Motorpoint

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Tue 28 May 2019 20:06
Motorpoint - Dingle232

My other half is looking at a car from Motorpoint which appears to be all in order but is listed at £3k less than the same spec vehicle at a main dealer. I'm suspicious but is there any reason to be and are their cars UK vehicles?

I did a search before posting and there was on the thread on the same subject from many years ago that was pretty inconclusive. The adage 'if it looks too good to be true it probably is' is at the forefront of my mind.

Thanks.

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Tue 28 May 2019 20:28
Motorpoint - RafflesNH

If you look at HJ's latest Motoring Agony Column article (Part 1) entitled 'Happy Days', you'll find a glowing endorsement of Motorpoint by a satisfied customer.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/honest-johns-motoring-ag.../

But do also read the comments by readers at the end, especially a lengthy one by Engineer Andy, a regular contributor here I believe, which also provide useful additional food for thought.

Edited by RafflesNH on 28/05/2019 at 20:30

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Tue 28 May 2019 20:43
Motorpoint - Dingle232

Thanks. Seems pretty evident to me that a lot of their cars were not originally from the UK but given the volumes that they stock, and presumably sell, some of them will be.

How do I determine whether the car I am looking at originated from the UK or elsewhere and has had to be modified?

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Wed 29 May 2019 14:21
Motorpoint - Engineer Andy

Thanks. Seems pretty evident to me that a lot of their cars were not originally from the UK but given the volumes that they stock, and presumably sell, some of them will be.

How do I determine whether the car I am looking at originated from the UK or elsewhere and has had to be modified?

No - most of their cars are, if I recall, ex-hire/fleet cars and quite a few unwated ex-demo cars that UK dealers can't shift. Most now are diesels as well, partly because they are ex-rentals, but also becuase many are those that were sold/pre-regged before the change to the WLTP emissions tests, and thus many now are appearing as 1-2 year old cars (as most Motorpoint cars always were) on their website for sale.

When I bought my car from them 13 years ago, the European market was over-supplied with cars, which meant there were lots of deals about, especially for pre-regged cars with delivery-only miles on them - some on Motorpoint even better than brand new cars (i.e. that needed to be ordered) via brokers. We had the benefit of being able to source cars from RHD countries in the EU that were in a similar position.

Since then, there's been a steady drop-off in that supply, tending to come and go when new emissions regs/tests are about to hit or a major new model comes about and they want to rid themselves of the old one. This is what happened a couple of years ago, when many pre-regged, del miles only VW Golfs appeared on Motorpoint, probably sourced from Cyprus, Malta and Ireland (RHD countries).

Most of the cars that were offered were those like the 1.4TSi ACT 150PS Golf GT and the 1.2TSi before they updated the model to the 1.5TSi and 1.0TSi respectively, and similarly as regards Dieselgate to offload cars that might be caught up in the scandal (offered at really low prices). Since then, very few such (really huge - cars down from £25k - £26k to £17k and with higher specs than the UK versions) deals have appeared.

Edited by Engineer Andy on 29/05/2019 at 14:23

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Tue 28 May 2019 20:50
Motorpoint - bathtub tom

I bought my current car (Yaris) from them, albeit nearly five years ago. It was eight months old with 8K miles and ex-hire (which they freely admitted).

£2K less than my local main dealers! Motorpoint's cars were cleaner and better presented. Local dealer refused to let me see a V5 before purchase, but I could plainly see the remnants of a hire company sticker on the rear bumper.

I was fortunate at the time, as it was soon after a facelift and I was buying the pre-facelift model. I suspect there had been a 'dealer only' auction of the ex-hire pre-facelift models.

The transaction was painless, I was given the keys to look over several models unaccompanied. Told them I'd sleep on it and went back a couple of days later for a test drive of the one I preferred. Paid deposit by credit card and returned the next day to pay and collect. They wouldn't budge an inch on price, but didn't attempt to sell me any extras.

They'd probably be my first port of call when I change.

Edited by bathtub tom on 28/05/2019 at 20:51

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Tue 28 May 2019 20:55
Motorpoint - Falkirk Bairn

I have bought 2 cars from Motorpoint

1st was an diesel manual Xtrail in 2007

2nd CRV petrol auto - medical issues made an auto essential.

2 of my sons have bough cars at Motorpoint before me - 1 new, 1 ex-motability.

All well prepared & reliable cars. I have not paid for, or had any warranty claims, in the last 12.5 years - only servicing, tyres, wipers etc

Cars under 12 months likely to be ex day rent cars / some low mileage ex Motability. Cars in the 2+ years age likely to be ex-lease cars. Sometimes have a batch of brand new cars that might have been built to the wrong spec etc

That said many franchised dealer cars are recycled day hire cars, loan cars whilst cars in for service.

Some of the Motorpoint cars might need some cosmetic attention but that is the start of the price negotiation. Cars are clean so do not pay for valet, do not pay admin charge, ask for a tank, floor mats etc etc. - ask & then sit quiet - if you do not speak then they have to after 2 minutes.............

