Hot car deals, 19 March 2010Big discounts on World Car of the Year contenders

19 March 2010

At the beginning of April the winner of the World Car of the Year award is announced at the New York Auto Show. Here we look at the three shortlisted models to see just what sort of a deal you can get. These cars represent the best new cars launched in the past 12 months, but deals are still available.

Mercedes E-class is a big contender for the World Car of the Year title

Discounted Mercedes-Benz E-Class

It’s tough to find much choice in the way of premium saloons below the £30k level, but every manufacturer keeps a few models in this price band to tempt buyers in.

The impressive E-class range starts at £27,570 for the E200CDI BlueEfficiency saloon. Discounts vary, but we found Broadspeed were able to offer around 6% on almost any model in the range. Other suppliers had bigger discounts on petrol E-class than the diesels, but none approached the 6% level. 

Remember, with a Mercedes you are unlikely to buy at the basic price. Options like metallic paint and an automatic transmission instantly add £2,000 and there are dozens more way to inflate the price.

Despite Toyota's quality issues, the Prius is still the benchmark hybrid

Toyota Prius 7% off

Toyota’s recent recall issues might be expected to affect the demand for new cars, yet this doesn’t seem to be true with the Prius.

The entry-level model, the T3, is well equipped with a list price of £19,504. A discount of 5% is readily available from most brokers, and your dealer should be wiling to match this. We also found a discount of nearly 7% through Autofinders, bring the T3 price down to £18,195, with 7.6% off the more expensive T Spirit.

Bargain Volkswagen Polo

VW’s latest supermini has a conservative design in comparison to the latest run of highly stylised rivals, typified by the Ford Fiesta.

VW's Polo hatchback has won plenty of praise from car critics

But this is something VW buyers have traditionally valued and there is no doubting that this car is a big step up from the previous model.

The new Polo hasn’t been in UK showrooms for long, but there are deals to be had. Mammoth Cars has discount of 6.5% on a few models like the Polo 1.2 70S 3 door, bringing it down to £9,873, although most models are only reduced by around 3%. Autobytel can’t quite match Mammoth’s top rate, but we think its 6% across the range offer is good.

Hot Deal hunters please note:

Not all brokers deal in UK sourced vehicles, and this may have an impact on standard equipment and warranty levels.

The term ‘pre-reg’ or ‘pre-registered’ refers to vehicles that are brand new but already registered with the DVLA. This means that you will appear as the second owner in the V5 registration document.

Beware of unscrupulous brokers who tell you that they will have to retain the V5 registration document for a period of time after your purchase of the car. Vehicles sold this way may be cheap, but there are numerous legal implications and should be avoided.

With regards to all of the above, always make sure you know exactly what you’re buying before you put your money down in order to ensure you are making an informed choice.

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