What do you think of the new car buying services where the vehicles are delivered to your door?

Every car I've bought in the past from a dealer has been taken for a test drive, to get used to the size of the vehicle or simply to make sure it sounded and drove okay. Buying direct to home seems to do away with this practice but what guarantee is there that the vehicle is properly checked? It seems a tailor-made solution for the conditions brought about by the pandemic. After reading many posts on your website about people buying cars having after-sale issues with dealers, how does this method of buying stand in terms of reliability? What do you think the pros and cons are? Is it more or less expensive than other ways of buying a used car?

Asked on 9 December 2020 by Neil Littman

Answered by Georgia Petrie

That's understandable. However, as you say, Covid-19 is fundamentally changing the way we buy. Even after the pandemic is over, I expect a lot of dealers and traders to continue offering click and collect, home delivery etc to those who need or want that option rather than going into a dealership to buy a car.

There are also distance selling regulations if you don't buy goods (like a car) in person. There may be extra fees for delivery and the like, but the price shouldn't be too different. You can read more about online car buying, including your rights if something were to go wrong, here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/coronavirus/2020-11/coro...n

You can read specifically about home delivery, your consumer rights etc when buying a vehicle online here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/driving-1/2020-11/which-.../

Tags: consumer rights distance selling new cars used cars home delivery buying a car online

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