Am I mad to consider buying today?

[Sunim]

Let's just assume I need the car, hence why I am trying to buy one.

I have found a car supermarket offering a 1 year old car 1000miles for about £9000
and says can arrange delivery across the country for the day after I have paid by bank transfer. EDIT see below

The photos look immaculate and it will have 2 years manufacturer's warranty remaining.
I have deliberately gone up market to low mileage nearly new cars for peace of mind.

Can you guys please answer this
At what point does the car become mine? i.e. they could go bankrupt after I pay the money.
How does the V5 paperwork happen if it is bought at a distance? Do they do the V5 transfer online now?

My concerns are:

They could say "we thought we had a driver but now we don't"
The driver could be turned back by the police. I should say... I am a keyworker and need a frigging car.
They could go bankrupt before I get the car.


EDIT to add the seller has now said "they don't require money upfront" they don't give any more info, I assume then he is willing to deliver it and take payment on delivery.

Edited by Sunim on Tuesday 31st March 17:28

Edited by Sunim on Tuesday 31st March 17:36

[Julian Thompson]

I would not do that, personally. Instead call the dealers selling that brand of car new and see how much you can get a new one for. You might be surprised.

[swisstoni]

Could you do the transfer after delivery of the car and inspection of the paperwork?

Some people just fire off money in to the ether and everything works out just fine.
I just don’t fancy my luck at that sort of thing.

[carinaman]

Julian Thompson said:

I would not do that, personally. Instead call the dealers selling that brand of car new and see how much you can get a new one for. You might be surprised.

Good call.

[anonymous-user]

I personally would not pay up front for anything at the moment, as you say what happens if you transfer the money and you never hear back from them again?

If it was a really great deal, I had the cash , could easily afford it and I had the car in front of me and I could drive it away I would go for it assuming it was a REALLY good deal.

That is exactly what I am considering doing once this all calms down and if prices fall by a decent margin.

[carinaman]

Julian Thompson said:

I would not do that, personally. Instead call the dealers selling that brand of car new and see how much you can get a new one for. You might be surprised.

With end of Quarter and end of financial year approaching fast and massive uncertainty about the duration of the Corona Virus, ahem crisis, and lockdown dealers may be up for a good deal on a new one now. A bird in the hand....

I'm sure a dealer wanting to shift new metal now would be able to deliver it and work something out with regard to payment.

[Sunim]

Skoda is not selling citigo petrol new anymore. But I suppose there is the VW Up & Seat Mii, I like the citigo petrol.

If I buy new I am looking at possibly a long time for delivery because I can't see this lockdown ending on April 14th.


A lot of the dealers are saying they are not offering delivery at the moment until they open for business again.

Evans Halshaw somewhere said put a deposit down and have delivery after lockdown - that is a an open ended book right there.

Edited by Sunim on Tuesday 31st March 16:29

[mikey k]

Sunim said:

Evans Halshaw somewhere said put a deposit down and have delivery after lockdown - that is a an open ended book right there.

That's them trying to help their cash flow not the customer

[irc]

Unless something unusual get a local dealer to match the pice. Surely a buyers market now if ever there was one. Try CarWow to see what local dealers are offering.

I wouldn't pay £9k before I was getting the keys. Especially in today's situation.

[M12MTR]

Yes. Mad.

I'd wait a few weeks to watch the market.

[SkodaIan]

Will the car supermarket sell the OP the car on finance?

If so, that's the way I'd go, paying the smallest deposit they allow on a credit card. Once the car is on the drive, pay off the finance and the car is all yours. I'd probably leave the finance running anyway for the next few months, simply because the cost of interest over a few months wouldn't be that great, and it keeps 9k of cash for emergencies.

This way hands the risk of the car supermarket going bust to the finance company. If the car supermarket becomes unable to deliver because of travel restrictions etc, it would only be the deposit tied up until this is over.

[Khaki Suit]

M12MTR said:

Yes. Mad.

I'd wait a few weeks to watch the market.

This. Prices are on a downward tumble and won't be going up again for some time yet. I'd personally hold out for as long as possible.

[mikey k]

SkodaIan said:

Will the car supermarket sell the OP the car on finance?

If so, that's the way I'd go, paying the smallest deposit they allow on a credit card. Once the car is on the drive, pay off the finance and the car is all yours. I'd probably leave the finance running anyway for the next few months, simply because the cost of interest over a few months wouldn't be that great, and it keeps 9k of cash for emergencies.

This way hands the risk of the car supermarket going bust to the finance company. If the car supermarket becomes unable to deliver because of travel restrictions etc, it would only be the deposit tied up until this is over.

Good shout
Risk is with the credit card company if the dealer does bust and no goods are delivered.
Done over the phone distant selling laws apply as well

[Sunim]

New information

(my misunderstanding previously)

Seller says they don;t require money upfront - he could have written more details - but i assume he is willing to deliver without any money upfront and I pay on delivery maybe by BACS or maybe by Debit card - he didn't say.


So now everything should be ok right ?


I don't think I can wait for prices to tumble.

[swisstoni]

Sunim said:

New information

(my misunderstanding previously)

Seller says they don;t require money upfront - he could have written more details - but i assume he is willing to deliver without any money upfront and I pay on delivery maybe by BACS or maybe by Debit card - he didn't say.


So now everything should be ok right ?


I don't think I can wait for prices to tumble.

I think the brand new car option as mentioned above definitely needs to be explored. A few mins in the phone after all. Cash is king. All that stuff.

[A1VDY]

The only cars that will keep their value is cars under a grand which don't depreciate any more, ie very cheap runabouts. An average hatch £2k and up will be a buyers market. Expensive premium stuff will endure massive losses.
Dont buy anything atm, wait until the economy completely collapses first.

• Car dealer for 9 years*