Dealer's Engine Oil Prices

Ivan (Ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ah, so it isn't new. It was registered *at least* three months ago, as it moved to 56-reg in September. Are they delivery mileage? Or are they ex- Channel Island hire cars...?

So that's £4,700

WhatCar target price - from £5,900 for a NEW one. So that's at most £1200 saving for a pre-reg on an old plate - for a base-spec model that's since been rebadged. How long's it been kicking about in a compound?

All of the details I've posted are the only ones on the flyer for the Ford Ka, surely if its a used or second-hand vehicle and that's not 'clearly' stated in the literature, wouldn't it be a criminal offence under the trading standards laws?

They'll most likely be pre-registered surplus dealer stock, which the dealers havn't sold and then sell on at cost price before they loose money on them. In order for the larger dealers to make their sales targets, they'll buy a batch in and pre-register them. It's something that ford deny happens, but if the trade mags are anything to go by, there'll be some good deals going on fiestas shortly (fiesta was on course to loose number 1 sales spot for 06 plates, until a month before the 56 plates came out....)

Ivan (Ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

If it's 06-reg, it is not brand new. Full stop. End of. The first keeper on the V5 will be either Ford, a dealer or similar. The buyer will be the second keeper.

Does it actually say "Brand New"?

they

However, does that all mean that the purchaser would still be covered by the same warranties and back-up as they would with a fully priced vehicle?

Ivan (Ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The warranty starts at the first registration date.

No, but neither does it say that it isn't, I once worked for a national TV rental company who was fined several thousand pounds, simply for misleading a customer by 'omitting to tell them' that a Sony VCR wasn't new.

Ivan (Ivan'H' snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

But they ARE telling you it's not new. Look - "06-reg"... NEW cars now get a 56-reg. Come March, they'll get an 07-reg.

Oh, wait, you thought that meant "2006", didn't you...? No, we didn't know you'd think that, honest...

All the paperwork (V5, warranty papers, service book) will clearly say that it's had a previous keeper and when it was first registered.

If it's delivery mileage pre-reg then it's not "used", but it's not new. It's just had the paperwork put through without actually having a happy buyer to hand, in order to meet a sales target. then it's been sat in a shed or field - just as it would have otherwise except for having had a set of plates screwed to each end.

No,

Thanks for tips on the various things to look out for if I am ever tempted into buying a new car for the first time my life.

To the uninitiated such as myself up (and I suspect millions of others) the sales information certainly gives the impression that I would be buying a new car at a bargain price, and the tiny almost imperceptible black print on a red background would be virtually impossible for anyone to read without the use of a powerful magnifying glass, obviously another trick of the trade, which I thought had been totally outlawed years ago under consumer protection laws.

Maybe aye, maybe naw. You may find it only comes with one or two years warranty and breakdown cover. It all depends on how it was supplied, and who registered it.

I know that one of collegues bought a new mondeo from ireland, but he admitted that by the time he paid for transport and for the additional 2 years warranty (only came with one year in ireland, whereas you got 3 across here at the time), he didn't save much money. And combined with the hassle of organising everything, he said he wouldn't do it again. That's pretty much why alot of the import companies have disappeared, and those that are still around, are mainly selling surplus stock that dealers can't shift.

On

Whitbread ? I thought you would understand - Its mark-up - just a bit more "visible" in a garge

Cafes/restairants have a 200% mark up i.e a £5 bottle of wine costs £15 at your table

Have you ever compared the price of a bottle of wine in a restaurant to the same bottle in Tesco?

Si

Ginged by Lurkio :)

Si

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I know garages are in business but yes I'm sure most try to get the most they can out of the customer. I did a complete set of discs, pads and handbrake shoes on a BMW recently and it cost me less than £200 in parts. Even at £100/hour that would give me a leisurely 4 hours to do it at Renault prices. It's supply and demand, if you don't want to pay take it elsewhere. Dealers rely on getting business to maintain warranties and probably laugh to themsleves at anyone bringing in a car that is out of warranty. The very fact fact that someone takes a car to a dealer tells them that they can probably rip you off.

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I was in national tyres a few months ago, they was stiching some woman up with pads and discs all round on her 1.8 Zafira.

Awch!

I did fronts on my car and I think I had change from £50.

Yawch!

I had the same. Needed a new tyre and they where the cheapest locally. Went in, got told the brakes where lethal and needed doing right away. I`d had an advirosy on the MOT (a week ago) that they`d need doing towards the end of the next 12 months, and i`d checked them myself. Was quoted £600 IIRC for brakes and disks all round. I think it cost me £75 and a crate of beer to the mechanic next door who fitted them for me :-) Took us about 2 hours, which included a lot of caliper cleaning etc, which they wouldn`t have bothered with. £525 for 2 hours work sounds like a good job if you can get it!

Simon Finnigan ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The cheapest or the cheapest big-name national chain...?

Did you bounce that "cheapest" off the small local chains and one-offs?

Now add in the fact that the big national chains very rarely are the cheapest, often by a long way, and there's only one reason why they remain in business at all, let alone prosper...

My BMW failed its last MOT on among other things excessively worn rear discs and pads. Which weren't. The minimum thickness is stamped on the disc hub, and they weren't near that. The thinnest pad measured 4mm too. They also failed it on play on a front wheel bearing which they offered to adjust at the same time as replacing the rear brakes. Good trick as they aren't adjustable. Nor could I find any movement on it. A different MOT place passed the car as was and I got a full refund from the original one as I'd got a written quote from them for the work 'required'.

At 4:30PM when I have to set off for work at 5AM the following morning with a 90 mile motorway round trip and the existing tyre had a massive bulge on a side wall, I didn`t really have the time to mess about bouncing prices all over the place. I rang round as amny places as I could, couldn`t find anything cheaper and went there.

It`s all well and good doing that when you have the time to do it, like when the tyre is reaching the tread limit, but I really didn`t have the time to do it this time :-)

Because there are enough very dodgy back street garages out there that will rip you off with much less comeback than you`d have against a national chain? Of course there are good garages too (I do know a few) but there are enough bad ones to give a bad impression to the general public.

As I said above, it`s all well and good when you have the time to shop round properly, but when you have to have something done there and then, often a big chain is the only place that has someone to do the job for you there and then. Certainly the good garages round by me are booked up a week or more in advance.