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The advantages of buying a car online are obvious but what about the disadvantages, what are they ? How does it work with the warranty and so on. If anyone out there has had experience of buying with one of the main Internet companies (Jamjars, Drivethedeal, etc.) I'd like to know about your experiences as I am thinking of buying through them. I am after a bargain but I hate hassle and I am not prepared to compromise, so is it worth it ?
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you cant beat face to face dealing when alls said and done, handshake is the best part of buying a motor i would say. however i buy my cars off ebay!!! you would be amazed what you can get for your money, go on holiday with the money you could save and get away from that hassle you hate!! . failing that jamjar are the best from my friends and clients reviews!!!
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New, yes, I'd say so. If nothing else it gives you a haggling tool with your local dealer, knowing that if he doesn't at least come close to the broker price, he's not going to get the deal. A UK broker may deliver to your door and will by and large have you as the first owner on the V5 of a brand new, UK spec car supplied by a franchise dealer - so there really is no compromise. In some cases the cars may be pre-registered or old stock but you'd always be going into the transaction with your eyes open.
Generally the deposit is paid by credit card (making the credit card company jointly liable for the full amount if anything goes wrong) and the balance paid to the eventual supplier, the franchise dealer, just as you would with a normal retail transaction, so there is absolutely minimal risk to you as the purchaser.
Used, I'd say there are generally too many variables. eBay is a great marketprice and obviously something can be cheap enough to justify the risks - there's currently a nice looking, P plate Mondeo 1.8 with 80k and no obvious faults, plus a full MoT, at £600 with half an hour left to bid.
Many more times though what's on eBay is either very high mileage, hundreds of miles away, in poor condition, deeply undesirable or simply overpriced for a private sale.
Certainly I'd never buy a used car online from a supermarket's website because it's not going anywhere and you can do the deal quickly in person.
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E Bay is great to pick up a cheap car, however, I would be wary.
I would need to know all about the car before I bid for it. The listings don't always give all the facts, you just need to look at somme of the negative feedbacks to see this.
When you go and pour through the classifieds or Auto Trader, there will be a number of cars in there that are innocently oversold. Why should e bay be any different?
Excess wear on the drivers seat to a buyer may be normal W and T to the seller. The engine or gearbox may be on its last legs to the buyer but ok to the seller, who has not noticed its gradual decline over the 5 years he's had it.
If you're serious about spending loads of cash on a car over e bay, and don't like to gamble, sort out a few well in advance and go and see them. At least that way you can discount the rubbish and back away seeming keen (after all the seller is not looking for an offer there and then is he?).
If my business takes off I may be looking for a newer van, and will give E bay a good thrashing to see what comes up.
Hugo
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>there's currently a nice looking, P plate Mondeo 1.8 with 80k and no obvious faults, plus a full MoT, at £600 with half an hour left to bid.
It was still at the same price when I looked. What was entertaining was the R plate mondy being sold because "we need an estate car as we have two horses". Being slow, I thought about how small shetland ponies can be! Then I thought about hay bales.
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Late flurry of bids took it to £620, sold.
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It's a hard question to answer briefly because there's more than one type of internet operation that sells cars.
Try doing a forum search on this site for the word 'broker' and you'll find several past discussions on the subject. Buying through a broker is possibly the safest way of buying on line as your money normally goes directly to a bona fide dealer.
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I am after a bargain but I hate hassle
Well Amen to that Cat.
I bought a VW through ukcarbroker and I'd recommend it.
You call the broker to register your interest and confirm the price, then the VW main dealer calls you back to confirm the order and discuss any options. From then on you deal with the dealer. It's that easy.
No money paid to the broker, it's just the same as dealing with the main dealer direct except it's er....cheaper and no hassle!
The only difference is that, in my case, I was dealing with the fleet sales arm, not the retail one, but that had no effect in practice.
I now get the car serviced at another VW dealer nearer my home with no problems.
Go for it....
CF
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A colleage of mine was after a new Audi A3 FSI and used the broker prices to use as a haggling tool at the local Audi dealer. He got the exact car he wanted and the dealer matched the best broker price, had the main-dealer not got at least within few hundred pounds of the broker price he would have used the broker so a good deal all in really; and the car will be supplied by the local dealer thus avoiding a trip to the brokers supplying dealer.
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Family bought a VW Polo(wife) from ukcarbroker and a Toyota Corolla (brother) from drivethedeal. Absolutely no problems with either car: brand new to our specifications. Total savings of £4000 on the two cars. Only problem is that you have to sell your own car rather than part-exchanging it.
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