What Car? guide to car supermarkets - JW Sandle, King's Lynn

CHOICE
A good selection of volume brands, along with some prestige cars and more unusual models such as the Chrysler Crossfire. Every car contained a data sheet showing full details and prices.

PRICES
We found prices to be, on average, roughly 2.5% higher than the trade guides.

DID IT HAVE THE CARS WE SAW ONLINE?
We easily found several of the models we'd seen on the website.

HIDDEN CHARGES
There are no admin charges, but you have to pay for road tax.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THINGS GO WRONG?
Newer cars should come with the remainder of the manufacturer's original warranty. However, on one of the cars we looked at, it was not clear if the service schedule had been followed – that could make the warranty invalid. All cars come with three months/3000-mile warranty as standard and extra cover can be bought, with prices starting at £200 for a year, including breakdown cover.

FINANCE
JW Sandle offered hire purchase deals via East Anglia Finance. Our salesman wouldn't give us a quote because he couldn't get a value on our part-ex (see below). He told us that the flat rate of 5% worked out to an APR of 13%.

PART-EXCHANGE
The sales manager was out of the office when we visited, so our salesman was not able to give us a part-ex value on our Mondeo. He carried out a thorough appraisal anyway, and after we'd left we received a phone call with a low £4500.

TEST DRIVE
We were sent out on our own with our chosen Ford Focus. We couldn't go very far, but we got a fair idea of how the car drove.

CONDITION
All cars had been valeted and thoroughly cleaned, and had no obvious scratches or scrapes.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
We were given ample time to browse before Robbie offered his assistance. He listened to what we were looking for and steered us to the cars that fitted our budget. He talked us through the features of each and offered advice which might suit us best. The whole process was relaxed and friendly, but it was frustrating that we weren't offered a trade-in value on the spot, especially as it meant we couldn't get a finance quote.

VERDICT
Relaxed atmosphere, with friendly staff. But prices were on the high side and the part-exchange price was low.

JW SANDLE
Leziate Drove, Pott Row, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE32 1DD
Web: www.jwsandle.co.uk
Phone: 01553 630052