OT: buying a car remotely

nothanks · 2023-03-11T21:19:35+00:00

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?

T

Theo 3 years ago

Dealers could bid online, private buyers couldn't. All in-person centres were closed due to Covid, so private buyers couldn't buy. It seems they still won't allow private buyers, even in person:

"I am not a member of the trade, how do I search for vehicles?

BCA is currently only open to trade buyers. Should you wish to purchase a vehicle then please let us introduce cinch.co.uk the faff-free car service. "

Here's the standard 'blue' BCA dealer fees:

formatting link

Private buyer fees were roughly double, perhaps a bit less at the high price range.

I think with volume a dealer can get a discount of about 50% on the 'blue' fees - there are various tiers based on sales volume.

Theo

Vote

F

Fredxx 3 years ago

Ah, I wasn't aware of that. I should probably blame Covid!

I'm not in the market for making a purchase quite at the moment. I like auctions because you go to one event, get the car you want at a reasonable price, then no hassle with getting things fixed, you simply fix it yourself.

Thanks for the info.

Vote

T

Theo 3 years ago

If I was looking to buy a car at auction, I'd go to one of the other auctioneers. Manheim are second biggest, but there's other smaller ones scattered around. They're more friendly to private buyers.

This page has links to some of the others stock lists:

formatting link

Theo

Vote

M

Mark Carver 3 years ago

A car will fail an MOT for having 1.59mm tyre tread, and/or worn brake pads. Both of those are a function of 'use', and nothing to do with the car's design.

Vote

T

The Natural Philosopher 3 years ago

Sales reps used to do up to 60,000 miles a year back in the day

After two years without a service and 120,000 miles, clock it back to

40,000 and make a mint. second or third set of tyres worn out, second set of pads worn out discs scored to f*ck, and the steering wheel drivers seat and accelerator and clutch pedals worn to the metal

Everything else looked mint.

Until the big ends start knocking 10,000 miles later.

Vote

F

Fredxx 3 years ago

Thanks, I find actions are more limited for commercial vehicles. I feel somewhat wiser.

Last time I simply turned up at an auction and bid. I hadn't registered but wasn't subjected to much hassle with just a debit card in hand.

Vote

A

alan_m 3 years ago

A failed MOT could be as a result of damage caused by side swiping a kerb or hitting a pot-hole etc.

Check list

formatting link

or

formatting link

Vote

T

The Natural Philosopher 3 years ago

Ways to make a brand new car fail an MOT test:

Pothole that bends a rim. Sidewall tyre damage. Kerbing that bends a suspension part and or the wheel Accident that tears metal and leaves sharp edges. Letting the windscreen washer run out.

etc.

Vote

A

alan_m 3 years ago

You would be very unlucky to fail just on that last point - any decent MOT station would put some water in the bottle and check again just because they would have to issue the fail and when you picked up your car you could fill it up for the free (partial) retest. :)

formatting link

Where the last point may be listed as a fail is when it's part of a long list of faults indicating no maintenance.

Vote

S

SteveW 3 years ago

When my car went for MOT in December, the tester had already had to fail four cars that day for non-functioning washers - despite the fact that the temperature was -10°C and had been for a week, so anyone not already having washer antifreeze in the bottle had been unable to add any.

Vote

S

SteveW 3 years ago

As I just posted - four cars had failed their MOT for non-functioning washers already on the day I took mine in (it passed) simply because the washer bottles were frozen solid (-10°C in early December). It was an unusually harsh and early cold snap and caught many people out. It lasted for a week solid and many people were unable to add any screenwash to prevent freezing after the first day.

Vote

R

Rod Speed 3 years ago

But easy to check that yourself.

You'd have to be one hell of a lead foot to do that in 2 years/

Vote

A

Andrew 3 years ago

EX MOT tester neighbour had to fix two of his customers cars as a result of that cold snap, and this is West Sussex. One burnt out the pump which needed replacing. Not sure why the fuse didn't blow. The other, an alpha 156 blew apart one of the connections where a hard plastic pipe is 'shrinked' over a connection nipple. V difficult to push back together.

Vote