It pays to look at different types of car

In recent posts I talked about things to consider before buying a car. The car fitting your purpose and purse being the two most important. Yesterday we saw you don’t necessarily have to buy one particular type of car. There are over 40 manufacturers selling over 350 models in the UK, each with a range of trim and engine options.

The various classes of car are organised on the home page of carbuyersinfo.

Small cars come in 3 sizes, tiny city cars, super minis and super-sized minis.

Medium small cars like the best-selling Focus are all the same size but vary in prestige and price, but not necessarily in performance, economy and safety.

Medium size cars also vary in prestige and price with some like the Mondeo growing to the size of an executive car.

There’s a limited range of executive and luxury cars on the market.

Estate cars come as small, medium/small, medium and large with differences in prestige and price. The same applies to MPVs and 4×4s.

There is a huge range of sports cars, convertibles and coupes on the market signifying some people still think motoring is fun.

So there’s a lot to choose from. Navigate your way from the best-selling ‘ the car for everyone’ Ford Focus.

Regards
Ralph

Finding a car to fit your budget

A couple of posts ago we looked at considerations to make before a person rushes out to buy a car. Yesterday we saw how finding the right car to fit your purpose was important.  Next it has to fit your purse.

The natural reaction is to buy a small car. But if a small car proves to not fit your purpose and forces an early change the depreciation is a killer.

Owners of SUVs, 4×4s and to some extent MPV owners have been looking to downsize.

But you don’t have to buy small. You can buy economical. I’ve embedded a real-time listing of market prices in my Ford Mondeo Estate Comparisons. New they start at about £16,000 but likely the one people want will be the £20,000 model.  But you can get a near-new one for £12,000.

What happens is most people won’t stretch to £20,000 so these cars are sold with huge discounts to fleets. Hire car companies for example. They then sell them back in 6 to 12 months time. So there’s plenty of supply.

Estate cars are spacious, great to drive and with a diesel engine some are as economical as small petrol cars. They’re also a lot safer than SUVs, 4×4s, MPVs and small cars. There are more aspects to safety than crash test ratings.

So an estate car is a possibility if you need a large versatile car on an every day basis. If not, you could run a small car and hire an estate car or even a van when needs be.

Estate cars are worth a look and today come in all sizes. Navigate your way from Ford Mondeo Estate Comparisons.

Regards
Ralph

What’s your purpose in buying a car?

I’ve just been adding real-time listings of market prices to my car comparison pages. One of which was the Citroen C1. This type of car is a perfect example of working out your purpose before you buy a car anywhere. Something I mentioned just hours ago about jumping in and buying a car.

Many car shoppers will see a car like the Citroen C1 and explain to the salesperson it’s all they need for commuting and shopping, plus it’s good enough for the odd trip. That’s fair enough until they’re back within months because they need a different type of car. The depreciation they suffer is horrendous.

First let me say the C1 is a great car. It’s easy to drive and park. There’s plenty of room upfront and it’s fun to drive with super cheap running costs.

The problem is when shopping on the Internet we’re isolated. OK the Internet is convenient, fun, private and there are some great deals. Great deals is another problem because some people buy just because it’s a great deal without working out their purpose.

I know buyers would rather go to the dentist than visit a car showroom. People often visit a dealership with the intention of buying that day. However many walk away without buying. One reason is the salespersons questions stir the unconscious to the point of the buyer not being certain and wanting to think about it. Few ever come back to buy.

So what are those questions that place our dreams outside of ourselves for critical judgement. I’ve listed them for you at how to decide what car you want. There are 10 questions and you’re going to say I knew that. So before you go there try writing down 10 questions you should ask yourself.

Regards
Ralph
Citroen C1 Comparisons

eBay Motors basics

I’ve just embedded an eBay real-time listing of market prices for the Peugeot 207 in my comparison page. The idea is visitors can now compare both cars and prices.

I did think, ‘OH what if they get carried away and start bidding.’ So being responsible, here’s a list of the basics ( I might revisit in later posts) before you bid.

• Be sure the car fits your purpose and purse.
• Research different car models and different prices in different market places.
• Really understand car models,  pricing and various types of sellers.
• Research navigation and searching on eBay, other sources of information, the seller and other bidders.
• Communicate with the seller – ask questions.
• Re-examine your findings.
• Ask again does this fit your original purpose and purse.
• Read the description carefully.
• Understand charges and payment methods.
• Know about delivery and insurance.
• Bid with your head and not your heart. Stick to your limit.
• Don’t forget the car basics like – history, condition, invoicing, insurance, vehicle excises duty, warranty and sources of finance.

They say an informed buyer is a good buyer.

Have a little compare at Peugeot 207 comparisons.

Regards
Ralph

Searching for cars on eBay Motors

As you know from previous posts I’m embedding eBay listings in my comparison pages so visitors can compare prices in what is the UK’s largest automotive market place. This has proved to be immediately popular.

