Petrol Heads Please Help

Off Topic
1

I have never owned a brand new car before, right now I have the money to go get e ral nice new car, I have decided what model I want but I am unsure about what spec to get so here are a couple of questions that would really help me.

(Ihave asked the salepeople at the garage but I wonder if they are just telling me any old crap to buy their car)

  1. Why is a diesel more expensive than a petrol of the same car? In the Uk right now petrol is cheaper than diesel so I reckon a petrol would be best right?

  2. I need to tow a trailer is there any complications I might face if I get an automatic to tow a trailer?

  3. and lastly any tips on how to knock the prce down with the salesguys will be ace (I have watched king of cars a few times and intend on being a real hard ass!)

Thanks in advance

2

  1. Diesel generally gets better gas mileage. Where I live, in central NY, Diesel is almost always at least 20 cents more per gallon than gasoline.

  2. Not really. How many miles do you plan on pulling this trailer, and how heavy is it?

  3. Shop around, price cars online. Know what is actually a good deal.

3

[quote]electric_eales wrote:

I have never owned a brand new car before, right now I have the money to go get e ral nice new car, I have decided what model I want but I am unsure about what spec to get so here are a couple of questions that would really help me.

(Ihave asked the salepeople at the garage but I wonder if they are just telling me any old crap to buy their car)

  1. Why is a diesel more expensive than a petrol of the same car? In the Uk right now petrol is cheaper than diesel so I reckon a petrol would be best right?[/quote]

Diesel engines last much longer than gas and get better fuel MPG than any gas. A hybrid gas car can get 30-35 MPG a diesel car can get 40. Many Mercedes over in Germany use the diesel engine because they last so much longer.

By the way diesel engines are not nearly as noisy as they used to be and are cleaner than gas cars these days.

[quote]
2. I need to tow a trailer is there any complications I might face if I get an automatic to tow a trailer?[/quote]
I find it easier with an auto. Granted I have only tried with trucks not cars

[quote]
3. and lastly any tips on how to knock the prce down with the salesguys will be ace (I have watched king of cars a few times and intend on being a real hard ass!)[/quote]

Be a hard ass! The dealers make straight profit on the options of a car so don’t go a cent over what you want to pay because it has a few extra options, make them eat those costs, they likely will.

Thanks in advance[/quote]

4

Good advice so far.

I own a diesel and I’m completely happy with it. Common Rail engines are reasonably quiet and there’s plenty of power. Driven gently I can get an average of about 44mpg without too much trouble and that’s on a 1.9 engine with 150bhp.

I’ve never towed in an auto but I believe it’s easier than in a manual. The only thing you really need to watch out for is the weight of the trailer.

As far as doing the deal goes - follow CP’s advice and be a complete hard ass. One technique I’ve used in the past to focus their minds is to literally carry the deposit for the car into the showroom in cash and make sure they know you have it. It’s amazing how much they’ll bend when they see cash walking out the door.

One thing though - It’s all very well buying new but you lose a lot as soon as you drive it away. How about this as an alternative…?

The way I bought my Vectra (1.9 CDTI SRi model) was that I went to the dealer and decided on the spec. I then asked if they were prepared to sell me an ex-demo of that specification. Of course they didn’t have one but a bit of banter and they ordered it.

They are supposed to run them for 3 months before they get their kick backs from the suppliers but I picked up my car just 5 weeks later.

So did I lose out anything? Check this…

Vectra (model as above)

Extras I wanted…

Black Metallic paint
Top of the range sound system
Full ESP system
Active Xenon Headlights (they move depending on speed/wheel position)
Climate Control
Rain Activated wipers
Heated seats
Floor mats throughout

Price should have been approx £24,000

I drove it away with full warranty and a tank of fuel for £14,000. It had about 500 miles on the clock.

What car & spec are you looking at EE?

6

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Why would you buy a brand new car, when for the same money, you could buy a much better spec’d model that is say 2-4 years old?

Depreciation is a bitch.

Bushy[/quote]

I agree. Unless you intend to keep the car for the next ten years, you will most likely be better off buying used and letting someone else eat the depreciation.

As far as towing goes, be sure that the towing capacity of the vehicle exceeds the weight of what you intend to tow. Make sure you get a good hitch too. I like automatics, as I usually tow boats and a manual clutch sucks on a slippery boat launch.

Look on-line for wholesale prices so that you know what the dealer paid for the car. You can be a hard-ass if you want, but I have had good success operating on the principle of “fair profit”. Clearly, they need to make some money to stay in business, but they should not expect you to pay for their summer house. Here in the States, dealers have what is called “holdback” that is a profit built into the wholesale price. That is why they can sell a new vehicle at $1 above invoice and still make money. When I bought my new truck (six years ago) I offered to split the holdback with the guy. He made $500 and I got a good deal on my truck.

7

Im actually a mercedes technician turned service advisor and crew is spot on the new series of diesel engines (new to the u.s at least) is remarkable. i got the chance to use a 2007 E-class with the new bluetech diesel, i Averaged well over 700 miles to a tank. Also i was located in Chicago and left the car sit outside during the winter months to compare to the old diesels not starting in the cold and this car started better than any GAS engine car id ever had. sounds no different than a gas engine while sitting in it either. bottom line is diesels rock plus you get LOADS of torque ie: towing. Also better resale value

Automatics having problems with towing are a thing of the past they are just as capable as manuals and require less effort on your part

buy used if you can, if you dont wanna deal with someone elses problems then just remember while it feels good to be a hardass and sometimes you ahve to be, you get more bees with honey

8

Again thank you very much to everyone for the help especially me ol mucka Rents, I thought scousers only knew about nicking cars? :stuck_out_tongue:

OK I am looking a renault scenic, sorry guys I wish I could say a flashy spoerts car but I have a family now and this is what i need.

