New Car and Van Sales Online

Prices Still Going Up

2009-07-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

Incredibly as it may seem, prices on new cars are continuing to rise quite dramatically despite the manufacturers all still struggling for sales!

The reasons are unclear but probably due to the exchange rate and rising costs of metal etc. But whatever reason it's certainly not helping. Word on the streets is that dealers are again beginning to struggle despite the success of the scrappage scheme.

It's also having a knock on effect on used car sales of course, with really high prices now even being achieved on eBay and at car auctions - really hard to pick up a bargain now!

On a brighter note the scrappage scheme has already seen sales of over 60000 - so that's 60000 fewer old bangers on the road now. Still have mine of course....

Scrappage Scheme

2009-05-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

The scheme is fully up and running now and proving a big hit with some manufacturers - mainly the ones producing the smaller cheaper cars.

The criteria is that the car must have been registered in your name for at least a year, it must have been registered on or before August 31st 1999 (ie. up to T reg), it must either have a valid MOT at the time of ordering the new car or have one that expired no more than 14 days previously. It must also have a valid road tax disc at the time of order.

The supplying dealership must organise the scrapping of your car now which means either taking your car into the dealership or having it collected 3 days prior to the new car delivery by a company that specialises in the scrappage scheme, such as CarTakeBack. You are no longer allowed to scrap the car yourself.

You will need to take photocopies of your V5, MOT and Road Tax disc before scrapping the vehicle.

Scrappage Scheme

2009-04-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like the government may introduce a scrappage scheme in line with other EU countries.
It has proved an enormous success in Germany with record breaking sales.

Citroen have this month introduced their own scheme which, although limited, has already generated a huge amount of interest.

Scrappage basically involves having your old car scrapped at an authorised facility and receiving a certificate of destruction in return - which can be exchanged for a £2000 voucher towards the purchase of a new car.

There are criteria of course:
The car must be older than January 1st 2000
It must be roadworthy at the time of scrapping - insured, taxed, mot'd
You must have owned it in your name for at least 1 year and the name and address on the V5 must match the name and address for the new car registration.

The Citroen scheme is already doing very well so no doubt will be copied by others....

Massive Price Rise!

2009-03-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

This could spell disaster in an already shaky situation for many dealerships across the country.

Despite sales being at an all time low for most manufacturers the drastic fall in value of the Pound has meant that they have been forced to introduce huge price rises for April.

In any normal year you can expect prices to rise between £100 and £400 at a time or even fall some times.

This April Ford have announce upcoming rises of up to £800 and Vauxhall have announced rises of up to £1000!

So the message has to be - buy a car now whilst you can!

Now's The Time To Buy!

2009-02-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

There's never been a better time to buy a new car - I know we've all heard that one a thousand times but it really is true this time!

Obviously car sales are at an all time low and hence the discounts are huge but many are either buying nearly new now or holding off hoping for even bigger discounts.

Firstly, their is unlikely to be any further discounts now as most are being sold at cost price already and the problem is that the worsening exchange rate and rising cost of metal is forcing manufacturers to actually raise prices even though they know it's the wrong thing to do.

Secondly, dealerships have now cottoned on to the fact that many potential new car customers have now switched to buying nearly new and so consequently you can see them all now at the auctions buying up as much stock as possible and paying premium prices - used car prices are now fetching retail values at auction!

This has swung the whole thing over again and I'm now seeing many nearly new cars being sold for the price that you could pretty much buy a new one for!

So that's why it is a great time to get yourself into a new car - take adavntage of any low rate finance deals too of course!

New Year Deals

2009-01-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

It's a strange time with dealers desperate to sell new cars but manufacturers seemingly not helping by putting prices up!

It's because of the exchange rate and the price of metal rising of course.

So January is the time to order, even if you want the new 09 reg in March. Most deals are price protected.

2008-11-13T01:36:00.000-08:00

More doom and gloom - redundancies, closures and unbelievable offers flooding in constantly.

Rumour has it that BMW are ceasing production for a while to concentrate on clearing existing stocks and we are also seeing some decent discounts on Audis for the first time.

Many dealers appear to have switched focus to selling nearly new cars now so I've stuck on some nearly new PCP deals to my www.cheap-pcp-deals.co.uk website and we'll see how that goes...

Very strange atmosphere in the trade now, already feels like Christmas because it's so quiet - maybe I'll put up the decorations....

It Begins...

2008-10-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Dealer we know with 5 branches has just gone into receivership - probably the first of many.

All brokers are saying things are desperate just now. Deals are flooding in every day - what a time to buy a bargain!

Protect Yourself When Buying Online

2008-10-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thought it might be a timely time to remind everyone how to transact with some degree of safety online.

Even decent and honest traders will be suffering just now and there's always the danger of one going under even through no fault of their own.

There is a section of the Consumer Credit Act which isn't that well known but is totally invaluable especially for anyone buying online.

It's called Section 75 and basically works by covering you for the entire purchase price of the item - car or whatever - provided you have paid the initial deposit by a credit card (not a debit card etc.).
It doesn't matter how you pay the balance, cash or cheque or bank transfer or debit card, as long as you paid an initial amount by credit card then you are immediately protected for the full amount of the deal.

IMPORTANT - deposit and balance must have been paid to the same company who was the actual supplier of the item - ie. it doesn't work if you paid a deposit to a third party broker and then the balance to a dealer for example.

There are some limitations, which off the top of my head are something like:
initial payment has to be at least £100 and it only covers up to £30000 - I may be wrong on these amounts so please check!

So for example - and this happened recently to customers of New Car Discount who went bust a few months ago - you pay an initial deposit of £500 on your credit card and then do a bank transfer of £20000 the day before delivery of your new car. The company goes bust and your £20500 is effectively lost as they owe huge amounts to banks etc.

The good news is that your credit card company is then liable for the full amount!
It may take 2 or 3 months to get it back, but you will get it back.

This cover would not have applied had you used any other payment method for the deposit!
(although there may be some less clear protection of debit cards under a thing called the chargeback scheme, check with your own bank.)

You can read more about this on the Office of Fair Trading website or from your local Trading Standards.

Although I've thankfully never had to make use of this myself or for my customers as I am very careful who I deal with, I do always recommend paying the deposit by credit card - just in case!

Worth knowing!

New Car Sales October 2008

2008-10-22T02:26:00.001-07:00

Drastic times for all new car sellers now - every day I'm hearing about more and more dealers and brokers getting into serious difficulty.

It doesn't matter if you are online or on the high street, sales are very hard to come by. For us small independents it's just a question of survival - cutting down on all overheads and just keep on doing what you do best!
Hopefully we will all come out the other side well placed to do business as many weak competitors will have fallen by the wayside.

On the plus side it is an absolutely brilliant time for anyone to buy. I'm inundated every day with new offers and I honestly can't keep up with advertising them, so give me a call if you are after anything in particular as there's sure to be a cracking deal!