It’s also been an education for me. Cars have become very scarce. Yesterday I added listings to all my BMW 1-Series comparison pages. Some jokers seem to have the knack of getting themselves to the top of listings when search results are short. There are not too many 1-Series about. I found the same for Lexus last week.

Whilst I fear jokers on the Internet might be an inconvenience, I don’t know if I find their tricks clever or comical. What I’m trying to do is add relevant, real-time listings to carbuyersinfo and filter results by keywords, category and other eBay search criteria. Here’s how it works.

• I sort results by the highest price first because my comparison pages describe new cars and I hope results will show relevant new, self-registrations, demonstrators and near new cars.
• I only display the first 3 results to be unobtrusive and visitors can view all the results with a click.
• There’s a live search box in the header.
• I search keywords for make, model and year. So for the BM’ it’s ‘BMW 1-Series 2008′.
• If eBay return no results it defaults to the category ‘car’.
• It shows items with gallery images only.

Some sellers get over the image issue by using a logo or advert box – something we might talk about in another post. What’s happened with the BM’ search is some joker has listed alloy wheels for £69,999.00. It’s clever when you think about it. A punter looking for an expensive BMW might be a mug punter for a set of alloys, especially if they’re getting over £60,000 discount.

See if you can catch them on BMW 1-Series comparison pages.

Last week I caught Land Rover in Lexus searches because they’re in short supply.

Regards
Ralph

Comparing cars and car prices side-by-side

I’ve started to embed in my car comparison pages real-time displays listing cars for sale on eBay. eBay is the UK’s largest on-line automotive market place. You’ve lots of different types of sellers, buyer and cars. So it’s a real market.

Today I published displays on comparisons for the Ford Fiesta, Renault Clio, Renault Scenic, Espace and Modus. I’ll be adding more but it’s a lot of work. There are over 200 cars compared on carbuyersinfo which will eventually mean near 3,000 comparisons.

Knowing your car prices helps:

• Deciding whether to go for new, near new or used. You’ll find it’s a close run thing with small cars like the Fiesta but a no-brainer when it comes to larger cars.
• You can use car comparisons to drive down prices during negotiation. You can tell the Fiesta salesperson you can buy a Clio for less, for example.

I’ve sorted the listings by highest price first to bring up the newer cars first. There are 3 cars displayed. You just need to click view all in the bottom left-hand corner. The search box is live and I’ve only selected cars with a gallery picture.

Give it a go with the Ford Fiesta Comparisons. Have fun.

Regards
Ralph

The Pros & Cons of a Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 is becoming very popular. So what’s it all about?

There are 3 sizes of small car for sale:

• Tiny town cars about 3.5m long.
• Super-minis about 3.74m long, and
• Super-sized minis about 4m long.

The Fiat 500 is a tiny town car that’s more than happy on the open road. As such the 500 has everything going for it. The 500 is easy to drive and park. It is reasonably priced and very cheap to run. Importantly the Fiat 500 has low CO2s and a Euro NCAP 5-star rating.

Generally, the Fiat 500 has the advantage of style, performance, economy and safety. For example:

The Fiat 500 walks a Chevrolet Matiz like it’s standing still.

The Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Matiz are both the same size with low fuel consumption and emissions. The 3-door 500 costs some £1,600 more than the 5-door Matiz. The Matiz is narrower and easy to park. It might also be cheaper to insure. Importantly the 500 is 5-star Euro NCAP rated and a mile quicker. Plus its got loads of street cred’.

You can safely say only one significant feature separates the 500 and C1

There’s no significant difference on paper between a Fiat 500 and Citroen C1 which will necessarily be evident in real on the road motoring. Importantly, the Fiat 500 has a EuroNCAP 5-star rating. The same goes for the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo

In small cars small differences make big differences

The Fiat 500 and Citroen C2 are about the same size and entry level price with similar model ranges. There shouldn’t be much difference in car insurance. However the 500 is cheaper on fuel and VED. Importantly the 500 is 5-star Euro NCAP rated and a bit quicker.

The Fiat 500 isn’t just all about style

Although the Fiat 500 is based on the Fiat Panda there are significant differences. Obviously the Panda has a utilitarian style with 5-doors whilst the 500 is retro and 3-doors. The 500 is quicker, has a 5-star EuroNCAP ratings and is cheaper on fuel and vehicle excise duty. So you don’t have to admit you bought a 500 for its style and street cred’.

They don’t look the same car but they are.

The Fiat 500 is based on the Fiat Panda and the Ford Ka is a 500 in different clothes. As you can see from the chart below there’s not a scrap of difference between the 500 and Ka. I suppose it depends on which one you like the look of.

What do you get for £1,000.00 less?

The 3-door Fiat 500 and 5-door Hyundai i10 are both small city cars. The difference is as a 5-door the i10 costs over £1,000 less than the 3-door 500 and that’s with i10 having air conditioning and a much longer warranty. Otherwise the 500 and i10 are very similar for performance and both are very cheap for fuel, vehicle excise duty and car insurance costs. A significant difference is the Fiat 500 is Euro NCAP 5-star rated – not to mention street cred’.

