Car dealers

[5minstogo]

Any to avoid? Been to Car Shop, Motor Depot and Perry's. Got a test drive booked in at Arnold Clark. No one seems keen to offer much by the way of a deal either so any tips welcome.

[The Red Baron]

Every second-hand car dealer's favourite song.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=51NAFhGDIYw

[drfchound]

Any to avoid? Been to Car Shop, Motor Depot and Perry's. Got a test drive booked in at Arnold Clark. No one seems keen to offer much by the way of a deal either so any tips welcome.

Depends what you are looking for I suppose but my good friends own Fleet Direct, next to Arnold Clark.

[5minstogo]

Any to avoid? Been to Car Shop, Motor Depot and Perry's. Got a test drive booked in at Arnold Clark. No one seems keen to offer much by the way of a deal either so any tips welcome.

Depends what you are looking for I suppose but my good friends own Fleet Direct, next to Arnold Clark.

Insignia Sports Tourer with reasonable mileage. I'll have a look at Fleet Direct, a lot of the ones I've seen are ex fleet.

[Bentley Bullet]

Tell them even if they offer you a really poor deal you're still not going to walk away. Just ask them nicely not to rip you off.

[roversdude]

I’ve had one for a couple of years 5minstogo can’t fault it

[RedJ]

I've got an Insignia. Think it's bloody brilliant. Would avoid the pre-2014 ones as I hear they have a common fault with their brakes and personally would go with a diesel if you do regular motorway runs.

Mine is ex fleet, wouldn't let that bother you.

[5minstogo]

Cheers chaps. They seem a lot of car for the money. Looking at 2014 onwards that hasn't been to the moon and back.

[roversdude]

Mine hadn’t been to the moon but has now 190k no problem whatsoever (btw 2014 auto diesel)

[RedJ]

Mine had 124k on it when I got it. Don't let mileage put you off - there's a lot of work needs doing at the 100k mark that will/should have been already done if you do get one with over a ton on it.

They are mostly fleet cars as you've noticed, so there's going to be hefty usage already on them in the majority of cases.

[5minstogo]

Thanks again. I've narrowed it down to three which I'm going to look at again today. One 140bhp Sri Nav, one 163bhp Techline both 14 plates with around 50k mileage. The other is randomly a Hyundai u40 with a similar spec.

[roversdude]

Be careful with the Hyundai as they are down on power especially compared with Insignia, it all depends on what your driving requirements are

[5minstogo]

Yeah think I've crossed that one off my list now. Do any if you chaps know when the timing belt should be changed on the Insignia. I'm reading 60 mths, 72 mths or 100k miles. Just need to know if I should be making sure this has been done by now on a 14 plate.

[RedJ]

100k miles I've always been told.

[roversdude]

Vauxhall say 100k but risky leaving it that long

[dknward2]

When I worked for Vauxhall even though the interval is 100k we used to tell people to do it at 80 or 90k better safe than sorry also best doing it on age if the mileage isn’t high enough as the rubber belt can crack and degrade over time.

I now work for Audi ours are 140k or 5 years on some engines yet I would never leave it that long. I’ve seen to many bad stories when it goes wrong

[Dagenham Rover]

did my Vauxhall van at 92000  3 years old

[5minstogo]

Cheers folks. Done a deal for them to do it before I pick up just be be on the safe side.

[RedJ]

Which one did you go for in the end?

[5minstogo]

Insignia tourer. 2014 2.0 ecoflex diesel. Techline trim. Tracked down a 163bhp one rather than the 140. Made the drive a bit more  interesting at the expense of a bit of economy. Pick it up on Saturday