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• Starting up as a self employed garage owner advice 21 Apr 2017 (Forum)
  Hi all, i am currently in the process of becoming a self employed mechanic, i have my premises in place and am in the stage of deciding which company to purchase my garage equipment from, this has been a long term dream of mine as i really hate overbearing bosses and managers and love the idea of being my own boss so with this in mind i began to save up my hard earned ten years ago and now have the finances in place to go for it. I have spent the last few months looking at various UK suppliers and have allmost decided on these guys https://www.garageequipmentonline.com/  as the discount offered blows away the competition in terms of price, but although price is a concern after sales service is paramount.
• Ford C-Max - Issue after issue with car 10 Apr 2017 (Forum)
  Bought from an independent garage (2011 Ford C-Max) had it 5 weeks and the clutch went, not just a wear and tear clutch part the actual clutch plate was In bits, garage we bought off wouldn't fix it as had had car over 30 days ended up costing us £800 at local garage and now the steering has gone, it's electric steering so no easy pump to change or part going to cost £1800 for a new steering rack, surely that's something that shouldn't go like that! I've had the flaming thing 6 months and has nothing but problems, it really stings as it's financed so currently paying for s car that's sat in the garage for long periods of time, I'm in district nursing so need my car, I'm on annual leave this week but god knows what I'll do next week or for weeks after as could take 5 weeks, no second car and no one to borrow off either wish there was some way I could just cut my losses, I can't afford to be paying money out hand over fist for the next 4 years if the first 6 months have been anything to go by
• BMW 5 Series - Advice needed 10 week car broken!!!!! 25 Sep 2016 (Forum)
  -Failing this the car is only 10 weeks old making the dealership pay for the repair. -Does it help/affect things that the car is on Car finance as I know paying with credit can sometime matter.   Any assistance is appreciated.     Colin
• Ford Focus - Wondering about new car 23 Apr 2016 (Forum)
  I keep wondering if I should buy a new car, first new one since a terrible Renault 9 on no-deposit finance years ago, a car that put me off buying new or Renault ever since. I run a 61 reg 1.6 Focus, which is very good, though it hates speed humps, and is a lovely car to drive. A new one would only be self-indulgence, I know.
• BMW 1 Series Convertible - dealer warranty 26 Mar 2016 (Forum)
  i bought a car using a finance company which was found through ZUTO (the broker). when buying the car from the dealer it come with a 6 months warranty which covered wear and tear. after 1 month the car started to develop a grinding noise so i asked two independant mechanics, one of which was a bmw specialist, to listen and have a test drive. they both said that its sounds like the first motion shaft bearing and is a common fault for my model.
• BMW 3 Series GT - List Price and Discount Calculation 3 Mar 2016 (Forum)
    I then subtract 15% from this figure (£42,000 - 6,300) bringing us to a list price of £35,700 Assuming a best case scenario negotiation which aims at a 12% discount off the list price,  I'd then have £35,700 - £4284  = £31,416 as my goal price.   Additionally, If I'm looking at PCP Finance option.  Should I ensure that I negotiate the price of the car first and control the negotiation so as to stay away from any talk of monthly payments until after the price is agreed?  I find many Sales Professionals like to anchor on the monthly payment first thing and I'm unconvinced that you end up with the best outcome if you let them take you down this path.
• Mazda 3 - Nearly new car 18 Jun 2015 (Forum)
  I said yes and he came back with the perfect car. One catch - he wants me to pay for it in full (or rather pay the large deposit and sign the finance agreement for the full amount) without actually seeing the car. He says they will then order/buy it from the manufacturer and it will take ten days to deliver. I've always bought cars for around £5000 from private sellers in the past and obviously would never do that without checking the car over.
• hyundai i40 - defunct hyundai 24 Oct 2014 (Forum)
  The dealership  has been less than helpful and ontop of the cars misfortunes has stung me with the finance.  I told the salesman i only wanted to keep it 3 years tops and hand it back and start again with a new one every 2 and a bit years, he was happy at that and said no problem. However after all my troubles when i said enough is enough i was told the car is on a loan agreement and not hp as originally thought.
• Various - Car purchase add ons 21 Oct 2014 (Forum)
  What are the forums views on any of the follow: GAP protection (I am buying on a PCP with about a 20% deposit), and I will be doing very high mileage (25 to 30K per year) Tyre and alloy wheel insurance (up to 5 tyres replaced in the 3 year contract, not including wear and tear) Cosmeitc Warranty Insurance Diamond Bright / Superguard pain protection I am considering GAP insurance which I have never bothered with before, but then I have never purchase on finance before, always cash.  but I wondered what the forum advice would be on buying these products, (or not)   Guy  
• Jaguar XFRS Mercedes E63 AMG - Biased between Jaguar XFRS and Mercedes E63 AMG 20 Jun 2014 (Forum)
  Mercedes, E63 AMG (NOT S), 2500 miles millage, 60K asking price Where I like the XFRS out side looks, but XFRS interior is not as good as E63 while E63 looks are good but not much sportier. well I leave this on your feedback too. I will be changing the car in 2 year, so need to ask you if bank from financing is good via bank with personal loan (Approved at 7%) or PCP or HP from vendor will work better. Depreciation difference is important for me between 2 cars but its not big deal if its plus minus 4k.
