Ford Focus Pricing

[Taxboy]

Higher management needs a new (S/H) car & has plumped for a Focus. To enable me to do the research I have the following questions

1) Which of the price guides e.g Parkers is the most accurate when compared to the real world

2) What sort of margin for S/H Focus are dealers on to help me in deciding how much I'm likely to reduce the price by - there's no trade in.

3) Budget is £5k - I'm toying with the idea of buying at auction but not certain if this is enough to get an ex-lease car. My thinking is if I could get something say 3 years old then a siginificant saving say £500-750 over the dealer would cover any potential repair costs

Thoughts appreciated

[5lab]

1) they are all about the same
2) depends entirely on the car. get one in an odd colour or odd spec or with a bit of damage (or something) and you'll get more off it than a mint one. ebay is often the cheapest place, but try car supermarkets too
3) you have to know what to look for if you're going to a live auction. ebay is a safer bet cos you can test drive the car etc first

[Taxboy]

1) they are all about the same
2) depends entirely on the car. get one in an odd colour or odd spec or with a bit of damage (or something) and you'll get more off it than a mint one. ebay is often the cheapest place, but try car supermarkets too
3) you have to know what to look for if you're going to a live auction. ebay is a safer bet cos you can test drive the car etc first

Thanks for this - I hadn't thought about ebay. Presumably you contact the seller before the closing date to view the car before making your bid. Sorry to sound a bit naive but I've only ever used ebay to buy off the sellers piccies before. Just wondering how that would work for a car

[BenW]

I think thats how it goes but most auctions on ebay can be closed early (AFAIK) so you can just offer cash after a test drive.

Think its how it works but obviously not 100% sure (Never used ebay)

[Fox]

Buy a Focus saloon. The problem with the Focus is that demand for a car of this size is high anyway, especially for the most competent car in its class like the Focus. This pushes prices up and means you pay lots of cash and get not much car in return. A £5k Focus is usually more expensive, by as much as thousands, than the equivilent larger car - with one notable exception...

... The Focus Saloon. This car wasn't blessed with great looks and as a result, its out of favour with buyers. This is good, it means you get a newer, nicer, higher spec car for your money.

[Taxboy]

... The Focus Saloon. This car wasn't blessed with great looks and as a result, its out of favour with buyers. This is good, it means you get a newer, nicer, higher spec car for your money.

The understatement of the year

A very valid point but unfortunately

1) She needs a hatchback

2) It fails her ugliness test i.e. I wouldn't been seen dead in it