I went along to Available Car in Castle Donnington a couple of Sundays ago looking to purchase a nearly new Ford Focus. It was overall an excellent experience and took the stress out of what can be a stressful transaction.
The premise of Available Car is that there are no salesmen showing you around the cars and therefore no hard sell. You walk into a large showroom which has a few cars on the right hand side and seating areas on the left. You are met by a greeter who informs you of the procedure which is this:
They hand you a stock list which has basic details of all the cars in stock, then they draw your attention to the cars outside which are lined up according to size. You are free to browse at your leisure and then come inside and speak to an advisor if there is anything you are interested in.
I found the exact car I was looking for easily and went inside to speak to someone. As I wanted to part exchange my old car they sent someone to have a look at it whilst they took some details from me. In about 5 minues the Focus was brought round and we went for a short test drive which only confirmed that that was the car for me!
I was given a very decent price for my old car, in fact much more than I though I would get which made the deal even better! I had done a lot of research on the Ford Focus and knew what I wanted to pay, at Available Car I got exactly what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay. They also offer finance but as I was paying cash I didn't notice what rates they had, they do have an excellent website which has all those sort of details on.
The only problem I encountered with Available Car was that I had to wait nearly two weeks to pick my car up as they allocate you a slot. The reason they gave for this was that they were very busy and that the car has to be valeted and I had to pick it up after 5pm. I was also a little bit miffed that I had to purchase the tax for the car as I would have expected them to take care of that.
When I picked the car up they gave me a thorough run through of the controls and it had been spotlessly valeted throughout. The guy dealing with the handover was very friendly and took as much time as I needed to feel confident. They also provide a free one month warranty which brings peace of mind.
Overall though I would heartily recommend Available Car if only for the fact that there was no pushy salesman trying to push me towards a particular car. The whole experience was stress free and I love my new car!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) loads of cars, great choice, friendly helpful staff no pressure, fantastic prices. (-) can get very busy on the weekend, we had to wait to be served, best to get there early.
Yeah I've been there a couple of times. They offer ridiciously low value for our part ex (£4,000 below book) so we told their "helper" what he could do with his car!
jacqui_1 24.01.2004 00:17
Stick with the dealer i have thanks. Family friend so the deals are brilliant. Jacqui
Jan 23rd, 2004
very helpful by (10%):
helpful by (90%):
