Used car news

Car supermarket Motorpoint had busiest ever March. Firm sold 3,200 vehicles at sites in Derby, Burnley and Glasgow, compared to 2,385 in same month last year.

Auto Express Car Reviews

26th April 2006

MOST customers make three trips to dealer when buying a replacement car. Has prompted a change of tack at Dealer Fords of Winsford, Cheshire, which now operates a no pressure sales environment.

DON'T get ripped off when buying soon-to-be-axed Smart Roadster used. Run-out limitededition model has now arrived, but dealers likely to bedesperate to shift second-hand cars before production stops later this year.

ENVIRONMENTAL concerns barely register with used buyers, says British Car Auctions. Colour, model and price all rate more highly.

AUCTION bargains are set to become a thing of the past, say experts at trade bible Glass's Guide. Sales during the first months of 2006 show a high number of private buyers attending events, and above average prices being paid for some cars. But traders are unworried, saying there are still good deals to had at the end of a long day, when individual buyers tend to havegone home.

MAZDA'S Digital Service Record (DSR) system has been a big hit with dealers - so much so that the paperless history record, currently available with the firm's 5 people carrier and MX-5 roadster, will be introduced across the range from 1 July. Geoff King from Surrey-based Mazda specialist TW White & Sons said: "Gone are the problems of service books being mislaid or forgotten."

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