Motoring
Shall I, shan't I?
Alan Judd
The most popular new car choice among National Lottery winners is Mer- cedes, followed by BMW and Porsche. Then come the 4x4 Jeep, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Ford Escort, Jaguar, Ford Fiesta and Bentley. The dominance of German marques and the absence of French and Japanese probably says as much about British ideas of status as about the products themselves. The absence of mainland Europe from the winners' top ten holiday destinations (except for Greece, at number ten) probably says something as well. Flori- da comes top. However, new cars such as those bought by these lucky few represent only around 20 per cent of the 8 million cars sold in the UK each year. The rest of us buy used or Pre-owned' cars, secondhand in plain English. By doing that we create a market estimated at around £28 billion a year. Despite its high casualty rate, that market is pretty constant and there's always room for new ideas.
One I'm thinking of trying is the One Stop Car Shop. It carries no stock, which means low overheads, but in effect it has got nearly every car for sale in the UK on its forecourt since they're nearly all accessi- ble via the Internet (85 per cent on the Exchange & Mart and Autrotrader lists). You ring One Stop Car Shop on 01202 314433 or visit its website (www.onestopcarshop.com), specifying the sort of car you want in as much detail as possible. The typical buyer seeks something in the £7,000-£14,000 range, wants to feel safe in the purchase and doesn't want to Spend a lot of time and money on the search (the average time spent searching for a used car is estimated at four to five weeks).
One Stop Car Shop then trawls the net, makes enquiries of likely cars and discusses them with you. If you choose one, it sends s.orneone to inspect and, if satisfactory, buy it. It is then put through a 200-point mechanical and bodywork inspection, removing any scratches, dents or chips, valeted and delivered to your door with a three-month warranty, extendable — if you Pay extra — up to 36 months. If the car needs work under the warranty it will be done by a main dealer convenient to you. If You need to trade in a car One Stop Car Shop will get you a price and arrange the deal, or will advise on how to advertise and how much to ask if you're selling privately. The time from your order to delivery of your car is normally three to five working days, with the record at 17 hours. Nobody, of course, sells cars for nothing. One Stop Car Shop aims to buy at about 15 per cent below retail price, keeps 10 per cent for itself and its costs, passing 5 per cent saving on to you. It stresses, though, that these figures are an aim, not an aver- age, and that trade prices of some cars may be only 5 per cent below retail — and they do not claim to be the cheapest. What it does claim is that its cars will be cheaper than normal retail, that whatever you buy will be in first-class condition for its age and price, that it will have been thoroughly inspected, that the warranty is good and, above all, that you will be spared the time, trouble and risk of private buying. It also makes money by selling warranties, finance (backed by the Bank of Scotland), break- down cover, AA membership, stereo sys- tems and so on.
There is an actual shop, in Bournemouth, with two planned for Lon- don, in Chiswick and the City. You should be able to walk in at lunchtime, agree your car and take delivery next Saturday morn- ing, or whenever, though clearly most of its trade will be over the wires. Examples quoted include a 1998 Peugeot 306D Turbo for about £8,200 all in, compared with a Glass's Guide (the trade bible) retail price of £9,200 (£9,716 if you add on war- ranty etc.), a 1997 Subaru Impreza Turbo for £13,995 compared with Glass's £14,500 and, more dramatically, a 1998 BMW 3281 convertible for £21,995 compared with £27,000.
Bearing in mind that Glass's Guide prices are merely an estimate and that more expensive cars tend to come with warranty, valeting etc. anyway, it still sounds good to me. You generally get what you pay for in the motoring world — a lesson I've too often learned the hard way — and, although I've never bought any of my 63 cars without seeing and driving it first, I'm tempted. I've asked them to search me out a Range Rover, though we also dangerous- ly discussed a particular Mercedes S class. I can't, mustn't, oughtn't, shouldn't. But I might.
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