Buying from garage/dealership advice

[Chris#101]

How do all just after a bit of advise really. I'm starting to get itchy feet and feel I need to have a change. I've owned my golf for the past 3 years and although it has been comfortable motoring there have been expensive problems along the way. But I've just put this down to it being over a 10 year old car. With over 100k on the clocks.

So my thoughts are to buy a newer (07-09) low mileage car (30-40k) . With around 7-8k (finance budget)

The car that is appealing to me dare I say it  ..........is the astra vxr which looking around online ticks my boxes and within budget.

With this being my first finance buy it will also be my first garage/dealership buy very car so far has been privately brought.

So my questions are

Now knowing what car I'm after how do I go about tracking one down? Is it the case of randomly driving to garages/dealers and seeing if they have any in stock or is there an easier way of finding out?

How far should I travel? As if I'm right in thinking il get some form of warranty!? Would this cause problems if its far away and there is a problem?

How negotiable in general are the prices from garages/dealers?

Thanks in advance

[dragonfly]

Have a look on Pistonheads or Autotrader. Travel as far as you need to get the car that you want. Warranties will vary from garages and negotiations depend on loads of variables (what do you want to pay, what the dealer will let the car go for, are to taking out any extra like GAP insurance, warranty etc).

[barrym381]

have you tried the focus st-2 or 3 i found mine way better than a mates vxr  an with that budget you will get a good 1

[Jimble]

I may get shot down for suggesting this but have you considered a mk5 GTI??

[Jimble]

Also, consider a bank loan if your looking at finance because even if you find the perfect car the finance offered by that dealership may be terrible and the banks are doing some very good deals atm.


Don't drive to every dealer that has one for sale, consider everything from spec to mileage, history and location, for example a car from a busy city centre could had more minor knocks and scratches due to being parked on busy streets than a car that has spent most of it's life on A roads and motorways.

[Chris#101]

Thanks for all the feed back so far

I did look at mk5 gti but the onesi came across within my budget were still fairly high milaged ones 60-70k and I feel it would feel a bit flat compared to my stage2 golfi currently have.

If I have mentioned it already I will be leaving the newcar completely standard.

About the finance side of things

The manufacture franchise I work for offer finance at a flat 3% over the 3 year period I will have it for on top of the 20%staff discount il get off it.

Will every garage/dealership accept 'an outside' finance company or is it whether they choose to accept?

Also as a general rule of thumb is there a set amount of cash you have to put towards the car before taking off the four court or could you pay for the whole amount on the knock?

Cheers

[dragonfly]

If you already work for a franchise why not ask them?

[Nino]

My mate got the vxr do some research on them chris them like to eat gear boxes and it ha alot of torque steer. Too much power in the vxr's the car cannot handle it. And the keyless entry thing dod his nut in. He now has the focus st 2 and loves it