What do you get for £2,000.00?

Both the Fiat 500 and Kia Picanto are the same size and are very cheap to run with low fuel consumption, vehicle excise duty and car insurance groups. However the Picanto has a much lower entry price and 5-doors – £2,000.00 lower. It’s great value.  Importantly, the 500 has a EuroNCAP 5-star rating and bags of street cred’.

What have these two babies got in common?

The Fiat 500 and Renault Twingo are both restyled older cars. The 500 is based on the Panda and the Twingo on the old Clio. They’re about the same price, size and performance. The 500 is 5-star Euro NCAP rated and is cheaper to run with lower fuel economy, emissions and car insurance.

The 500 can hold its own against a Mini

The Mini is bulkier but not that much more spacious than the Fiat 500. The Mini is more fun to drive. Both have bags of street cred’. However the Mini has a very much higher entry price which I doubt in this case will payback with comparable low depreciation. Plus the 500 has cheaper car insurance and vehicle excise duty. Both seemed styled to celebrate motoring.

Here’s one alternative worth considering.

The Skoda Fabia is super-sized 5-door at 4m. The Fiat 500 is only 3-door at 3.5m. Both are stylish and good to drive. The 500 is quicker and cheaper on fuel and vehicle excise duty. Plus the 500 gets 5-star EuroNCAP. However the Fabia looks amazing value.  

Here’s another alternative worth considering.

The Seat Ibiza is a much larger and more spacious small car than the Fiat 500. Both are stylish and good to drive.  The 500 is quicker, has a lower entry price and is cheaper on fuel and vehicle excise duty. But as a larger 5-door car the Ibiza looks great value.

Here’s a third alternative worth considering.

Here are two cars with plenty of street cred’ and style. The Fiat 500 is a small mini while the Suzuki Swift is a more spacious super mini. The 500 has a slightly lower entry price and is significantly cheaper to run with low fuel economy vehicle, excise duty and car insurance. Importantly the 500 has a Euro NCAP 5-star rating.  But then the Swift is quicker.

Regards
Ralph
Find out more at Fiat 500 Comparison Charts

An Honestly Priced New Car

Over on carbuyersinfowe make car comparisons. We simply publish data for one car side by side with another. If you look at comparisons for Hyundai or Kia you can’t help but notice how cheaply priced they are by comparison. That’s cheap in price.

They’re quality cars because they meet buyers’ expectations for build quality, style, space, performance, economy and emissions. Plus they’re getting good Euro NCAP safety ratings. What’s more some like the Hyundai i30 now have ESP fitted as standard.

These cars are honestly priced so there’s no demand or supply for near-new second hand ones.

At carbuyersinfo we’re in the process of adding real-time eBay listing to each page so visitors can compare real marketplace prices. If you go over to Hyundai i30 Comparisons – for example – and scroll to the foot of the page and open the eBay listing you’ll see what I mean by, ‘no supply.’

Why the market is like this is a long story about different car manufacturers’ marketing programmes. Simply be happy that manufacturers charging high prices and perverting the market with marketing programmes haven’t been doing too well. On the other hand we’ve seen the rise of makers like Skoda and now Hyundai and Kia.

Regards
Ralph

How Does The Peugeot 107 Compare?

I’ve just added to my Peugeot 107 Comparison page a real-time listing so you can compare real market prices.

The 107 is a great little car – easy to drive and park, cheap to buy and run. Importantly it’s good on CO2s.

What puzzles me is how the Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota dealer deal with selling the same car. Because you’d go to the Citroen dealer and ask their best price for a C1, then ask Peugeot if they can do a 107 cheaper, then ask Toyota the same for an Aygo. You could even go round again.

Anyway, on my Peugeot 107 Comparisonpage you’ll find the fundamental features of these cars compared with other small cars for sale in the UK.

The real-time listing will help you research prices. It’s sorted by highest price first. You can view all cars. There’s also a search box.

Have Fun
Ralph

The Merc CLS – U Luv It U Liar

It’s funny how in motoring surveys, buyers given a car suits their lifestyle and budget go on to rank safety, performance, etc. They deny style and prestige are important.

If you were a car salesperson walking a punter down a car lot and led them to a car they might say, ‘I don’t like the look of that.’ – STYLE.

They might say, ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead in that.’ – PRESTIGE.

So car buyer’s attitudes in surveys suggest one thing but they take a different action in reality.

That might not be a bad buyer’s defence mechanism. I’ve just been inserting real-time eBay listing to the foot of my car comparison pages for executive and luxury cars. I’ve been going in alphabetical order.

When I inserted the Merc CLS eBay listing I thought, ‘they’re a bit of value second-hand.’ But they’re not. A CLS just looks like a million dollars but it actually isn’t as expensive as it looks when you buy new. And it doesn’t depreciate much.

So to deny being tempted by style might save you, although it seems there are a multitudes of sins involved here and you might end up praying , ‘Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.’ That will teach you for lying in the first place.

Regard
Ralph