Dealer, Non-Franchised or Joe Public?

[Tiggsy]

dealer V Non fran. seems simple.....dealers are charging 2k+ extra on 20K cars and i assume a non-franchised TVR place has the ability to provide as good service.

but....

non-franchised V joe public, although theres more risk you could buy a 2nd car with the difference to back you up if your private purchase is a dud!

What did you lot do? private or dealer?

Tiggs

[lady topaz]

Unless you know the car or the person selling it, being technically challenged I personally, with a car as querky as the Tusc, would go to a dealer. I know you pay more but you may get some sort of warranty and at least you do have a comeback IMHO !!

[dannyboyo]

I bought a N reg Chimaera privately. But the guy who sold it is a long time member of PH, and so I could check his previous posts and get the history of the car. Also he'd had it 4 years and a ton of reciepts. And the car had been featured in Sprint too apparently. Saved a few quid buying privately I think. Just do some checking beforehand, best try and find an enthusiast who's selling.

[jodypress]

i bought from a non-tvr dealer. the car is very sound and was sold with a 12 month warranty holdings warranty (5th gear has just gone so will see how they work out) and has been not too bad over the past year. had a prob, went back to dealer he wouldn't even return calls
just found out that warranty is for £1000 claim not purchase price as i have on my warranty document and got in touch with dealer (thinkin he had tried a fast one) and he phoned me back within a coiuple of hours and is sorting it out with warranty holdings.
if i was going to buy another tvr, i would see what warranty a TVR dealer had to offer, because if it is WH then you might as well buy it private and get a really good inspection and save a few £k

[tommomic]

IMO private every time. I'd rather meet the person who actually owned the car and look them in the eye than a dealer anyday. I looked at every avenue when buying my Cerbera and got the best results from talking to the people who actually ran the car (esp. PH members or TVRCC members). All dealers ever came out with was the same old sales patter - nothing specific to the particular cars pro and cons.

Get it looked over if you need to, HPI it and buy a warranty direct (with no upper limit) - and hey presto, you've saved thousands on exactly what the dealer would have done for many thousands more.

Cheers,
Tommo

>> Edited by tommomic on Friday 4th April 20:34

[griff2be]

tommomic said: IMO private every time. I'd rather meet the person who actually owned the car and look them in the eye than a dealer anyday. I looked at every avenue when buying my Cerbera and got the best results from talking to the people who actually ran the car (esp. PH members or TVRCC members). All dealers ever came out with was the same old sales patter - nothing specific to the particular cars pro and cons.

Get it looked over if you need to, HPI it and buy a warranty direct (with no upper limit) - and hey presto, you've saved thousands on exactly what the dealer would have done for many thousands more.

Cheers,
Tommo

>> Edited by tommomic on Friday 4th April 20:34

Well before I bought mine from a main dealer I got the name of the previous owner from the V5, asked them to give him a call and see if it was ok for me to chat with him. Which it was, so I called him and got all the background. I also got a few thousand off the sticker price - it wasn't far off the private sale value by the time I'd finished negotiating.

The only difficulty I had was when I spoke to the (different) main dealer that had supplied the car from new and done all its servicing. They refused to tell me anything about the car's history unless I owned the car - quoting the Data Protection Act. Which was odd, as if the data was 'owned ' by the guy that had the servicing carried out, how could it suddenly be alright to tell once I did actually own the car? Which is when they did go hrough the service reciords with me. Very odd.

This dealer went on to berate me for not buying a car from their stock. I resolved on that day that I would never take it for servicing there. Which is a shame, as I'm only a few miles from Henley.

Oops. Bit of a giveaway there.

Anyway - I think the moral of the story is it pays to do your homework on the car wherever you buy it from.

Buying from a main dealer may or may not give you extra protection - but you can buy a Warranty Holdings warranty any time, privately or through a dealer. I think the key is buying from a dealer local to you who really cares about customer service and has a good reputation to protect - its these guys who go the extra mile for you.

Enough rabbiting I think. I don't know - a pint of Old Speckled Hen and half a gin and tonic and I'm away....

[MikeyT]

This dealer went on to berate me for not buying a car from their stock. I resolved on that day that I would never take it for servicing there. Which is a shame, as I'm only a few miles from Henley.

Oops. Bit of a giveaway there.

Can't believe I had to edit this




>> Edited by MikeyT on Friday 4th April 21:44

[neilmac]

tommomic said: IMO private every time. I'd rather meet the person who actually owned the car and look them in the eye than a dealer anyday. I looked at every avenue when buying my Cerbera and got the best results from talking to the people who actually ran the car (esp. PH members or TVRCC members). All dealers ever came out with was the same old sales patter - nothing specific to the particular cars pro and cons.

Get it looked over if you need to, HPI it and buy a warranty direct (with no upper limit) - and hey presto, you've saved thousands on exactly what the dealer would have done for many thousands more.

Cheers,
Tommo

>> Edited by tommomic on Friday 4th April 20:34

Couldn't agree more, I bought mine privately and got a good car at a very good price. I didn't want to pay for a warranty that probably excluded most of the things that could go wrong anyway.

I felt that if the car was as per my inspection and as the previous owner posts on here then once HPI'd all was OK.

If you are not confident about inspecting the car then get a professional in - still works out cheaper than dealer prices.

In all honesty though, doing it this way does mean you spend the early days of ownership with your fingers crossed..........

[Psychobert]

Spent half the money you are thinking of on an S, looked at all of the above and bought privately. One dealer I've been to twice asking to look at TVRs tried to interest me in a more expensive 911 then an Elise. Even turned up in a TVR the 2nd time..

The car I bought felt right, the guy selling was dead straight with me, (told me he had hooned it around the track and showed me the pictures whereas others swore it had never been near a track), I saw all the history up front and 5 months later the MOT bill was less than £50, (my fault as I cocked-up the headlight adjustment).

Would be happy to buy either privately or from a dealer, providing I get the same level of care taken selling the car to me as I spend buying, (if that makes sense)..

Rob Ingelby (findasportscar.com) has a good reputation; I'd probably go to him 1st next time anyway..