about the finance.

Do you get a local paper? They normally show most of the good deals in your local area - some even have a minimum part-exchange guarantee, so you would maybe end up with a lot more trade-in value than your car is really worth.

Also, if you look on the Vauxhall website under the 'Offers and Finance' section, you can get free valuations using the Glass's guide (you normally have to pay to use this) so would have a good idea of what your car is worth, or any car that you are thinking about buying.

Good luck!