Motoring Discussion > Pre Reg cars- latest stats Miscellaneous
Thread Author: henry k Replies: 39

 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - henry k
Up to a fifth of new cars in the UK are not sold direct to consumers,
or used as fleet, but are instead pre-registered to dealers, a BBC investigation has found.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37795068
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - mikeyb
I'm more shocked at some of the Autotrader stats quoted in that article:-

44% of auto trader readers didnt know what pre-reg was?

55% thought the warranty was the same or better than a first registered car

Something of nothing really, we all know it happens, and I have taken advantage of a pre reg deal before and would do again in the future
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Dulwich Estate II
My current car and those of two family members were bought as pre-registered - if you are not fussy about colour or precise spec they are very easy to find.

If you have a precise model in mind it's often possible to get too, but the car you want might be 500 miles away.

PS What's "Pre" about pre-reg - they're already registered (to somone else) aren't they ?
Nothing "pre" about it.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - CGNorwich
I agree. Second hand would be the correct term.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - commerdriver
>> I agree. Second hand would be the correct term.
>>
Snob :-)

Big difference, of course, is the delivery mileage, nobody else has driven it on the road, filled it with kids & animals etc.
Dealer gets his bonus, customer gets a car with minimal haggling (which a lot of people don't like)
My parents in the 80s & 90s bought a new car every 3 years, never haggled. Last car was a "bargain", preregistered, single figure mileage 10% + off the new price in late 1999
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - CGNorwich
Not really. I have only ever bought one new car, a Skoda, which I kept for seven years. The rest have been second hand. The pre-registered cars never seem that cheap to me. Often the dealers want more for one than a new car bought form "Drive the Deal"
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - commerdriver
It's cheaper than a new one and a lot of people, my parents for example would never have dreamed of asking for a discount of any kind. Nor did my wife, come to that, when she bought her car 15 years ago
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sherlock47
The pre-registered cars never seem that cheap to me. Dealers seem to want more for one than a new car bought form "Drive the Deal" or they will price match DtD given the choice.

The one aspect that nobody has mentioned is that many insurers will replace a 'first owner' car with a new one if it is written off in in the first 12 months. If it was prereg you will end up with replacement value only.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - commerdriver
The dealers know their market, there are many buyers who want a "bargain" without trying to negotiate a deal.
The british do not do haggling.
Look at the numbers who go to cargiant and the like where no negotiation takes place
Last edited by: commerdriver on Fri 28 Oct 16 at 16:05
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - CGNorwich
Indeed but you don't have to haggle at "Drive the Deal".
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - commerdriver
>> Indeed but you don't have to haggle at "Drive the Deal".
>>
Absolutely but Mr & Mrs Average want to go to a local dealer and buy a car, kick the tyres, discuss options and colours etc and be able to take it back there when it goes wrong, I know it's old fashioned I don't think that way but I know a lot who do.
Me, I have never bought a car, except from a lease company or from family, it;s an experience I am looking forward to when I retire
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Duncan
>> PS What's "Pre" about pre-reg - they're already registered (to somone else) aren't they ?
>> Nothing "pre" about it.

I got seriously tired of this pre-order bowlegs with the iphone 7.

tinyurl.com/jbodps3

It's an order! What is a pre-order, for Gawd's sake??
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sooty123
>> I'm more shocked at some of the Autotrader stats quoted in that article:-
>>
>> 44% of auto trader readers didnt know what pre-reg was?
>>
>> 55% thought the warranty was the same or better than a first registered car

I wouldn't be, only people that gather on forums such as this and maybe a few that don't are the only ones vaguely interested enough to be brushing up and car sales terms.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Fri 28 Oct 16 at 15:01
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - RattleandSmoke
My dads i10 was pre geg. It was great, a brand new car with just 6 miles on the clock he just had to wait a few days until it was registered. It was also around 30% cheaper than the RRP price.

The great thing as he planned to run it till it dies, the resale value wasn't an issue and unlike a 'new' car he didn't have to wait weeks for delivery.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Manatee
Our Popemobile was a pre-reg. 27% below list. It was registered only a couple of days before we picked it up, to a subsidiary of the dealer, with a fleet discount I assume. We didn't get the V5 for 6 months.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - R.P.
Loads around it seems. Mrs RP has been looking at an MX5 again. They were all over Auto Trader with 1 mile on them, there's even one at our small local dealer - we had a ride in it !
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sherlock47
My most recent purchase was a negotiated deal with local dealer (from group stock) for a brand new car - 37% discount (DtD would have got me 38%). But they did also 'find me' a spare wheel and tyre (new) that did not appear on the paper work. They also allowed me to pick the registration (as a memorable number) from their back office computer system which is not normally available to the sales force. Delivery should have been 7days, but it got lost in transit and took 3 weeks - but it did not appear to have been resprayed in the process :)

The interesting thing was it had additional options that at the time did not appear on the manufacturers specn sheet at the time, - rev sensors, and auto folding in wing mirrors.

Who has worked it out what it is? (But do not look in my Profile)

But to do the deal you need to be a credible buyer (with a track record at the dealer), and a non shrinking violet.
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Fri 28 Oct 16 at 18:27
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - R.P.
She's within a whisker of the DTD price as I type !
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - rtj70
What about the FIAT 124 instead?
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - jc2
Only about 20% of new cars are sold direct to the public-the rest are sold to firms,lease companies and hire firms.If you buy pre-reg you're getting a second hand car at near-new price.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - R.P.
Been discussed and dismissed.... ;-) I went for the left field Fiat. Mind you the dealer around here is really crap.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - PeterS
>> But to do the deal you need to be a credible buyer (with a track
>> record at the dealer), and a non shrinking violet.

