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Last week I managed to have the wonderful experience of having the ‘service’ light on my control panel flash up when driving on the motorway – right before Christmas; great! Anyway, I managed to get a booking in with the people at Audi for an early morning car service and was told it would be ready by a certain time. As you would expect from such an efficient and responsible manufacturer – the service was completed on time and ready for pickup. When I arrived, it had undergone a full valet and looked as good as new. The sheer professionalism in which Audi operated at throughout the whole process was evident for everyone to see. When summarising the tasks that were completed, I was able to gain a detailed insight into everything that was undertaken and the technicians were more than happy to answer any questions that I had. I even managed to learn a few things about the engine and was given helpful tips for the future in terms of the cars overall daily maintenance. For me, the way in which Audi operates is and has always been first class. Their knowledge of the car industry is second to none and this experience has only solidified my opinion of them to greater effect. I found that it was just the simple things that accounted for so much and whilst a valet for example is quite rightly expected by owners when they are having a service on their car, the standard of valet in this case was perfect. All of the leather was cleaned using a specific cleansing solution and the Alloy Wheels appeared as new. Overall, Audi have once again proved to me why I was correct is purchasing a car from them in the first place and why they are one of the leaders in the world of automotive.

So we have a potential buyer looking for a new car to buy before the Christmas and New Year festive season. What does he do then if he wishes to buy or reserve a car online? Firstly then the user will have to decide upon the type of car that he wishes to purchase. The relevant research will then need to be carried out in order to find the vehicle in question and to find a Website that he can trust. Upon finding the selected the chosen one, they will normally have a few options; telephone the dealer direct, contact the dealer via email or reserve the car online by paying a small deposit using a payment system such as World Pay. Most people will indeed contact the dealer via telephone as buying a car; whether it be used or new is a quite a big purchase. Therefore by hearing someone else’s voice on the other end of the telephone provides a comfort that can help smooth through the purchase. So what about the car finance then? Well, many Websites offer finance to customers via a separate section or page that requires them to fill out an online application form. However, the dealer selling the cars can also offer a package, which would provide both convenience and less hassle. More advanced systems can sometimes be found where the cars stock number is built into the car finance application form and so unbeknown to the user, they obtain finance from 2 totally separate sources. However, the process is so smooth that it doesn’t affect the purchase or finance application in any way. Once both processes are complete, the buyer will then be contacted by both the finance lender and the car dealership. The process is then completed. This is quite a common series of events within the used cars market as many of the dealerships provide their vehicle stock to various third parties in order to get optimum exposure online. In fact, what you will notice with many of the used car Websites online is that many of them in fact provide the same search results as one another. The reason for this is that a big company such as Bristol Street Motors will provide their stock of cars to these sites in the way of an automated process that issues the latest deals and prices on a daily basis. Therefore this ensures that the Internet user is kept up to date and has access to all of the latest cars being made available for sale by the industries main players.

I have a slight dilemma. With me currently being in the market for a new car, I have found two that really tick all of the boxes; a used Vauxhall Vectra and a used Vauxhall Astra. The only problem is that the Vectra is way up in Scotland, which is like a 4 hour plus drive from where I live. Whereas the Astra dealership is only just over an hour’s drive away. However, the Astra is a bit more expensive and ideally I want the Vectra as it has a bigger engine and looks more elegant. This is the problem with smaller car dealerships; they do no deliver or if they do – it is at an extortionate cost. However, because they are more desperate for business and the fact that they only sell used cars means that there is more room for bargaining with them. However, a four hour plus drive all the way up to Scotland for the sake of a few hundred pounds; is it worth it? I’m not so sure. Maybe if it was a brand spanking new Audi R8 it may not be as much of a problem as I would no doubt look forward to the drive back. However, this purchase is only for getting from A to B and will be used for work alone, which makes it even more of a pain! However, due to the line of work that I am in – a used vehicle must be purchased and so I do not have the choice of many different cars. I do like the Astra from Vauxhall but it isn’t the new shape, it is the older version (before anyone questions it!). Therefore I suppose the questions is; is driving all that way necessary in order to get the car that I want even though it is slightly more. Plus when you add the cost of petrol for getting up there and then the return journey, it makes it even more costly. Buying cars is just not easy anymore is it?!

Me – I am an avid purchaser of second hand cars. Why? Well, I suppose it comes down to personal choice and opinion really and I am certainly of the opinion that used cars provide not only better value than new cars but also better performance as they have experienced the road and have had chance to have their engine worn in. Of course, there are different levels to used cars and so I am not talking about those that are five to ten years old. No – I am talking about nearly new cars that are maybe six months to one year old. These in my opinion are the ones that provide the best value; cars that were only brand new a few months previous, the engine has been worn in, that new car smell is still present and the car itself is still well within the “new” category among the manufacturers and buyers. As we know, any new vehicle that is purchased immediately loses around 17.5 percent of its value the second it is driven from the car showroom. So, immediately its residual value decreases, which is good for us used buyers. Now if you are a little bit clever – the ideal cars to purchase are those that are taken on short term leases by people who actually given the car back to the dealership within a certain amount of months (avoid business users though as the mileage that they can accumulate can be extraordinary) and then jump in with an offer. Or, better still, keep a close eye on the car showroom forecourt and look out for vehicles being returned from owners after they have decided not to go through with the purchase. In some cases, people are given a trial period for the car in which they can bring it back in to the dealer if they are not satisfied with its performance. But, upon being give a new vehicle, by the time it is returned, it is used, which makes for a cheaper price. Another really sneaky way of buying used cars is to purchase a test drive vehicle that has only been used for testing. This way, the price can be even cheaper. All in all then – in my opinion, used cars do indeed provide a better value to the customer than new cars simply because of their price. Whilst it would no doubt be nice to have a brand new vehicle on the driveway, I’m afraid the depreciation value that it brings would be too much for me.

So with the new weather comes a new set of precautions. In fact, when there is such a strong change in weather like there is now, there are a number of common faults with cars that can arise. For example, if you have a vehicle that is being kept off the road and declared SORN to the DVLA, it is of good advice to regularly start the engine whilst it is parked on the driveway or in storage. The reason for this is that the cars brakes sit on the wheel arches and add pressure to the tyres. From this, they can set unless given regular movement. This doesn’t necessarily affect the car engine but is one example of what can be done to avoid repairs. Starting the engine is also a necessity when cold weather comes around – especially with some of the older used cars as some have older type engines that may not be as robust as those on newer vehicles. Having said that this doesn’t mean than new cars should be ignored when it comes to ensuring the engine is regularly started. In fact, no matter what the type of vehicle, new or used, having a car that is not regularly run can cause problems with the engine. Therefore it is advisable that they are looked after and maintained. But, not just cars that are off the road should be regularly checked – this goes for all types of cars and even those that are used for daily errands etc. A lot of short journeys are not ideal and so it may be that you take your car onto the motorway to give it that little bit of extra speed that is not possible on 30 mph roads. The idea is to not have any engine suffer from the cold and to make sure that it is used appropriately during the autumn and winter months. As of yet we are not quite in winter but it is always good to be prepared – especially when dealing with used cars that may be of a lower specification that the newer vehicles available.