Dealers Buying civic advice need

[sahal]

Hi everyone

Im new here I have been looking at this site quite a bit over the last few days and just wanted to say its a great site and all the information on this site is great.

I am looking to buy a used Honda civic however just wondered if anyone had any good advice that they would like to share and hopefully It will be a good place for me to make a few more friends

I am looking to buy a black Honda 1.8 EX post likely a 56 reg, and like many people I need to make sure I get the best deal. I live in Manchester and the first question is can anyone recommend any good dealers my local honda dealer is Arnold Clarke however I have heard many bad things about them. The best prices I have seen are from holdcroft in Stoke and Trent however they are 30 miles away I was going to go there this weekend that has just gone however unfortunately something came up. Are holdcroft a good dealership?

Any suggestions are welcome regarding dealers or questions to ask them etc

Also I have heard about the recall of the handbrake do you think that because I am getting it from a Honda Dealer the recall work would already have been applied to it? As I sent a email to holdcroft and the guy that I am in contact with answered all my other questions except that one even though I asked twice

Thank you in advance and I hope to get to know you all very well

[chee]

Originally Posted by sahal

Hi everyone

Im new here I have been looking at this site quite a bit over the last few days and just wanted to say its a great site and all the information on this site is great.

I am looking to buy a used Honda civic however just wondered if anyone had any good advice that they would like to share and hopefully It will be a good place for me to make a few more friends

I am looking to buy a black Honda 1.8 EX post likely a 56 reg, and like many people I need to make sure I get the best deal. I live in Manchester and the first question is can anyone recommend any good dealers my local honda dealer is Arnold Clarke however I have heard many bad things about them. The best prices I have seen are from holdcroft in Stoke and Trent however they are 30 miles away I was going to go there this weekend that has just gone however unfortunately something came up. Are holdcroft a good dealership?

Any suggestions are welcome regarding dealers or questions to ask them etc

Also I have heard about the recall of the handbrake do you think that because I am getting it from a Honda Dealer the recall work would already have been applied to it? As I sent a email to holdcroft and the guy that I am in contact with answered all my other questions except that one even though I asked twice

Thank you in advance and I hope to get to know you all very well

Hi there, I bought my 2006 Sport diesel from Arnold Clark in Stretford/Old Trafford, their service was good, although I could have gone to the one round the corner from my parents house in Altrincham, I found them extremely arrogant and not very nice to deal with. I wont forget a time I was in there looking at a Type R and one of the sales guys said you'd be buying the equivalent of an Impreza - er yeah mate, if it wasnt a turbo, I didnt say anything, I could only smile at him but the sales people at Arnold Clark are pretty good, although the girl I dealt with was a bit forgetful (eg forgetting to give me full tank of diesel with the sale) I was more than happy, they have rung me a couple of times since Jan this year when I bought it to see how the cars been etc so customer service not too bad so far!

Use as much of the info on this site as possible before buying, wished I'd discovered it before I bought mine even though my car has been trouble free so far (touch wood!)

[defrece]

i would look on autotrader.co.uk to see whats available! a lot of dealers advertise on there, as well as private sales!
also don't be afraid to buy privately! the warranty isn't affected (usable at any dealer) and i think you will be able to save a fair bit of money (or get a newer car for your money)! just remember to spend the money and get it HPI checked to make sure the cars not been in any accidents or got any finance outstanding!

[sahal]

Thank you Im glad that the Stretford one is my local one . last time i went in there I dealt with a manager called sal he was very pushy I would like to go there and check it out however on theresite there prices come no where near the prices of holdcroft however thanks for letting me know your experiences As I have only heard bad things about them but I might as well go and see what they can do

Thanks again

[sahal]

Yep I did check autotrader but most of the dealers or private sellers were quite some distance away from me. I wouldnt mind going private but there isnt much difference in the price. I have compared them, the reason I was looking at trade was because it would just be easier to trade my car in and not have to sell it on autotrader but thanks I will take it what you said and look at the new autotrader when its released this week

[sallytraffic]

Originally Posted by sahal

Thank you Im glad that the Stretford one is my local one . last time i went in there I dealt with a manager called sal he was very pushy I would like to go there and check it out however on theresite there prices come no where near the prices of holdcroft

I bought a new 1.8ES for a vastly reduced price from Arnold Clark Stretford but their trade in offer on my Accord was pretty derisory. They have been OK, not exceptional, not outright bad. You just missed their best 'new' prices saving over 2500 on Honda prices for 3 month old cars they buy in October, in bulk, and sell in their January sales. Be prepared to stick the heat for 4 hours before you get their best price though ! Just keep telling them it is not worth that much for you and they will have to get closer to what you are prepared to pay.

Have a go but be prepared to tell them you'll be off to Stoke !!

Good luck !

[lippy]

As above, you must stick to your guns. I did in 2006 when I was told there wasn't a demonstrator available and I decided that a brand new car was more than I wanted to pay. It took me saying no, and 'walking away' before they said that the demo was available but offered it at a price that was still too high, and me 'walking away' again before they came to a price I accepted!! If they want the deal they WILL come down in price.

Dont forget to ask about all the recall work - I think most 2006 cars will have had recalls/checks on the rear shocks, fuel cap, eps and now the handbrake. My car only needed the new fuel cap, the checks showed the other things were OK, and as I am selling my car back to the dealer, the dealer as confirmed to me that they will do the handbrake before selling on.

Good Luck!

[sahal]

Thanks guys, just my luck that i missed out lol. I am most likely going to go tonight after work so I will let you know how it went.