Anywa, great advice on the depreciation factor this was concerning me too, so in that case looking at 3/4 year old models (half the price) with a low milage and full service history I am now stuck between these two:

http://finance.autoexposure.co.uk/classicdd.cfm?Account=AETA36921&VehicleID=AETV74467443&Image=http://finance.autoexposure.co.uk/is/autoedit/AETA36921/AETV74467443_1a.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290196560953&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:middle:uk

Do I go for the flashy top of the range 2.0 LTR petrol at 136 BHP with sunroof and Alloys

Or the lesser model 1.5 LTR diesel whih only has 80 BHP but is one year younger?

Cheers again

9

[quote]electric_eales wrote:
Do I go for the flashy top of the range 2.0 LTR petrol at 136 BHP with sunroof and Alloys

Or the lesser model 1.5 LTR diesel whih only has 80 BHP but is one year younger?

Cheers again[/quote]

Choose either (or both mate) I’ll have them delivered to your doorstep with new plates and VIN numbers by this weekend.

Oh and let me know if you want the colour changing too.

Seriously though, given the choice, much as I now prefer diesels I couldn’t bring myself to drive anything with only 80bhp. When you have that thing loaded up and you try to get up a hill you are going to be struggling. Especially with a trailer too.

Just remember that engines last a long time these days - even petrol engines and if you are going to keep the car for any serious amount of time 1 year isn’t going to make any difference. Alloys and a few more horses will though.

What sort of mileage are you looking at doing anyway? You are not going to see a huge return on fuel savings if you are only clocking up a few thousand miles a year.

I clock up around 30k per year so it’s worth it to me to get an extra 10mpg.

10

Just to add - The one thing everybody says when they buy a car is “I wish it had alloys” (assuming it didn’t!).

I know it’s daft but I’ve heard it so many times and there’s always something else to spend your money on so you never get the car you wanted.

The spec on the petrol is a lot nicer too. I would never buy a car just on the gadgets but climate control is nice to have as are some of the other features.

Any girls going to chime in about the colours?

11

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Why would you buy a brand new car, when for the same money, you could buy a much better spec’d model that is say 2-4 years old?

Depreciation is a bitch.

Bushy[/quote]

Right on.

I wouldn’t buy a car any younger than 4-5 years of it coming out of the factory. You save sooo much.

Also you should check out Ebay.co.uk and AutoTrader.co.uk you have a good chance of saving a fair amount of cash.

12

Shire nice improvement on the Avatar

Renton thanks a million again, you helped me decide!

I wanted the petrol version really but i was thinking that the grown up choice would be the diesel, but now you have mentioned that 80 BHP is not really good enough to tow a trailer, then I am 100% bang on going to look at the petrol version today.

Which also means I have about 6 grand cash left over! And they just opened a really nice gentlemens club near me :smiley:

2 things that happen to me everytime I buy a car

  1. 2 seconds later I see a better car less money
  2. some I know will say something along the lines of ‘why didnt you tell me you was buying one of these, I could have got you one for half the price’

Like everytime you buy something you should call round everyone first just to see on the off chance if there ciusin Joe has recently stolen a few.

13

Any time mate. Having had a look around there doesn’t seem anything to really watch out for on the Scenic when you buy a used one.

Apparently they wallow a bit on fast tight corners but then it’s not exactly the sort of car that you’d use for that kind of driving.

It surprised me with it’s off road capabilities too - better ground clearance than a Freelander! Not that I imagine you’ll be off roading in it but it’s nice to know you can take it into the countryside and push it a bit if you need to.

Don’t worry about your 2 points of buying a car. That happens to everybody! lol

Finally - let me know when you are going to the club - I’ll see you there :wink:

14

Traditionally diesel has always been cheaper than gas/petrol. It has only recently surpassed petrol in price. Changes in the oil and gas industry may see it swing back.

Probably not as long as you pay attention to your owner’s manual and don’t overload your car. Pay attention to what the car is rated for pulling. Towing overweight trailers can void your power train warranty. So just be weary.

Since the number of quality stick drivers is decreasing many moving companies, like U-Haul, are switching to automatics. The big thing with automatics is to make sure you turn the OverDrive OFF when pulling a trailer.

If your pulling a trailer a lot of the time then compare each vehicle’s torque more than their respective horsepower.

No Advice here. I’m every car dealer’s wet dream. I buy what I love and its usually fast. Price is secondary as long as I get what I want.

Diesel engines are much sturdier than petrol engines due to the high compression ratios need for auto-ignition. Much heavier blocks, heads, intakes and all that jazz, plus the fuel is basically like an additional lubricant. However many a Straight-6 or Inline-6 cylinder petrol engine will give the diesels a run for their money on length of life time.

Depreciation is for the bitches. Buy out of love for the car and driving and you’ll never go wrong. My truck is nearly 27 years old and buying a new Mustang is still probably one of the best things I’ve ever done. A car is mobility and freedom. Buying a car just to see what you can turn it for 3-4 years down the line is crap. I also suggest buying the best of any particular model. Get ALL the bells and whistles, even though it costs more. The added creature comforts go along way toward keeping a car for 10+ years.

[quote]1. 2 seconds later I see a better car less money
2. some I know will say something along the lines of ‘why didnt you tell me you was buying one of these, I could have got you one for half the price’[/quote]
Que Sera Sera

Its all water under the bridge.

That’s what I say. Make the best deal available then be proud of what you have. Worrying about every what if, could have, would have, should have, will just turn your hair gray.