What Car? guide to car supermarkets - DC Cook Direct, Manchester

CHOICE
Eclectic best sums up the selection, with Audi A2s next to Vauxhall Omegas and Alfa 147s, while plate ages range between 04/54 back to 99/T.

Frustratingly, specification details were not displayed in cars, making it difficult to work out exactly what you were looking at. At least the helpful staff said they had access to cars at other DC Cook sites.

PRICES
With prices an impressive 6% under those in price guides,
you should be able to pick up a bargain. We were offered a Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate (113bhp) with less than 1500 miles on the clock for £9549, about £500 off what the price guides suggest.

DID IT HAVE THE CARS WE SAW ONLINE?
There were more cars online than on site, so it wasn't always possible to find the right car.

HIDDEN CHARGES
There were no hidden charges and, on the cars we looked at, the prices included road tax.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THINGS GO WRONG?
We were told we'd get the balance of the manufacturer's warranty, but weren't told about the options to extend cover.

FINANCE
DC Cook use Black Horse Finance and the sales manager was happy to give us a finance quote once we had found the type of car we were looking for. Unfortunately, he didn't know the APR, but from the figures quoted we think the rate was 17% APR – too high for our liking.

PART-EXCHANGE
After the sales manger had a look at the Mondeo we were offered a strong £5800 against any car.

TEST DRIVE
DC Cook was happy to let us test drive any car, although it would take a day or two to get a car at one of the company's other sites transported over. The local roads get very busy, so choose carefully when you test a car.

CONDITION
Some cars were clean, while some were quite grubby. Others had slight scratches and knocks.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
It was the end of a hot day when we arrived. There were no other customers on site, which explained why we were offered help from two different salesmen shortly after stepping out of the car.

Salesman Simon led us into the stiflingly hot showroom to search for suitable cars on DC Cook's stock list. You might be put off by the shortage of cars on site, but the staff worked hard to put together a deal. The company's attitude was professional, it's just a shame about the state of the premises. The seemingly high finance rate also left a bad taste.

VERDICT
A rather scruffy site and not many cars to look at, but prices were keen and the friendly staff worked hard to do a deal.

DC COOK DIRECT
1 Rondin Close, Ashton Old Road, Manchester M12 6LL
Web: www.dccook.co.uk
Phone: 0870 1126616