AvailableCar.com. ..... is this for real????

Just looking at their website for a Vauxhall Astra.
The first one on the list states.... "Our price only £6499"
Followed by … "When new £23645" then... "You save £17146"
This is for a feckin 2013 car not a new one. Of course it's 17 grand less !
Is it just me or do people really think they are getting a bargain "saving" 17 grand?

 

Most of the cars their have been thrashed as hire cars

 

People do believe this type of thing. It's unreal.

A few months I went to look at a van I had seen on Autotrader. When I got to the showroom, the van was nowhere to be seen so I asked the salesperson about it.

"We haven't actually got that van in yet, the photo is of another van we sold last week, but if you want to put down a deposit you'll get first refusal when this comes in on Friday". He went on to shout into the back room to a woman on a computer, "the 2013 Vauxhall Combo - due in Friday?, full internal racking?" . . . She disinterestedly replied "yeah" as if she didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but was told just to agree.

Friday came and went, then on Monday they offered me a totally different make, model and year, so I went elsewhere.

Some of the lovely vehicles you see on their websites don't really exist. It's just a hook to get you down there so they can work on you.

 

Boycey

 

Is it just be who doesn’t see what’s wrong? They’ve told you the price, they’ve told you how much it was new 5 years ago and then left it to you to decide if you want to but it. The saving based on new prices isn’t obviously a saving of course but I’ve a friend who bought from available and all in all it was pretty straight forward with no typical car garage stereotypes

 

It's a bit of a dodgy ploy IMO and whilst 99% of people will understand it, subconsciously it might make people think they are getting a good deal. Definitely one for the ASA to look at. No problem with them saying "if this was new it would cost x", but to imply a discount is ridiculous.

You are not 'saving' anything as there is no discount. You are paying market value for a 5 year old vehicle that has incurred wear and tear and no doubt a decent mileage compared to a brand new equivalent.

 

They haven't implied a discount though.
Their strapline is Availablecar.com the best in USED cars
The title of their Web page (the bit in the browser tab) says ESED cars for sale at availablecar.com
The headline on their site says 5020 USED cars for sale

The listing in question says
Vauxhall Astra Estate 1.7 CDTi 130 SRi 5dr
Asteroid Grey - 2013 - DS63AOH - Manual - Diesel - 53604 miles
Our price only £6499
when new£23645
you save£17146

To me it is quite clear that they sell used cars and the intention of the ad is clearly to tell you how much money you save buying a used car compared to going out and buying a new one. Essentially the ad is just saying "Why spend £23645 on a new astra when you can buy this used one for £6499 and save yourself £17146?"

 

When companies state "save X" on something they tend to compare like for like. For example "save 50% off our carpets this week" etc.... you don't tend to hear "buy this carpet that's been in someone's house for 5 years and save 90%"! Because that's a little silly... and so is that advert.

 

I agree, everybody knows that a car loses shed loads when driven new off the forecourt. It does seem shocking that a car loses so much in 5 years. The fact that it’s an Astra and cost £23k new, also implies it’s a decent spec.

By buying second hand, you’re saving the £17k on the brand new version. Even the simplest of simpletons would understand that.

 

Its not an advert, it's a listing on their website.

The reason you don't tend to hear about used carpets for sale is because there isn't a huge market for it. There is however a huge used car market. Over 8 million used cars were sold last year in the UK

 

The ad is misleading. Your not saving the 17 grand, as the used car and a brand new one are not comparable so the difference in price is pointless. They may as well say "why buy a bugatti Chiron for 4 million when you can buy this clapped out astra for 6 grand?!" "You save 3.994 Million Pounds!" If its not against the guidelines then it flirts with the line very closely in my opinion.

 

I think this is because they usually sell cars that are less than 18months old. So they do normally represent good value against a New car. The issue is, when they have something older in, then the website still advertises it the same way.

Motorpoint and Car People are similar - but they rarely have anything in that’s 5 years old unless it’s ultra low mileage.

 

I have a friend who wanted a car he had seen advertised on Availablecar.com. He went to look at it and it wasn't there. In fact it wasn't there the week after, or the week after that. In the end he gave up with a recommendation never to use them.

 

It depends to me if the 'when new' price is what that exact car cost x years ago, or what a comparable new car would cost now.

If it's the exact car x years ago, I can see the benefit. It tells you the rough spec of the car that you're buying.

It's not a 'saving', because you can't buy that car new, most likely, but it IS a saving against buying a different new car now.

I dont think there's any 'falling for it', it's just showing the price of the car when new, that's all