MB had discounts approaching this level on the outgoing e class saloon, but AFAIK reversing sensors and auto folding mirrors are standard. Citroen are a likely candidate I reckon? Or maybe Ford?

I bought a new car a few months ago. 22% discount on a brand new, factory ordered BMW. So for a pre-reg, given that 20% VAT is in the discounted price, and 'disappears' I'd want to be paying 2/3rds of the list price for a pre-reg BMW. And they don't seem to be that cheap...
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 31 Oct 16 at 01:21
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Manatee
VAT is irrelevant.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sherlock47
>> VAT is irrelevant.
>>

Sorry do not understand what you are referring to~?
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Manatee
The reference to VAT in the post to which I referred~?
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sherlock47
I managed to read the OP 3 times without seeing 'VAT', very senior moment :)

I agree! (with you)
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Mon 31 Oct 16 at 07:46
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - PeterS
>> VAT is irrelevant.
>>

Is it? I'm sure HMRC would be delighted to hear that ;) I completely accept that the VAT is not recoverable by me, or them. But if the wholesale price of a car is £20k + VAT and the retail price £30k (£25k + VAT) I'm not going to pay the dealer more than their wholesale price new of £20k for a used one. Illogical? Maybe :)
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Bill Payer
>> But if the wholesale price
>> of a car is £20k + VAT and the retail price £30k (£25k + VAT)
>> I'm not going to pay the dealer more than their wholesale price new of £20k
>> for a used one. Illogical? Maybe :)
>>
Their wholesale price is irrelevant - not least because it often bears little relation to their true cost after rebates and bonus's etc.

You can't separate out the VAT - for retail customers the car has a price which includes VAT. The VAT always stays in the car price. If a car costs £30K new and depreciates 50% do you pay £15K for it at 3yrs old, arguably £2.5K of that £15K is VAT. It just doesn't get separated out.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - bathtub tom
>>My dads i10 was pre geg. It was great, a brand new car with just 6 miles on the clock he just had to wait a few days until it was registered.

If it was pre-reg, why did he have to wait until it was registered?
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Manatee

>> If it was pre-reg, why did he have to wait until it was registered?

It was probably a "fleet" sale like ours. I would assume that pre-registered cars are -

- registered unsold at quarter end, to secure volume bonus (which can be big money); or

- registered to a business user (company) to secure the extra dealer discount/fleet support - this can happen after a sale has been agreed, and may well happen when the cars have been on consignment for 180 days, when the dealer will have to pay for them anyway; or

- bought in from the manufacturer at special prices, already having been registered to shift surplus stock.

The dealer I got the Popemobile from in 2014 sent me a mailer about two weeks ago with a list of very well discounted, registered stock that they had "secured at a special price from Skoda UK".
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - sherlock47
Anybody thinking of a discounted pre-reg deal should read the relevant page below

www.drivethedeal.com/Pre-Registered-Cars.aspx

Whilst it is obviously sales material designed to encourage buyers to use their services and buy new there are some significant risk areas highlighted.

Extract = What have the Courts ruled?

We recently prosecuted a competitor of ours for offering to sell their customers pre-registered cars using route (ii) above and failing to warn their customers of the risk of them being criminal prosecuted and the insurance and other financial disadvantages.

The Court ruled that it is an offence for someone to keep and drive a car that is not registered to them. Our competitor then pleaded guilty to the offence we charged them with and their company now has a criminal record.

We strongly suggest you avoid dealing with any broker which does not adhere to the law and offers you a pre-registered car that is registered using route (ii) above.


PS Not sure that I understand the 'we recently prosecuted....' concept
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Fri 28 Oct 16 at 20:19
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Manatee
Yes I read that. I made sure I got an invoice, and told the insurer about the V5. I decided that the risk of being prosecuted over the V5 was about the same as winning the lottery jackpot without buying a ticket.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - R.P.
and since when can a Company have a criminal record ?
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - zippy
>>They also allowed me to pick the registration

That is more important than people think.

I turn down a car because the registration was something like AN11SES with the black screw for the number plate in just the wrong place. Once seen, I couldn't unseen it!
I know I could have changed the plate or number but that's hassle!

When buying her pre reg Note the ex was offered PVO which she didn't like. As the dealer hadn't registered the pre-reg car (I have no idea why) she was able to go through a list to choose the one she liked best.

The car was registered for one day by the dealer so she got the majority of the warranty and a 33% discount plus £500 of fuel (10 Tesco £50 gift cards)!
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - RattleandSmoke
The dealers had the car in stock new unregistered, but Hyundai would not allow them to sell the car at £6500 unless it was pre registered, I assume so not to affect the residential values too much of existing used stock. I seem to remember he bought it on the Thursday, it was registered on the Friday to the dealer, then transferred into my dads name a couple of days later.

So one previous owner on the log book, but other than it was a brand new factory fresh car.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Falkirk Bairn
>>residential values!!

Residual is the word you are looking for.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Old Navy
My auto correct does that too.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Falkirk Bairn
Neighbour bought a Nissan Pulsar, N-Tec 1.5 diesel (decent spec!) 10 miles on clock for £11.5K 12 months ago - pre-reg and a few months old BUT essentially a new car.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - MD
Without doing any homework that sounds very cheap.
 Pre Reg cars- latest stats - Falkirk Bairn
>> Without doing any homework that sounds very cheap.
>>
There were hundreds all over the country- for that spec £12,5+ was the asking price or that spec- a chain in Scotland who have multiple Nissan outlets were about £12.5K - the last half dozen were £11.5K & disappeared in about a week - nice colour dark silver grey - BARGAIN!
Latest Forum Posts