Buying a car

Hi! I was wondering what the car buying process was like in the UK. Specifically, if we wanted to purchase a used car with a sticker price of £4000, can we expect to walk out paying £4000 total, or are there lots of taxes, fees and extras added on to that, like in the US?

Thanks

Penny

I don't know, but that's a question I'd like to know the answers to as well!

Also, do most people get personal loans to pay for their cars, or go through car dealerships to get the loan?

Specifically, if we wanted to purchase a used car with a sticker price of £4000, can we expect to walk out paying £4000 total, or are there lots of taxes, fees and extras added on to that, like in the US?

If you're paying cash, then the sticker price (or the price you beat the dealer down to!) is pretty much it.   You pay him, he signs over the registration to you, and it's yours to drive away.  There are no official transfer or re-registration fees for a used car, assuming that it's already on U.K. plates.

The only other fees/taxes would be the usual items such as insurance, road tax if it doesn't already have a valid tax disc, etc.

I've never bought a vehicle with dealer finance, so I'm not sure what the interest and finance charges are like on that.

hi,

Just wanted to add that car buying can and is sometimes a bit of a minefield regardless of country! so it pays to research as much as possible about the actual car you want and then all the finance options etc etc.

On the flipside, I firmly beleive you shouldn't ever pay 'sticker' for anything - more so for cars in this instance. A dealer always has a 'margin' to 'play' with when dealing with potential customers/sales

The golden rule is to haggle and the 'difficult' part is knowing when to walk away if you aren't getting a deal. Only go for sticker if you've really really found out about the specific car and are 100% on it.

visit www.autotrader.co.uk for an excellent site that details everything you need to know about buying second hand/from a dealer etc etc

Depending which finance route you take, be aware of interest rates, APR rates, length of term etc etc to help give you a 'true' cost of the car. Cash obviously is the best and often negotiates you an excellent discount too!

If you are really keen, the best deals are from Auction houses -  sometimes you can fall over with disbeleif at how little the cars sell for flipside is you REALLY need to know what you are doing and/or have someone with you who does!

an example is the BMW 530d Touring or 'wagon' as you lot call them I bought a few months ago, I saw it advertised up in Manchester, did a mad dash up the M1&M6 to buy it. Trade guide value was £16000-18000 for a average mile example, becuase this one was high at 150K miles at only 3 years old, I got it for a bargain £7250 after lopping off £250 by negotiation!

You've got Homework to do Pamaris!
Cheers! DtM West London & Slough UK!

I bought my car in August after doing loads of research on what was a fair price for my model/mileage/etc. I paid for the car itself, and then a month later had it serviced, paid the MOT and then the car tax (because it was due). That was it besides having it insured.

I found it to be reasonably straight forward considering how convoluted other other things have turned out to be in the UK. 

Best of luck!