... I have been shopping around lately, but last Saturday I though I would drive down my local Carcraft at Newport, Gwent. The ads they have in my local paper promise some very good deals, so I was quite happily driving down there and hoping to get something that was good value and reliable.
As ... Read review
Advantages: All the cars you could want to gaze at under one roof Disadvantages: Prices! Oh my god I could by a limo for that ticket
...would drive down my local Carcraft at Newport, Gwent. The ads they have in my local paper promise some very good deals, so I was quite happily driving down there and hoping to get something that was good value and reliable.
As I entered I was greeted by a cheery salesman who explained the system to me, including that each car had a free 2 year warranty. I was left to wander around and look for a car that might take my fancy.
... ...that the ticket price at Carcraft was a whopping great £2900 more than the car was woth!!!! Even if it did have a 2 year warranty, the warranty was not worth more than the car.
In conclusion therefore, I would say that Carcraft seem to sell good cars. You must, however, be prepared as to the prices and to resist the 'we can do it for this price if you sell today' mentality.
I was also narked that there were no cars at ... more
My old crate is falling apart. It's tax runs out tomorrow and its MOT is next month. I also need to think about getting a more economical motor. I have been shopping around lately, but last Saturday I though I would drive down my local Carcraft at Newport, Gwent. The ads they have in my local paper promise some very good deals, so I was quite happily driving down there and hoping to get something that was good value and reliable.
As I entered I was greeted by a cheery salesman who explained the system to me, including that each car had a free 2 year warranty. I was left to wander around and look for a car that might take my fancy.
I am fortunate that I occasionally check the used car price guides, and I certainly did my homework before I went to Newport.
I found a car that I liked. It was a T Reg Fiat Brava 80 SX, with a little bit above average miles. The ticket price was £4700. I indicated to the salesman that I was interested and he led me over to the finance section.....
He returned with a colleague and they explained to me that I could drive away the car for £100 deposit and £28 per week! That sounded wonderful and I said I would go and think about it. They enquired whether it was the payments that were a problem - 'What if we can get it to £23 per week?'. I said I wasn't sure about the price, and said that I had seen, in Hereford, a younger Brava with lower mileage for £3495 and, consequently, I felt they were a bit overpriced. They iimediately offered to drop by £1000 if I signed there and then...
I'm not so green as I'm cabbage looking, and told them I still wanted to think about it. Therefore I left, and drove off to the Forest of Dean to visit my mum.
That evening I checked my price guide with mileage adjustment. My suspicions were confirmed. The price guide said £1850, which meant that the ticket price at Carcraft was a whopping great £2900 more than the car was woth!!!! Even if it did have a 2 year warranty, the warranty was not worth more than the car.
In conclusion therefore, I would say that Carcraft seem to sell good cars. You must, however, be prepared as to the prices and to resist the 'we can do it for this price if you sell today' mentality.
I was also narked that there were no cars at the prices stated in the ad on view! Oh, and the finance quotes in the cars are based on a £1000, not a £100 deposit.
By all means go and look, but you may be able to find one much cheaper with a shorter warranty. I mean, even if it had had a mjor problem, it would take a long time for me to run up a £2900 repair bill, wouldn't it!
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Overpriced Cars and High Pressure Sales Techniques
...wrong day) I called into Carcraft to see what they had to offer. I was met at the door by what I first thought was a smiling cardboard cut-out (they have closed circuit TV so they can tell when a likely punter is about to walk through their door). I was then shown to a table where the salesman explained how Carcraft worked and ‘requested’ my name and address for their ‘free prize draw’. When I told him I wasn’t interested in their prize draw I was ... ...surprise, surprise the Galaxy was a full £4,000 over book price. Even if I’d bought it at the ‘reduced’ price of £10,000 I would have still been robbed of £2,000! Personally I think they should rename the company from Carcraft at Empress to Caveat Emptor - ‘Let the buyer beware’. ...
PrinceSilk 04.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Carcraft at Empress
We went to Carcraft about 4 years ago to try and trade in a Fiat Uno for a newer car from a different manufacturer. Once the decision had been made, we decided to give Carcraft a try as we had seen it advertised on the TV. After checking the trusty internet (AA/RAC websites are best) for directions we piled the kids in the back dreaming of the Aston Martin DB9 we would be driving home in.
Driving from Somerset, it took about 3 hours to get to Carcraft. ... ...selling hot and cold food. Carcraft sell vehicles that are no older than a certain year (think its up to 5 years old - but not 100% sure). We decided to look at the choices of vehicles and make notes on what cars we liked. We ended up choosing Ford (Escort) 1.4 petrol. We wanted a basic, practical, reliable, economic vehicle and this met all the criteria. Once we had decided, I approached the salesperson who gave me a BAFTA Award winning smile and ...
herbie1977 21.05.2005
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...in Carcraft, Newport. Carcraft was established in 1951 and is an independent used car hypermarket. They have many stores across the country. I went to the Newport branch in South Wales. It is comfortably warm inside has a café and is very welcoming, a bit too welcoming. The sales people don't leave you alone to browse and are constantly pestering you to buy buy buy!
The Newport branch is very easy to get to, it's just off the M4. So, off we went ... ...immediately greeted by a salesperson, we told him exactly what we were looking for and he showed us the ST. He then asked us if we would be wanting finance, which we weren't. After a short while he came with the keys to take us for a test drive. The car wouldn't start, so he went to find a battery pack. He came back with a battery pack which was also flat so he went to get another, which was also flat, he then went to get a mechanic to solve the ...
CoupeQueen 06.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Carcraft at Empress
Advantages: None Disadvantages: So overpriced we almost couldn't believe it
...(40-60K) but in good condition. Carcraft at Empress no longer have a website so we rang the national number to see what they may have to look at. We were told that they had no "high" mileage cars but that there were a number starting at V reg with 35K plus miles, starting at 5650. We travelled from Bristol to look over the stock.
It was a joke. We were shown one 85K miles, ticket price 9995. Another, 95K miles 8995 neither in brilliant condition. ... ...a single 2.0 Focus in the range described on the phone. When we pointed out that the price new for this car from Ford Journey (internet Ford sales) was 13040 and that their price was therefore way over they denied the new price. When we pulled out our Ford Journey printout (from that morning) and our compiled info of all the 2.0 Focus on sale in the country and showed that the price should be nearer 6-7000 they dug their heels in. We laughed. They ...
carbuyer 06.06.2003
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Advantages: Different Makes of Cars in 1 garage, and stay dry while looking! Disadvantages: The Vultures
I have been to empress a couple of times, obviously there was a large enough gap between the first and second visit that I had forgotten just how awful it is to go there.
First of all you get acosted by the security guard who wants to know why you are there, and you have to wait for the barrier to be lifted, why???????? Is he really wondering why all these people keep going through? surely someone ought to tell him what they sell....
My Husband ... ...have a nice leisurely wander around the site to try to come to some agreement of what car we should buy. (him Type R or BMW, me Scooby!) But no, no sooner had my little toe got over the front door we were met by a man in a suit asking us why we were there, hmm, another member of staff obviously kept in the dark. once we pursuade the man were just looking we walk into the main building, they now have this sectioned off, and all the staff sat there ...
gingernutter 09.09.2005
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