UKC

Anyone ever bought a second hand car online?

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.

I’m looking to buy a large estate car - Passat, Mondeo or Superb. There isn’t a great deal of this sort of car for sale near where I live, and I am reluctant to travel hundreds of miles to buy a car. Has anyone ever bought a car online, and had it delivered to their door? It would be interesting to hear your experience.

Also does anyone know why Passat estates are cheaper than Skoda Superbs?

Tom

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

My strategy is to work out what you want,  find privately owned examples for sale,  phone and ask questions but key thing is one owner,  or at least current owner for 5 years (flex based on car age etc).

Visiting and meeting the owner lets you learn a lot about what you're buying.  I don't mind travelling as it's a rare event (two cars in 17 years!)

There's always a bit of luck but my experience of buying from a dealer is all they do is wash it and give you a warranty that's not worth the paper it's written on. 

Good luck!!

 jkarran 13 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Only ever bought one blind off ebay once, private sale I was committed to by having bought a one way flight. It's like a bet on the horses, pretty exciting but you'll probably lose.

Not sure what the second hand car market is like at the moment but assuming you're spending money significant to you I'd be tempted to broaden your search (models and viewing travel) or wait.

Jk

 mrphilipoldham 13 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I recently committed to buying a car having only ever seen it online. Finance etc sorted remotely however I did have the advantage of just an hour and a half on the train to then test drive/collect. Thankfully it’s a good’un! 

Removed User 13 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Yes, but it was through an online company that did the interfacing and provided accountability, I never knew who the previous owner was. All good.

 Blue Straggler 13 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

An acquaintance of mine uses a sort of independent/freelance/one-man-band car “broker” for this sort of thing. Basically he could say “here’s my budget and I am after a Passat estate or a Superb” and specify whatever details he wants - colour, trim, fuel type, mileage etc - and the broker finds him one, obviously takes a commission but also provides a short warranty. I will assume that this is not a totally obscure and uncommon line of work so might be worth seeing if you can find such a person 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Any chance you could put me in touch please?

 nikoid 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

> Also does anyone know why Passat estates are cheaper than Skoda Superbs?

Passats are more common than Superbs (fact). Also I think of the two the Superb seems to be the better car - a more desirable/interesting/popular car (opinion).  

 Blue Straggler 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Hi Tom, afraid not, kind of lost touch with the guy slightly. I was just hoping that “car broker” might be a service you can Google (not being sarcastic there and not just saying “Google it FFS”; I genuinely just don’t know!). Sorry I can’t help further, good luck 

 alan moore 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Bought a 3 yr old car during lockdown 1. Found it on autotrader in a car sales garage in south shields. Did a zoom tour of the car. Pressing the button to send the money was scary. It turned up next day on the delivery lorry. Very happy.

Would do it again for a newish car. If I was buying 5 yr plus I think I'd want to see it in real life....

 kaiser 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

You may already be well aware of this but something to perhaps bear in mind here is that for the first 6 months, as a consumer, you have very strong rights when buying 2nd hand cars from dealers so just be aware of who you are actually contracting the purchase with and also the possible logistics of returning the car to the vendor for repairs should they be required during that period

https://www.whatcar.com/news/your-legal-rights-if-something-goes-wrong-with...

 Sealwife 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I have bought a car without seeing it.  There is a dealer local to me who buys electric cars to order and has a very good reputation.

I told him my budget, he found a car, sent me details and pictures for my approval then  deliver me the vehicle.  No problems whatsoever.

 girlymonkey 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I once bought one for £175 on eBay without seeing it! I only needed it for 6 weeks before I was leaving the country so decided to take the gamble that it would run for 6 weeks. It did, and I resold it on eBay for £380 before I left! I was pleased with that one! Lol

J1234 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

If you buy it from a reputable company you have a 14 day return period by law which you do not have if you go to a showroom, so theoretically its a better way to buy.

"Also does anyone know why Passat estates are cheaper than Skoda Superbs?"

Thats interesting, it must be a good example of a free market finding the optimal price. https://www.britannica.com/topic/supply-and-demand

 TobyA 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

We just bought a new (to us) car. I spent a lot of time on autotrader looking at possibilities, but eventually deciding just to get a newer version of what we already have helped. We found quite a few possibles within a search radius of 50 miles, but I realised although that doesn't sound that much, when it's as the crow flies - that can actually be 1.5 to 2 hours drive away so when I thought about petrol and time that could have been spent doing something more fun or useful, finding something local or click and deliver seemed better. What autotrader seemed to suggest that pricing of the same model/age seems really competitive so if possibility A seems 200 quid cheaper than B but to go and see A is going to cost 20-30 quid in petrol and use most of your Saturday up, maybe its not that great a deal anyway. In the end we found two possibles quite local, one in Barnsley and one in Chesterfield. So went and test drove the Chesterfield one and went with that. So obviously didn't use the delivery option but "Car Store" who we bought ours from do offer it for free IIRC. They seem pretty decent to deal with, the prices are fixed and I guess the internet means they have to be competitive.

I had also considered a Mondeo estate, but noticed there didn't seem to be so many around here either.

 Neil Williams 14 Nov 2020
In reply to TobyA:

The Mondy seems to be dying off as the fleets are now more SUV based (or "fake SUVs" like the Kuga, which I've got and it's a good car, my aunt also speaks highly of hers), and it isn't an "interesting" car that people want to buy for themselves unlike the Passat.  Indeed, I'm sure I recall reading that Ford were considering dropping it, though it's still on sale new for now.

Post edited at 14:21
 TobyA 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Neil Williams:

We've got a C-MAX - we bought the first one sort of by accident when we came to the UK six years ago (my dad had gone to his local garage where he knows the owners and said "my son is moving back to the UK and needs a family car, they've got this much, what have you got?" and they had a c-max that they gave us a good deal on!), it's been a decent car and as I lack imagination in things automotive we just bought a newer one to replace it! But I notice the C-Max was discontinued at the end of last year.

It did strike me that if this one (it's a 2017 model) lasts as well as the old one (58 plate), it's likely to be the last internal combustion engine vehicle I'm likely to buy!

 Neil Williams 14 Nov 2020
In reply to TobyA:

That was also my thought when I bought the Kuga - almost certainly electric next time, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't my last manual diesel.

What I have noticed about Ford is that they make a load of the same car, just in different heights/lengths and engines

Post edited at 14:35
 Kalna_kaza 14 Nov 2020
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I bought a car from Cazoo, three years old. It was delivered 3 days after ordering and had a 7 day no quibble return policy. No issues. 

Being a national chain I was probably less worried about being messed about. I generally hate second hand car garages, I've had some absolute dogs of a car and never really sure if you're being sold a pup or not.


New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...