Looking for a new car

Velenoso said:
Once or twice. They were classics though, so it's to be expected. On newer vehicles, you can follow the same procedure as you would buying from a stealer. Take it to the AA, take it to Nissan/Jeep/whoever and get a report.

I wouldn't buy from a dealer, they are bigger thieves than the guys on Gumtree.
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Even a 'certified' dealer? ie a Honda dealership for a used Honda and so forth
 
Velenoso said:
No, not those but you will pay more there (10% - 15% in my experience).
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Of course you will pay more from a dealer, they have to provide some sort of warranty/guarantee on the car, plus sort out what ever needs doing to the car before it gets sold - there can be a 10 to 20k difference - they actually have businesses to run.
 
I bought my car from SMG and it was a generally painless experience compared to the Gumtree ads I also followed up.

I could actually bargain with the dealers regarding an overall better car and got a great trade-in better than I managed to even garner interest from in Gumtree.

Private sellers often seem to have false senses of value due to emotional attachment. Saw many cars with a higher price and same mileage privately and no inclination to bargain down....not to mention that my aircon died a week after purchase and SMG sorted it out no questions which wouldn't have been an option privately.

In my opinion you get what you pay for. Will use a dealer wherever possible, unless it's something obviously special that isn't that easy to find elsewhere.
 
Fazda said:
Of course you will pay more from a dealer, they have to provide some sort of warranty/guarantee on the car, plus sort out what ever needs doing to the car before it gets sold - there can be a 10 to 20k difference - they actually have businesses to run.
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Fair enough, but you get good deals on Gumtree. That's all I'm saying.
 
Also have a look at the Kia Optima. It's an amazing car at its price point. Brand new it's out of your price range but you can get a slightly used one in your budget. Great value for money
 
SauRoNZA said:
Ecosport is a new contender that has drawn my attention but not having driven one I can't comment. Automatic also only available in one spec level.
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i test drove the 1.0 3cyl one. Brilliant car. Now if the dealers would only give me more for mine, i'll get one tomorrow...
 
My mother had an '05 A180 CDI and now has an '09 A180 CDI... the first one gave no issues but the second was terrible... Even under maintenance plan you still have to pay (stepped maintenance plan) and parts pricing is excessively high even when compared to Audi or BMW in our experience

We used to use Mercedes-Benz Grand Central Motors in Midrand to service the car as that's where we bought the first one. They changed minor parts which weren't required to be changed etc... They wanted to replace the ignition key system for +7k which turned out to be a bad solder point by the relay system - an independent mechanic fixed it (the guy used to work for Merc)

On the second car, they changed parts after we refused the quote (seatbelt clip cover) and only after lots of fighting they gave us a discount for the parts... There was a clicking noise by the front left (after changing CVs and 95000km) and that took months and many replacement parts (at our cost) until it suddenly came right... The glow plug light turned on after the car was on for a few minutes - they replaced a glow plug and then it was constantly on. They then wanted to replace the glow plug control unit but we refused... The same mechanic found that a wire had been CUT (sabotaged) and he soldered that back together and no issues since. The car then went to Merc in Northcliff for a service and they said that Grand Central Motors had loosened bolts/screws on the car...

So while Merc Northcliff is better than out previous experience, this will be our last Merc :)

My recommendations:
http://tiny.cc/jahf9w
http://tiny.cc/zfhf9w
http://tiny.cc/8hhf9w
http://tiny.cc/lphf9w
http://tiny.cc/4phf9w
 
ahoudet said:
My mother had an '05 A180 CDI and now has an '09 A180 CDI... the first one gave no issues but the second was terrible... Even under maintenance plan you still have to pay (stepped maintenance plan) and parts pricing is excessively high even when compared to Audi or BMW in our experience

We used to use Mercedes-Benz Grand Central Motors in Midrand to service the car as that's where we bought the first one. They changed minor parts which weren't required to be changed etc... They wanted to replace the ignition key system for +7k which turned out to be a bad solder point by the relay system - an independent mechanic fixed it (the guy used to work for Merc)

On the second car, they changed parts after we refused the quote (seatbelt clip cover) and only after lots of fighting they gave us a discount for the parts... There was a clicking noise by the front left (after changing CVs and 95000km) and that took months and many replacement parts (at our cost) until it suddenly came right... The glow plug light turned on after the car was on for a few minutes - they replaced a glow plug and then it was constantly on. They then wanted to replace the glow plug control unit but we refused... The same mechanic found that a wire had been CUT (sabotaged) and he soldered that back together and no issues since. The car then went to Merc in Northcliff for a service and they said that Grand Central Motors had loosened bolts/screws on the car...

So while Merc Northcliff is better than out previous experience, this will be our last Merc :)

My recommendations:
http://tiny.cc/jahf9w
http://tiny.cc/zfhf9w
http://tiny.cc/8hhf9w
http://tiny.cc/lphf9w
http://tiny.cc/4phf9w
Click to expand...

Seems like your problem was more with the dealership the actual car. i had the same amount of sh*t from a Merc dealership in pretoria, i almost got sued for "naamskending" by them, i was very vocal with my dissatisfaction....
In any case, After that i took my car to an independent mechanic (who also specializes in merc) and he sorted out all my problems. For services i take it to "Koops" which is a RMI service center, have been there for my last 4 services, Minor service costing me R700 and a Major costing me R1500, and have not had a days problems, car is on +- 200k km's at the moment.

Every now and again a gogga bytes me in the butt and i want to buy a new car, then i test drive a few, but in all honesty when i get back in the Merc that though vanishes very quickly. There simply is not another car i have driven that compares to the Merc, the driving pleasure, the features, the interior....My mother once borrowed my car while i was away, she send me a text that she will never be able to drive in a Merc permanently, she can't feel the road, its like riding on a wolkie :D
 
Family man? Dont mind base spec looks?

http://www.autotrader.co.za/used-cars/bmw/3-series/2012-bmw-3-series-320i-auto-navigation-f30-special-offer-eastern-cape-fpa-8a78aa0a3fbd6af5013fd6bd1910088f
 
I would go for the Jetta, reliable and those Automatics are amazing, I for one hate automatics but I changed my mind when I test drove the Automatic 21st Century beetle, they are so much smoother than any other Auto I've driven.
 
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