@ Lippy

Can I just ask was EPS is? and thanks for the great advice about asking for all the other recall work

I really hope I can get a good deal because i really am dreaming about it,. I am very bored of my polo its boring to drive and I need a bit more excitment lol

[chee]

Originally Posted by sallytraffic

I bought a new 1.8ES for a vastly reduced price from Arnold Clark Stretford but their trade in offer on my Accord was pretty derisory. They have been OK, not exceptional, not outright bad. You just missed their best 'new' prices saving over 2500 on Honda prices for 3 month old cars they buy in October, in bulk, and sell in their January sales. Be prepared to stick the heat for 4 hours before you get their best price though ! Just keep telling them it is not worth that much for you and they will have to get closer to what you are prepared to pay.

Have a go but be prepared to tell them you'll be off to Stoke !!

Good luck !

Yep, I bought mine in Jan sales, good price considering what some cars are advertised for now. They would not budge on the price at all and in the end valued my Yaris an extra £500 more for part ex, wasnt great but then again, I just couldnt deal with the hassle of selling it privately

[sahal]

I did go there last year and they were desperate to make a sale and offered me alot for my polo but at that time i decided against it, silly fool i am lol.

Do you know if there will be any other sales this year?

[sallytraffic]

Originally Posted by sahal

I did go there last year and they were desperate to make a sale and offered me alot for my polo but at that time i decided against it, silly fool i am lol.

Do you know if there will be any other sales this year?

They always seem to do the January one but I never really look at other times... if you are close, pop in for a coffee and a look at the cars in the showroom, then you can ask them The thing with pre-registered is that you have to be happy with what they have on offer, of course.

[lippy]

Originally Posted by sahal

Thanks guys, just my luck that i missed out lol. I am most likely going to go tonight after work so I will let you know how it went.

@ Lippy

Can I just ask was EPS is? and thanks for the great advice about asking for all the other recall work

I really hope I can get a good deal because i really am dreaming about it,. I am very bored of my polo its boring to drive and I need a bit more excitment lol

EPS is the electronic power steering. Apparently some eps units had an incorrect software version installed and the check was to see what version mine had. It had the correct version but if it had been wrong Honda would have replaced it under warranty - I was told these are very expensive and would be ordered in if required as the units are not kept as stock items.

I am taking delivery of a new EX in 3 weeks and I had to bargain to get a decent discount off the list price - they asked what I wanted/expected and then said they couldn't match that figure, BUT when I said oh well, I'll get back to the other dealer (quote got thru the internet but was a main dealer) they came down quite a bit, didnot quite match my original quote, but near enough. I suggest you look at a lot of dealer sites (thru the main honda site) to see the prices they are quoting on the model you want then you can decide how much lower you want to pay - sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but a lot of people dont do enough research before they buy. Good luck with the haggling!!

[sahal]

thanks guys. i went to arnold clarks after work today unfortunately they didnt have a black EX like i wanted. Thanks for the great tips especially about the EPS. I might as well visit Holdcroft this weekend the one I have seen there is a 1.8 black EX

Price: 12,849 Mileage: 6,705 Miles

Which im sure is not bad plus they probably will bring the price down a little bit as well. I have looked at the dealers from the honda site however there prices are quite higher then this...

What do you think of the offer that I have shown above. obviously i will hve to check the car for any damage or anything but it just seems quite cheap to me.

[sahal]

sorry forgot to mention it says 07/56 reg

[lippy]

Sounds pretty reasonable to me - I got £11k trade in on my sport which is a 06/56 plate and has done 8050 miles so if they did similar figures on the one you want, it's not too much mark up.

[sahal]

im glad thats a good price i really really cant wait lol to get one

[gary y]

I Bought A2.2 Ex In Nhb Recently.word Of Advice. Check The Paint Work With A Fine Toothcomb, Especialy The Bonnet And Front Wings Might Have Plenty Of Swirls And Stone Chips. Garyy

[chee]

Originally Posted by sahal

thanks guys. i went to arnold clarks after work today unfortunately they didnt have a black EX like i wanted. Thanks for the great tips especially about the EPS. I might as well visit Holdcroft this weekend the one I have seen there is a 1.8 black EX

Price: 12,849 Mileage: 6,705 Miles

Which im sure is not bad plus they probably will bring the price down a little bit as well. I have looked at the dealers from the honda site however there prices are quite higher then this...

What do you think of the offer that I have shown above. obviously i will hve to check the car for any damage or anything but it just seems quite cheap to me.

I got my Ctdi Sport 56 Reg with just over 8k miles for £12,988. Wanted black but the one they had had sold the day before which was annoying, we went for the silver one in the end after deciding that having a black car would be well annoying to keep clean (had enough trouble with the black yaris we had before). Glad I went for silver in the end, much easier to keep clean and does look nicer I think

[sahal]

I just love the black colour, if I cant get black I think my other option would be grey i like the grey colour. I just have one question and hope someone can help me with it.

I really like the front of the S type. Im sure I saw it in another post somewhere but I cant find it again even after looking the in the styling forum. Is there anyway to get that same front from the S type on the EX? If so does anyone know how much is the costs to buy and fit?

[FWH]

Originally Posted by sahal

Is there anyway to get that same front from the S type on the EX? If so does anyone know how much is the costs to buy and fit?

Not easily.
This also will require the 3 door side skirts which do not fit directly.

Adding Type R parts to a non-R car - Civinfo Wiki