SWMBO has been looking for a 4WD Skoda Yeti but can't find anything around our "patch" that's worth buying. Several promising cars appear in adverts but are too far away to look at, so remote purchase is becoming tempting (but scary!). It seems that there is some protection, most notably a 14 day cooling-off period, but gut feel is that buying without seeing and testing could bring a lot of pain. Has anyone here done it?
I would only do that through a verifiable seller with an excellent feedback record.
I bought my Nissan Leaf from Cazoo online. It was a fair price and they gave me a good part exchange deal for my Ford Focus. I had 7 days in which to test it and return it if I didn't like it. I kept it.
You could get the AA or RAC to check it over for a fee.
Some Yetis have an issue with broken suspension springs. In order to reduce weight, they've ended up too highly stressed at the expense of reliability.
I'd hate to, cars have so many problems.
Bought a car last year from Cazoo. Really simple, it was exactly as described, low miles, 3yrs old, excellent condition, FSH. Price was good.
They're not interested in part-ex unless car you are selling is 100%. Otherwise they'll end up paying the next customer on the 90 warranty or refunding. That blows the profit margin.
Since my experience was good, two friends have used Cazoo and have been delighted with their purchases.
Best of all, no bloody second hand car salesmen to deal with.
There was a report on the radio a few weeks back that some of the on-line car sales companies that had meteoric growth as a result of the covid lockdowns were now struggling financially. Now that car dealers are open again customers prefer to view before committing to purchase.
Just be careful on how you transfer the purchase price. Some of these companies are the third party middle men and what happens if they don't pass on the money to the seller?
I think the adverts featuring brain damaged coons dancing around in ecstasy having just sold a car, probably has something to do with it. Its vile, its patronising and its deeply racist.
Yes, I bought my BMW like that, 18 months ago, but from a dealer network, not Cazoo. Absolutely happy, no problems whatsoever.
Only new.
Long before it was common, I used a company which advertised in our company newspaper. They seemed to be a broker - the car came from a dealer and was delivered.
As I recall, I paid £500 and handed over a cheque on delivery for the balance. It went very smoothly. No problems.
I’ve used Carwow twice, again without any problem, although in both cases the dealers were close enough to visit.
Again, no problems.
I certainly recommend Carwow. I think they do secondhand cars.
What kind of age are we talking?
I think buying at auction sight unseen is common nowadays, but a) that's mostly the dealm of dealers these days, the auctions are making it harder for private buyers, and b) there's usually a condition report. For auctions, it's often 3 year old cars that are just off lease, so the chance of them being complete sheds is somewhat limited. The dealer part-ex auctions are a bit more risky in that regard.
If it's relatively young there's probably some warranty on it, which helps. The older it gets the more chance it's being sold on because there's some fault with it. Although doing due diligence can help: if it's a part-ex, it may be the dealer is selling it on because it's a make they don't sell, rather than selling it because it's faulty.
I suppose it also depends on how trustworthy the dealer is. If it's an underneath-the-arches type I might run away fast. Although I'm not sure a major main dealer won't have slimy ways to get out of their obligations.
I would read the T&C carefully - if you can get out of the deal for any reason whatever then that might be OK, if it depends on there being some fault with the car then the onus might be on you to prove the fault, which might get slippery.
Theo
I never buy an old car more than £2000 less than I can afford, because they all have faults but generally 2 grand will fix them and make for a reliable car.
Yeah, but those ads give me a chuckle nonetheless. A bit of light relief from the doom diet of war, war, war etc.
Not unknown for ex-rental cars to be registered as if they were a private owner and there seems to be scam where they have a full service history even though very little was done. Neighbours SIL bought an ex-rental (enterprise) Vx Vectra with the V6 engine. It had a full service history at a Vx main dealer indicating that pollen and air filters had been replaced but the filters in the car were black with crud and the date on them pre-dated the date of 1st reg. I.e. they had never been changed. Was the oil and filters ever changed ?. Who knows.
Trust no-one. Go to see the car in the metal and take someone who knows how to identify stuff that has (or not) been changed.
I presume with a 14 day cooling off period this is from a dealer?
As Roger has said, why not get it inspected by a third party. They're more likely to see any defect than your personal visual inspection.
You could say the same thing for your local garage, though. You take your car in for its yearly service and you assume it's all been done, but how can you know? Most people are too busy to check these things thoroughly and just have to trust the garage to do the work they get billed for. Yet as we all know, rogue garages have been around for as long as the car has. I have not the slightest idea whether my cars when I take them in every year have actually been serviced, but it's not for want of technical knowledge; just sheer lack of time.
If you use a back street garage they will *always* add a line on the invoice like "Oil flush treatment 12.99" and then add VAT onto it !. The amount of course varies and might be much higher for female car owners.
If you take the same car to a main dealer for that make, you will
*NOT* see any such entry on the invoice.QED "Oil Flush Treatment NN.NN" is a SCAM. They do NOTHING.
that IMHO is the only sensible advice. If you want to play trust-a-stranger games that's upto you, but it is a recipe for problems. The suggestion that main dealers are trustworthy does not match what I've experienced, seen or heard.
Of course the newer the car the less the odds of trouble. If I'm going to gamble, and buying a car always is a gamble, I like to know what I can to reduce the risks.
I know someone who purchased a two year old car old from the main dealer. One of their selling points that the cars were like new and had passed a 140 point check with anything found wrong being rectified..
It didn't take long to find that the 140 point check sheet that came with the car was a complete work of fiction.
Trading standards and the manufacturer were involved during the dispute. Under of advice from trading standards a MOT undertaken days after purchase on this two year old car failed.
But you will often see the cost of the consumables (oil, filters etc.)
3x the price of the reputable back street garage.In 40 years of car ownership I've never seen oil flush on any of my bills from the variety of back street garages I've used. However most of the back street garages have come via recommendation and usually chosen because they were close to my place of work - very convenient for dropping off and picking up when servicing or repairs have been required.
What I have seen from a main dealer is a invoiced item for the plastic cover they put over my seat and the paper cover they put on the car mat.
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