• Ford Fiesta - 6 year old Fiesta - to service or not to service 30 Nov 2013 (Forum)
  We'e likely to want to keep it for another 2 or 3 years and then probably upgrade it to something newer subject to finances. Oh and according to Bristol Street Motors (whom I just called for a quote, although they aren't the dealer that has serviced it previously) it is due a major service @ £251 by Ford spec or they can do their own major or minor service for £189 or £119 respectively.
• Toyota Avensis - Help me decide 10 Mar 2013 (Forum)
  Total cost over 4 years is £11,100. How would this compare to buying a 1 year old avensis for example, for 13.5k, on partly on finance so total repayable is £14,550 after 4 years. How much would a 5 year old 2.0 TR D4D Avensis be worth with roughly 75k miles on it? 6 grand? Just trying to work out which would make more sense, assuming the qashqai is big enough.
• 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD Ltd auto - No kick down! 9 Oct 2012 (Forum)
    We are getting to the stage where the best option may be to reject the vehicle and source another, however this one is on finance so not sure what to do. Maybe we should have stuck with our 1996 Toyota HiLux Surf 3.0 auto?
• Vauxhall Corsa - '08 Corsa CDTi - 52,000 miles, no oil change! 22 Apr 2011 (Forum)
  I have a friend who commutes around 100 miles a day for work. Her car is financed, so before anyone says "get rid before she blows the engine" the issue she has is: She is clueless about maintenance. i originally nagged her when it was approaching 40,000 miles and she'd said it hadn't had its first service, but she "gives it a drink when the red oil light comes on".
• BMW E46 - What parts of a V5 logbook must a used car have? 25 May 2010 (Forum)
  To be honest, the car is a little cheap, but the car itself and VIN and mileage  check out, with no Outstanding finance or Insurance writeoff status (all according to MyCarCheck) and and I want to be confident I've done all the sensible checks before parting with cash. Help and advice very gratefully received
• What parts of a V5 logbook must a used car have? 28 Apr 2010 (Forum)
  To be honest, the car is a little cheap, although the car itself and VIN and mileage  check out, with no outstanding finance or Insurance writeoff status (all according to MyCarCheck) and I want to be confident I've done all the sensible checks before parting with cash. Help and advice very gratefully received
• Bank Rate Down Again 8 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  Those on many types of tracker mortgage are already paying nugatory amounts of interest - one example I read said the current reduction made some tracker mortages cost pennies (yes, pennies) per month interest repayments (capital excluded) on sums of £100K or so. The current crop of car finance offers mostly seem to hover around the 6-12% range - what does the odd half percent cut do for these? Not much I'd say - if you're not buying at 6%, you'll probably not buy at 5.5% (I know retail 3rd party rates don't quite work linearly - but generally it's how it will work out).
• Toyota RAV 4 (2000 - 2006) - Deal or no deal? 20 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  She has offered it to me at the p/ex price of £6k, and in addition will have a 62k service (with new cambelt)and 2 new tyres fitted if I buy it from her. My finances allow me to puchase it without borrowing, something I would never do anyway!. My own dearly loved immaculate Mazda 626 I could probably sell privately, and running costs should be comparable. I have 24 hours to decide before she p/exs it at the LR dealer, and before anyone suggests it, she will not be swayed from a Defender!
• Good deal M. Benz ?? 11 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  It looks very clean all over , comes with a 12 month warantee I suggested £10 k to the salesman, no PX / Finance , and although he scoffed initially, he didn't dismiss it out of hand. We'd agreed I'll email my quote and he'll ' have a word ' . I know about the new model before anyone pipps up... my question is - at £10 k will it be too much still in this climate for a 4 year old car ?
• A new car every three years - sensible? 7 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  A relative told me that "this is the cheapest way to do it as if you wait any longer you don't get a decent deal on the part exchange". Now, I don't know know much about cars but that sounded strange to me. I work in finance and know my way round a spreadsheet so I set to work. After a couple of hours playing around with initial costs, depreciation schedules and projected servicing charges I came to the conclusion that buying three cars every 10 years incurs roughly twice the cost you would be facing if you bought one car every 10 years.