new car

[Tag]

Anno dominae seems to be catching up with my old Audi A4 so it looks as if we might have to part company. I was wondering whether anyone out there has bought a new car in France recently, what you got and whether the dealers were prepared to offer decent discounts or decent trade-in values? Are there price differences with UK?

My preference has always been for VW's, estate, diesel, but I would be happy to look at alternative makes. Something no bigger than a Golf, estate or five door. Fuel consumption is a major priority. Any ideas please?

Thanks

[powerdesal]

Tag,

My preference is the Opel /Vauxhall Zafira diesel. I think its a great

car with wonderful flexibility of seating / loading and a good balance

of power/speed versus economy. Front quarter vis is an issue initially

but you can get used to it. I cant comment on long term reliabilty as

ours is less than year old but i believe the car mag reports give it a

good write up. I find the cruise control a particular worthwhile

feature on the run from Manche to Boulogne.

Hope this helps

Regards

[Tag]

Thanks powerdesal. Here in Belgium where I am for the moment Opels have a reputation for unreliability but I will certainly look into what you mention.

[Jonzjob]

Hi Tag,

Have a look at this site, it's where we bought our new car from  http://www.e-a-b.com/ . When you get it home you will have to re-register it as it will come on Dutch plates. We bought a Cotroen C8 and saved over £3.500 on the deal even after paying the dreaded VAT in the U.K, you buy the car VAT free. We were a bit worried about sending a large wad of money to someone we didn't know, but they are very good and professional.If you are in Belgium you are not far away either. They export to all over the world and I would recomend them to anyone.

By the time the car was 6 months old it had a set of Dutch, English and French plates. The French ones have 11 on the end and we love it here......[H]

If you want more gen then e-mail me.

John.

[Jonzjob]

Sorry I think that I had a senior moment, but I forgot to say that these people don't part ex, they only sell new.

If you have a look at their site it gives details of how to order and asks exaclty what you want on the vehicle and then it is built for you at the factory. We didn't have 8 to 10 weeks for that lead time so we had one that was already being built, but ut was so close to what I would have asked for that it was no problem. I collected it from Holland  6 weeks from ordering it and had a wonderful day out doing it too!

John.

[Tag]

Thanks John, I'll get into their site in the next few days, see what they have got to offer.

[saddie]

Have a look at www.elite-auto.fr they claim large discounts on the recommended price of most makes and models and deliver to a concession near you. Payment is made through a notaire and it is a well known company. No messing about with importing and reregistering.