Motorpoint

I know the basics about cars. And as someone who loves to drive, I always make sure that I know exactly what I want from my car.

This is my first tip when you approach Motorpoint - from my experience, you will get the best deal if you know what you want but you know what you would be willing to compromise on.

I bought my car from Motorpoint in Derby 2 years ago this month (that's what reminded me to write this opinion). I was impressed with the car I received and the price I got it for. Their service on the day could have been a bit better but we'll come back to that later.

I knew I wanted a Ford Ka. I wanted as high a spec as possible (of course!) and I knew that I didn't want a black or white Ka. And that was it; everything else was negotiable. I checked the stock on Motorpoint's website and saw there were some Ka available.

This is my second tip - from my experience, the website isn't really that accurate. All they use it for is to show you the type of stock they might have in and the type of price you might get that car for!
Instead, you need to phone them and be specific with what you want. And be ready to accept what they have available if you think that it's a good deal.

This is my third tip - if you know what you want and they offer a good price, take it! They offered me a silver Ka at a good price, but to be honest, I chickened out of buying such a large purchase over the phone and said I would think about it and phone them back. Bad move! I phoned back the next day and they had run out!! So I was put on the waiting list for the next batch.

They phoned me when the cars had arrived as agreed, but the price of this batch had increased by £200 per car due to them being imported from somewhere in the EU. I was obviously disappointed that they were offering me a different price to the one they had quoted previously. Eventually, they compromised and included a 2 year Ford manufacturing warranty package that was worth £249. I thought this showed good will and I bought the car, then and there, knowing not that much about it!

On the day (4 weeks later) I went to pick the car up. As I mentioned, their customer service is not as slick as their sales service (no surprise there) but it was functional - they got the job done. I traded in my old Fiesta and after an hour or so filling in forms, details etc. I went outside to see my car for the first time (it is blue by the way!). And basically it was love at first sight!

They had managed to get me a Ka with much higher specifications than the British dealers were offering. Even though it is only a basic model, I have passenger and side impact airbags, immobilser and a few other extras.

The car has always been reliable, there have been no problems taking it to the Ford dealer and the warranty was also valid at my local dealer. The only problem is that of course, all my documents are written in a foreign language (German in this case) but the Ford dealers seem used to it.

So, to summarise, I am providing this opinion as a buyer who:
- Did not go personally to the Motorpoint site to look for/ select a specific car
- Was willing to take the risk of buying the car unseen in order to take advantage of a great price
- Knew exactly what I wanted before I phoned them up

I have never bought something so expensive without seeing it before, but I must admit that I would do it again from Motorpoint, so that's a pretty good recommendation. To put it into context, I got £1600 off the standard dealer price and for that I also received a higher spec car. Not bad.

Happy driving to you all out there!