With the X-trail I got £500 off the screen price, £70 off for mats/ boot tray, £40 for tank of fuel, no admin fee or valet fee, - It took 4 hours start to finish on a Tuesday morning.

CRV was a Monday morning, No admin/cleaning fees, Free RFL, & did not pay the £99 bringing the right coloured car rather than the one in the showroom. Argued T/I from £8,200 to £8,900 - about 3 hours in total.

No glass palace but the staff were pleasant & in my case answered queries truthfully - they will say it is ex Avis etc - my local Ford denied all knowledge of car history as the log book is at Head Office (lies)

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Tue 28 May 2019 21:10
Motorpoint - sammy1

You can buy a lot of Weetabix for £3k! Seriously why not just ask them where it originated from? If it has remainder of manufacturers warranty that you covered and you still have the sale of goods act if they lie. Buying through a main dealer is no guarantee of a trouble free purchase and you obviously pay a high premium to the upkeep of their glass palaces!

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Tue 28 May 2019 22:18
Motorpoint - RT

Generally franchised dealers get first choice at closed auctions to aquire the best examples of their own brand - other sellers of used cars then get their choice of the rest - and finally the remaining cars appear at public auction.

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Wed 29 May 2019 02:55
Motorpoint - SLO76
Motorpoint sell plenty of thoroughly decent cars. They bulk buy ex-lease fleet stock and will often buy direct from manufacturers and importers when they’re desperate to offload overage stock. Sometimes they do import stock too so be wary that whatever you’re looking at has UK spec or it’ll be worth less when you sell it on often wiping out much of the saving.

Look also for incomplete service records and thus invalid warranties. In general if it hasn’t been maintained by an appropriate main dealer or it’s gone over a month or 1,000 miles over its service interval then the origional warranty is gone so assess the deal thoroughly.

There’s rarely any money off and sometimes with these car supermarkets there’s sneaky and unnecessary additional costs on top of the screen price and typical finance rates are usually uncompetitive while an approved used example at a main dealer can usually be negotiated down. So take all the figures and details home to look at carefully before buying anything.

Edited by SLO76 on 29/05/2019 at 02:57

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Wed 29 May 2019 09:34
Motorpoint - Steveieb
When I recently checked out the service record on a CHR I was told that the car had been fully serviced.
But when checking I found that the car had been given its first service by Motorpoint thus an incomplete Toyota record.
I explained this to the salesman and sent some feedback to them but I doubt anything will change.
Saving money on a main dealer visit seems bad news but not apparent to most buyers.
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Wed 29 May 2019 11:47
Motorpoint - Falkirk Bairn

I have said I am delighted with the service I got from Motorpoint.

But it was not perfect - sale, payment, handover was OK

When I picked up my Xtrail the tyres looked flat.

It turns out that they were 20lbs/sq in - the ticket on the door frame said 2.0 Bar!!

Aware of my first encounter with tyres I picked up my CRV & checked the tyre pressures.

65 lb/sq in - factory filled tyres before it went its holidays from Swindon to Cyprus.

Mind yout hat is about the only issues I have had with the 2 cars in 12.5 years so not really an issue.

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Wed 29 May 2019 16:31
Motorpoint - craig-pd130

My dad bought two cars from Motorpoint. The first was a Skoda Octavia petrol. It had a slightly unusual spec that was different to the usual UK cars (different radio/CD player etc), the Motorpoint salesman explained it was a small batch originally destined for the Republic of Ireland market that were unsold.

The second was a pre-registered low-miles Fabia. No problems with either car.

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Wed 29 May 2019 18:19
Motorpoint - skidpan

Bought a pre-reg imported Ford from Motorpoint. Friends/colleagues told me I was mad and find it impossible to:

Get warranty repairs

Service

Repair

Insure

Sell on later.

Since I was saving £3000 compared to our local Ford emporium I took a risk.

Reality was:

Local Ford dealer did the one warranty repair with no issues at all.

Local Ford dealer serviced it at normal menu rates plus he actually swapped the German service book for a UK one without being asked at no cost.

The 2 repairs it required were both done without issue.

Insurance were not concerned provided it was to European spec i.e. no grey Jap imports.

6 years later sold it privately for the going rate. When I asked for a PX price at the local Honda emporium he offered the normal price for the car adding "not bothered what it is provided its not a Renault".

Car is 20 later this year and has just been taxed for another 12 months.

A proper bargain. If they had the car in stock I wanted at a good price I would buy form them without hesitation.

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Wed 29 May 2019 18:40
Motorpoint - Engineer Andy

Yep - imports are fine (as mine also was) as long as it's got it EU certificate of Conformity (CoC). I too had no problems getting it serviced at the local Mazda main dealer (and still do) - they only slight 'issue' was that indpendents had to work a bit harder to find out the specs (the engine bay does differ slightly in layout from the UK version, essentially it has the power steering system from a different engined model from the UK and one or two very minor other differences) to price replacement parts (I wanted to see what the difference was), as the car comes up as 'import', but they get there in the end.

My insurance has always been reasonable. I've also had offers from my local main dealer to PX it to get a new one, so they think it must be ok (not just because they've maintained it throughout its life), even if they'll probably sell it on or put it in auction.

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