charlaph

Excellent. Nice to know that there are better deals out there. I'll put my patient hat on and wait.

Firstly, hello to everyone. This is my first post, although I've lurked before because I always hang my nose over Lupos every time I change my car. However, this time I'm serious. My current car is costing a fortune to run and isn't much fun over winter, so I'm looking to actually BUY a Lupo rather than just thinking about it. Specifically I want a TDi (well... I really want a GTi, but they're too expensive) for economic reasons. I've been to look at a couple of TDis and they look nice, but I'm finding massive variances in prices and NOWHERE sells for anything approaching 'book' price. I've seen a '52 plate with just 18000 miles which had a sunroof but no other extras. £6500 and the garage wouldn't shift one iota on the price - and they wanted extra for a warranty. I've seen a '02 plate with 30000 miles for £6k. I've even seen an advert for an '03 at £7k, but I didn't even go and look at it because I could get a GTi for that sort of money. I do a lot of miles, so realistically it's pointless paying extra for a low mileage car, because once I've finished with it it'll be a high mileage and it'll just cost me more in depreciation. Age doesn't concern me as long as a car has been looked after - my last 2 cars have been 8 years old, so even the oldest Lupo will seem like new. With this in mind, tomorrow I'm going to look at a '51 plate with 60000 miles, priced at £5k. Sounds good by comparison, but Parkers, What Car and Wisebuyers all say that the valuation of a '51 on that mileage should be closer to £4k. Am I missing something obvious, or is it okay to just totally ignore what the valuations say because a 4 year old is worth £5k? If I hold out and look a LOT further afield will I eventually find a realistically priced model? I doubt I will because there aren't any on Autotrader at the moment and I should say as well that I'll not be buying privately, it has to come from a garage I'm afraid. It limits my choice but I like that first year to be warrantied. Any and all advice about market values of Lupos would be welcome. I doubt I'm going to find the bargain that I'm hoping for, but I don't want to pay over the odds, then see a similar car for £1k less in a months time.