miss piggy

OK - I've done the ringing around/emailing dealers in the South West where Iam moving to & have been pretty unimpressed. I was expecting car salesmen in the current economic climate to be keen to sell me a car - rather than treat me as though I am an unnecessary irritant to their day.

I am a cash buyer,potentially of a brand new (or nearly new) car, with no part exchange & no need for finance. I know the model I want & am not asking for complicated,factory fitted extras.

Dealers have been slack about getting back to me,have not offerred decent discounts off prices & generally have behaved as though selling me a car is all a bit tedious. Ideally I would like a nice, straightforward purchase of a new car to be ready for me in a couple of weeks time. I don't know a vast amount about cars so am happy to pay a bit of a premium to buy a new one off a franchised dealer rather than a shonky second hand salesman.

However - I don't like being taken for a ride or treated like dirt - so have been doing research on the web about prices & have come across this website www.carquake.co.uk

Their prices / service all look almost too good to be true - & they say that all the dealers are legit franchised dealers who will deliver the car anywhere in the UK. Should I believe what I am reading - or does this look somehow like a scam ?

cricket1again

They appear to be legitimate, they are following the law of stating a business address and contact telephone number on their web site plus they have a contact email form. They also have a Testimonials page.

But...have you read the Contacts page? It states that you can email them but not about car enquiries. You must contact the dealers directly to discuss any car queries so the site appears to be an advertising post for the dealers.

Danny B

http://www.allbrandsnew.com/index.asp

miss piggy

Have pursued this further by getting quote. The people who supplied the quote were actually a finance company - www.carsandfinance.com

The quote they have given is unbelievably good - 4 grand less than the nearest dealer quote ! Just worried that this is some sort of scam or that there is some giant flaw that I can't see. OH rang them last night & said that their first interest was in selling him finance for the car (which we don't need)but when told this they were still happy to provide a car at same low rate for cash.They offer to deliver or for you to collect (which would be the option we chose to actually see the car before handing over the balance). He's naturally suspicious & rang them thinking they were going to be dodgy,but came away from the conversation surprisingly positive.

Have to say that they appear to have been quick & professional in all the e-mail dealings we have had with them (considerably better than any of the dealerships).

They ask for GBP500 as deposit , which doesn't seem unreasonable, & then I give them the balance when I collect the car from them in Chesterfield.

They claim the car is brand new,comes with full manafacturers warranty /tax/ roadside assist etc & confirmed that I would be the first registered owner.

Am I missing something here- what further questions should I be asking to make sure that this is a reputable organisation & that the car actually exists / hasn't fallen off the back ofa lorry & I am not merely giving away my money to a very clever con ?

Jerseygirl

Here in the NW I found the same thing. Salesmen didn't seem to be particularly interested in selling cars for cash...in fact one told me there is no or very little profit in cash sales.

miss piggy

Now driving around in a new car purchased at a vast discount from the company www.carsandfinance.com

Was really dubious about using them but can not fault either their service or their prices. We saved thousands by buying from them & are thrilled with the car.

Have to say I went up to collect the car & made sure I saw it before parting with any money other than the £500 deposit but all seemed completely above board.

slidingbyee

Mmmm is all this a sophisticated advertising 'scam' upon the unsuspecting users of this website?

miss piggy

I'm surprised to be thought of as a secret scammer (think my posting history would indicate that I'm not !) but just thought that people returning to the UK might be genuinely interested to hear of the way we bought a car at a discounted price - seems that my motives are considered suspect though.

Having looked at cars over here there are also clearly very good deals indeed on second hand cars - we just took the new car option as neither of us know anything about cars & just wanted to sort one out as quickly as possible on our return (having brought 2 dogs over with me it was very tricky to keep operating off a hire car with a 'no dogs policy').

Jerseygirl

Top tip: First...take a look at the date the poster became a member. Second...a quick scan of past posts. Now tell me if you think miss piggy is spamming.

gmralston

Nothing wrong with reporting with good service, in fact I wish more people would do it.

Yes there is a lot of spam advertising on the net, it's makes people edgy as soon as they something positive, which is a shame.