Following on from my last article I did about a year ago regarding a great experience at a Porsche dealership not far from me, I thought it's time to do another quick blog about a recent experience I had with an independent used car dealership whilst I was looking to buy a second hand E 43 AMG.

So, in the usual way that I do, when I decided that the E43 was the cars looking for, and this was after looking at the Audi S6 estate and also a GLE 63 AMG, I grabbed my iPad, fired up Auto Trader and got to work. Now the options and my choices were based as usual, on the two large dogs that we have. So, It had to be an estate as always or something with a massive boot so we can lug our pooches around where we needed. At this point I knew the car I was looking for, and it was just a case as always, of hitting Auto Trader to find a good option for a good dealership that I could trust. Many of you know that's not an easy thing to do in this day and age, because outside of the main dealers it's a bit of a lottery when it comes to buying cars from independent garages, especially when you haven't worked with them or bought from them in the past, or they haven't been recommended to you.

In searching for my E 43 estate, I found five options in multiple locations across the UK. Being from London I really wanted to get a car ideally not too far from me, at a fair price, with good history and of course in excellent condition. With those parameters in mind, the options were really quite limited. On this occasion a higher mileage car was actually OK because firstly I don't do many miles and secondly this was as my wife calls it  destined to be the “ugly dog car”, so I really did not need to be too picky about which one we went for but it has to still work right?

With all of that in mind and with my chosen parameters clear in my own head, there were really only two options. One from a dealership in north London and another one from Boss Motor Company in an area called Chesham here in the UK.

So let me tell you about my experience in purchasing my shiny new (used) E43 estate from the Boss Motor Company!

 

The Advert

First up, the advert. For those of you who know me well, know that I spend probably about 40% of my life on Auto Trader and other similar websites looking at either cars I want to buy next, or just checking the prices of cars like any stockbroker would the stocks and share prices on a daily basis! For all of you car enthusiasts out there you know exactly what I mean! On this particular day I stumbled across a nice 2017 Pearl white, E43 AMG estate with around 64,000 miles on the clock, only a couple of owners, full-service history and what looked to be from the photos, in surprisingly good condition. However, what really sold it for me on the day in terms of the advert itself was not so much the condition of the car, the spec or the mileage. It was the video that Boss Motor Company had pulled together for the car. It's quite common for a lot of dealerships these days to do a personal video of a car that generally has a good walk around of what the car looks like, general condition, what work they might do, and anything that you might need to know at a high level. But, what stood out with these guys was that the video, whilst not personalised, was very detailed, explained more than I could ever need to know about the car at that point, and did a great walk around inside and outside show me exactly the condition of the car. I fully appreciate that not every dealership has the time or the manpower to do this however it was a great tool for luring me in and spiking in my interest. A great start!

 

The Enquiry

With the first milestone reached the second question was really, what will they be like on the phone and how they handle my initial call. This might be my 19th or 20th car I've owned in my life so I've had plenty of opportunity to see the different ways that dealerships handle your inquiries, from happy go lucky bubbly people, to “I just don't want to be here and if I didn't have to pay bills I wouldn't be here” type people. In this case and luckily for me it was the former, and I was dealt with by a very happy bubbly chap who was more than happy to talk through anything I wanted to know regarding the car and what I was looking for. Believe it or not it doesn't take much to get that initial inquiry right however you want to go away feeling like they actually want your business and are prepared to work with you to get your business. Really as simple as that!

 

The Test Drive

A couple of days after the initial inquiry I decided to do a test drive just to see how the car was and if it was exactly what I was looking for. When I arrived at the dealership, I had a good look around the car just to make sure that it was as described and was pleasantly surprised! It was exactly as described, and I really had no questions to ask him at that point! The sales guy did say that one of their key strengths is that they sell the cars as described and they try and make sure that when you arrive the car looks exactly as they advertised it, as they explained it and as you would expect buying a used performance car! Another tick from me. Now as with any red blooded petrolhead looking to buy a relatively performant car, when you go on a test drive you're not just trying to make sure that the car goes and stops and there's no clunking noises. You actually want to make sure the car is what you're looking for, has the kind of performance that you expect, ignites some emotion, and you could also live with that car day-to-day, week to week, just on the weekends or whenever you might drive it. Not sure if anyone else feels the same, however the way dealerships handle the test drive makes a massive difference to what I do after I've handed back the keys and started mulling over my next move. In this case, I had a very nice pleasant conversation with the sales guy, who was comfortable for me to drive a little bit faster, a little bit slower check the handling and just make sure that I was happy with the car as per the way I like to drive generally. Now for any other dealerships that read this, this is a key point. People buy Nissan Micras, VW Polos, Vauxhall Corsa’s, because I needed car to drive. People buy performance cars because it tickles something inside them. You're welcome!

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Lovecarreviews - Oct. 19, 2025, 2:53 p.m.

Definitely a great place to buy a performance car if you are in the London area.

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