Advice on where to buy a 3 or 4 year old car

dbs103

Hi, just looking for some advice from anyone who can help.

I'm looking at downsizing my car and getting rid of our second car. We're thinking of going for a 3 or 4 year old golf/focus etc.

We thought we'd go with a main dealer as most of them are offering 1 year warranties and are perceived as more trustworthy.

I've seen a few cars for sale in a non main dealers near the red cow luas area ( I'm not sure if I can mention the business so I won't for now) but they offer a 1 year warranty also.

Just wondering what people's thought are, is it worth sticking with a main dealers or if anyone knows the place I'm talking about do they have any experience with them or any advice either way.

I've bought plenty of 2nd hand cars over the years but they've all been the type you check out, spend a few grand on and take your chances on and get a few years motoring. So spending this amount of money is definitely new to me so piece of mind would be nice.

Any advice would be great, cheers.

Toyotafanboi

You'll hear good stories and horror stories from both sides of this. You could buy a nightmare from a main dealer and a gem from an independent or vice versa.

The biggest difference worth noting is that a used car warranty applied to a franchise car at a main dealer is usually manufacturer backed which is usually more comprehensive. A lot of independent outfits will be offering Car Protect/ Mapfre warranties which do offer some level of cover but are much more insecure than what you would get from a dealer.

punisher5112

You have many options,
Go to dealer here or in the UK or buy private but either way get it looked over.

What sort of budget and sort of driving is it needed for.

Would you consider hybrid or maybe even electric.

Electric Nissan leaf or Zoe may suit and Hyundai ioniq if you have a good budget.

You can get a home charger now for near free installed as grant is applied for 2nd hand and new buys.

dbs103

Didn't realise that about the warranty, worth looking at what type and the small print that goes along with it. It may be a lot more strict on what they'll cover. At least a dealers may want to uphold a reputation

From what I've seen at main dealers the warranty does seem fairly comprehensive, but then again you are paying extra to get that it seems.

dbs103

punisher5112 wrote: »

You have many options,
Go to dealer here or in the UK or buy private but either way get it looked over.

What sort of budget and sort of driving is it needed for.

Would you consider hybrid or maybe even electric.

Electric Nissan leaf or Zoe may suit and Hyundai ioniq if you have a good budget.

You can get a home charger now for near free installed as grant is applied for 2nd hand and new buys.

We're looking around about the 13k - 15k Mark.

Not doing huge mileage so we wouldn't need a diesel and I'm not that interested in a hybrid or electric. From what I 've seen the hybrids don't get many more mpg and you then have to think about changing the batteries after a certain amount if years.

One of the small petrol turbo engines is probably the way I'll go.

The focus 1.0 ecoboost or VW 1.2 tsi seem to be Ok, from what I've read anyway.

punisher5112

You would suit perfectly for electric worth looking into. Would save you a lot.

dbs103

punisher5112 wrote: »

You would suit perfectly for electric worth looking into. Would save you a lot.

I can see where you're coming from but a lot of the driving I do would be over longer distances and once or twice a year I get the ferry to France and drive on the continent. Don't really fancy the idea of stopping for however long it takes to charge up the car. A lot easier to just fill Will petrol

Heres Johnny

Buying on the U.K. or even privately here will save you more money than is likely to be needed to make repairs in even the worst case scenario.
You'll get max 1 year warranty and it will probably be just engine and gearbox.

Toyotafanboi

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Buying on the U.K. or even privately here will save you more money than is likely to be needed to make repairs in even the worst case scenario.
You'll get max 1 year warranty and it will probably be just engine and gearbox.

To be fair a lot of main dealers offer 24 month comprehensive warranties, not just engine and box.

I don't know what the savings would be on a 4 year old Focus buying in the UK vs the Republic but you wouldn't see €1500 - €2k getting swallowed up if it ends up needing a turbo, DPF, ECU etc.

Obviously it's the chance you take, you could buy the car, save the money and have no issues and that's the ideal scenario but there is heightened risks and securities to both types of deal.