Used Cars In Bristol?

[yardy]

Can anyone give me some advice on to where in Bristol i can go shopping for used motors?

Not being from Bristol i really only know my way around ashton so i was hoping someone can point me in the right direction as to where the best place/places to have a look for a motor.

I'm kind of thinking there is a road with lots of car dealers on?

Thanks in advance.

[Slacker]

I bought a car five years ago from Bristol Trade Centre on Netham Road by the Feeder river.I think it is called Lookers now.After a few weeks it developed a few minor problems but when I took it back they were all sorted out for me.Car has been great ever since and I still have it.Anyone else used BTC/Lookers?Hope that is helpful Yardy.

[TRL]

Lookers are over priced. Never bought one from there. Bought an identical ford from a ford dealer. Same age same model the one I bought had dine 3000 less miles and was 1000 cheaper!

I have heard mixed reports about after sales some good some bad.

I personally would always take a financial hit and go to a main dealer. (Dependant on budget)

[Nibor]

To be honest it's a lottery. Reputations are only a small help because each car is different, nobody checks them thoroughly enough to find out what really needs doing as it's too expensive to do.

For what it's worth I've found MotorTrust in Hanham to be good before.

You can have slightly more confidence in a main dealer because they do worry about reputation and have to answer to the franchise owner. But remember that even used approved are sold as seen.

Screen prices tend to go off guide, they don't vary much from dealer to dealer at all. You can get variation in how much they'll negotiate though.

Anyway, be aware of the risks. Try and reduce them in a few different ways:

* Get a proper HPI and finance check done. It costs about a fiver, you will usually find that a car that stands out as a bargain has history (category D, finance outstanding), so it's very worthwhile.

* Get a mechanic to look at it if you can, it's worth paying them £100 or so to do the equivalent of a service on a car you're paying thousands for. If the dealer doesn't agree to this you have to question why. AA used to do a used car mechanic check, not sure if they still do.

* Always negotiate the price. Bear in mind they have a huge markup on the warranties and things like autoglym. Don't be fooled by those, the warranties usually have a lot of exclusions (read fine print) and autoglym etc can be done cheaper later if you want it.

* Make sure they put a full year's MOT on it for you at their expense.

[bcfcbs20]

Check out this place you get some real bargains all the cars are serviced by independant people before going through the auction.

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/auction-centres/bridgwater/