Looking to buy a Zafira Design on a 56 plate and notice that some Network Q dealers have adverts on autotrader at very keen prices (£14,500) for low mileage vehicles. The only downside is that they are about 200 + miles from me.
Do all Vauxhall Dealers have access to the same Network Q stock? Just wondering if I could go to my local Network Q dealer and try to get the same vehicle via him for the same money as I see it advertised on autotrader for ?
And while I'm here does anyone have experience on buying from
1. first4vauxhall www.first4vauxhall.co.uk/ ?
2. Silverdale Car and Commercials www.nearlynewvehiclesdirect.co.uk/default.aspx ?
Thanks.
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Generally, they are more than happy to sell you stock from elsewhere in the Network Q dealer network. However, expect that you will have to agree purchase for the car without seeing it, and there will be little or no room for negotiation in the price.
I bravely/foolishly agreed to buy a Vauxhall on that basis and the car turned up with a ding on the side. The Vauxhall dealer I bought it off sorted it FOC without any fuss, so I was happy, even if the deal wasn't that good value.
That's my experience. Not actually dealt with either of those two dealers though.
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I would not, under any circumstances, agree to buy a car unseen. I would want 1-2 hours to check it over plus a test drive. I frequently check out cars for other people (for a small charge) and I'm often surprised at the poor condition of even quite new cars - a lot of it is down to careless and hard-driving company owners,,,
A couple of examples - a '55 plate Subaru Legacy saloon in Atlantic Blue. Only 20k miles and previous owner was a Subaru dealership that had just gone bust - very reputable independent picked it up at auction. An excellent car on paper. When I looked at it the brake discs were well worn, front bumper shot-blasted, numerous paintwork chips & nicks, scratches on the glass (?!), chips all down back edge of drivers door. Clearly a hard driven car that had probably been driven by many different people.
'53 reg BMW 520iSE in Steel Blue, 38k one company owner. Lots of little nicks, scrapes and chips in paint and on brightwork, cheap and nasty tyres fitted by co. owner, front discs heavily lipped. Marks and scratches in rubberised coating of interior trim. This car would be 'smart repaired' by dealer and sold as 'mint' - but the underlying car would have had a hard life.
When you've looked at lots of cars over the years you develop a nose for cars. Buying unseen is a fools game - and don't let them lull you into a false sense of security by talking about 'warranty' and 'any problems will be sorted out'. You want something which is 'right' from the word go and doesn't need to fall back on warranty.
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Agree with Aprilia.
& speaking from the other side of the fence, I can't get my head around the idea that you can buy a vehicle IN AUCTION, without seeing it.
The on line sales at both BCA & Manheim are growing in popularity, though. Guess it's big dealers, spending the firms £$£$.
Example, when I was searching for PT Cruiser, for customer. " 'identical' cars, in a Chrysler direct section, both similar miles & both black. One had been looked after pretty well. The other had been put through the car wash regularly & was covered with resulting scratches. Both made similar bids - on line!!
Not for me - I need to see the vehicle in the metal!!
VB
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Surely all these 'newish' cars are ex renters anyway so will have perhaps less than careful drivers, but not real damage- as in bent.
If they are cheap enough why not. But go over them very carefully, even if six months old and never agree with proper test drive and examination.
There is always another car ( especially Ford or GM)
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Surely all these 'newish' cars are ex renters anyway so will have perhaps less than careful drivers, but not real damage- as in bent.
The cars I was refering to were not ex-rental. In fact some of the ex-rentals are not bad and most tend to be less than 12 months old. And yes, you do get repaired cars turning up, and on a newer car the write-off value is so much higher that even quite badly damaged ones will have been deemed worth repairing.
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Aprilla, on the whole I would agree with you, only my reckless enthusiasm at the time made me agree to any such "blind" deal.
However, Network Q cars do tend to be a cut above IMO. They tend to keep the dross out.
Of the five cars in my family bought from Network Q, they've all been pretty much as new (especially since new cars are rarely perfect...) and performed faultlessly, including the one bought blind.
Would I do the same again? Probably not, but if I were, then I'd be far more trusting of Network Q then any other manufacturer backed scheme.
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BTW, we're all *very* fussy car buyers in my family and don't accept anything naff. Even a few light scratches on a door pull or alloys would be enough to put us off...
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Network Q? Cut above?
Nonesense.
I bought a year-old Corsa automatic (5k miles) with a Network Q warranty: the gearbox failed on the first morning we had the car. The AA man arrived and also found that the engine oil was below minimum and the front disks very badly corroded. Car went back and needed a new gearbox plus lots of other work.
We got a full refund and could not wait to get out of the dealer.
'114-point Network Q check on every car'. Yeah, right.
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I think you misunderstand. Network Q doesn't mean that nothing will go wrong (how could any scheme be sure of that?), only if it does, it will be sorted without fuss. As it was for your car, no?
Besides, is your experience of one bad car from one bad dealer (possibly didn't perform checks?) representative when you imply my experience of 5 cars from 5 different dealers isn't?
I can assure you the cars are better too. Look around any Vauxhall dealer at the nearly new cars. There will be lots of Vauxhall sourced Network Q cars and the odd car that is nearly new but not on the Network Q scheme. It's those odd ones out that demonstrate how much better the Network Q cars are. Take a look sometime.
All the other dross goes to auction etc, the best cars stay in the manufacturer dealer network. That's the same for all these manufacturer backed schemes.
There's always the duff ones that slip through, don't judge them all from just one example. :)
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I've just picked up my Vectra Design from a large Network Q dealer in Northampton. It is very pleasing. I would not have parted with the Astra unless I'd got a good deal, which I believe I have. It is a nine month old Vectra 1.8 petrol, with Sat-Nav etc, for just below £10,000. Car seems immaculate and runs beautifully. The service I got was first-rate, unlike that of my insurance company who take ages to send anything out, blame the Royal Mail, and after all that I discovered that they had used another firm for their posting.
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