Buy online and home delivery - secondhand cars
Discussion
I live in the far west of Cornwall, which is quite limiting when it comes to searching for a particular secondhand car. Although there are main dealers for most makes within an hour or so drive of where I live, they tend to be fairly small, with not much stock.
Most secondhand cars are advertised at higher prices than those sold by dealers "up country", so even if the right car is available locally, it'll be 5 or 10% more expensive.
I'm currently looking for a mid-size coupe - either a BMW 4 series or a Mercedes C class. Mainstream cars, plenty for sale in the UK at around £20k, but next to nothing locally. I found one advertised at the local BMW dealer, but it had sold the day before I called them. Ford dealer has one almost identical, but £2k more than the one at BMW, and £4k more than the "big city" price.
Looking in the usual places, I noticed that some dealers offer "home delivery". Evans Halshaw state this on most of their listings.
I'd prefer to pay a little extra, and buy Approved Used from a main dealer though - better warranty, and the option to buy a decent extended warranty that's almost as good as the original on a new car.
Will dealers that advertise "Home Delivery" really deliver a secondhand car 200 miles away, and do they charge?
Any other dealer groups that offer the service? Preferably BMW or Mercedes dealers for an Approved Used car.
It'll be an outright purchase, no part exchange.
Most secondhand cars are advertised at higher prices than those sold by dealers "up country", so even if the right car is available locally, it'll be 5 or 10% more expensive.
I'm currently looking for a mid-size coupe - either a BMW 4 series or a Mercedes C class. Mainstream cars, plenty for sale in the UK at around £20k, but next to nothing locally. I found one advertised at the local BMW dealer, but it had sold the day before I called them. Ford dealer has one almost identical, but £2k more than the one at BMW, and £4k more than the "big city" price.
Looking in the usual places, I noticed that some dealers offer "home delivery". Evans Halshaw state this on most of their listings.
I'd prefer to pay a little extra, and buy Approved Used from a main dealer though - better warranty, and the option to buy a decent extended warranty that's almost as good as the original on a new car.
Will dealers that advertise "Home Delivery" really deliver a secondhand car 200 miles away, and do they charge?
Any other dealer groups that offer the service? Preferably BMW or Mercedes dealers for an Approved Used car.
It'll be an outright purchase, no part exchange.
I agree that it would be better to go and see the car in person, have a test drive, and collect the car a week later. That's what I've always done in the past. Very easy to do when there's a part exchange. The way the used market is now, a part exchange at a main dealer only works if it's a car that they are going to put on their own forecourt, and even then only if the dealer is prepared to pay the current prices for stock.
The car that I'm replacing is a 2 year old Kia. I'll get a much better price for it through Wizzle or even WBAC. My local BMW dealer doesn't sell non-BMW cars, so it would just be sent to auction. I'd lose a grand or so.
To collect the new car, I'd have to get a lift, or use public transport.
I live alone - no wife to drive me. While I could get a friend to give me a lift to a local dealer an hour away, not sure they'd drive me to Bristol - a 7 hour round trip.
I really don't fancy spending the best part of a day on buses and trains. There's one bus an hour from my house to Penzance station, and the 10 mile journey takes the best part of an hour. More waiting at the station, slow train to Plymouth/Exeter/Bristol, then another bus. I did this once, when I sold my 911 to a specialist in Plymouth about 5 years ago. Not a pleasant experience, but the price they offered made it worth while.
I'd do it if I had to, but I'd rather pay a reasonable amount to get someone else to deliver it.
The car that I'm replacing is a 2 year old Kia. I'll get a much better price for it through Wizzle or even WBAC. My local BMW dealer doesn't sell non-BMW cars, so it would just be sent to auction. I'd lose a grand or so.
To collect the new car, I'd have to get a lift, or use public transport.
I live alone - no wife to drive me. While I could get a friend to give me a lift to a local dealer an hour away, not sure they'd drive me to Bristol - a 7 hour round trip.
I really don't fancy spending the best part of a day on buses and trains. There's one bus an hour from my house to Penzance station, and the 10 mile journey takes the best part of an hour. More waiting at the station, slow train to Plymouth/Exeter/Bristol, then another bus. I did this once, when I sold my 911 to a specialist in Plymouth about 5 years ago. Not a pleasant experience, but the price they offered made it worth while.
I'd do it if I had to, but I'd rather pay a reasonable amount to get someone else to deliver it.
Unless you NEED to pay hands on the car before purchase, you are probably better going full remote on both ends - sell your car to someone like Motorway, the buying garage will send a nice chap to pick it up, and buy from someone like Cinch who will drop it off, with a period where they will pick it up if you don't like it.
Then you can enjoy the arse end of nowhere, and let them do the schlepping around.
Then you can enjoy the arse end of nowhere, and let them do the schlepping around.
clockworks said:
I agree that it would be better to go and see the car in person, have a test drive, and collect the car a week later. That's what I've always done in the past. Very easy to do when there's a part exchange. The way the used market is now, a part exchange at a main dealer only works if it's a car that they are going to put on their own forecourt, and even then only if the dealer is prepared to pay the current prices for stock.
The car that I'm replacing is a 2 year old Kia. I'll get a much better price for it through Wizzle or even WBAC. My local BMW dealer doesn't sell non-BMW cars, so it would just be sent to auction. I'd lose a grand or so.
To collect the new car, I'd have to get a lift, or use public transport.
I live alone - no wife to drive me. While I could get a friend to give me a lift to a local dealer an hour away, not sure they'd drive me to Bristol - a 7 hour round trip.
I really don't fancy spending the best part of a day on buses and trains. There's one bus an hour from my house to Penzance station, and the 10 mile journey takes the best part of an hour. More waiting at the station, slow train to Plymouth/Exeter/Bristol, then another bus. I did this once, when I sold my 911 to a specialist in Plymouth about 5 years ago. Not a pleasant experience, but the price they offered made it worth while.
I'd do it if I had to, but I'd rather pay a reasonable amount to get someone else to deliver it.
For collection you could do a one way hire with Enterprise. That's not a bad option but it does mean if your car hasn't been prepared as you'd like you're almost forced to take it as it is.The car that I'm replacing is a 2 year old Kia. I'll get a much better price for it through Wizzle or even WBAC. My local BMW dealer doesn't sell non-BMW cars, so it would just be sent to auction. I'd lose a grand or so.
To collect the new car, I'd have to get a lift, or use public transport.
I live alone - no wife to drive me. While I could get a friend to give me a lift to a local dealer an hour away, not sure they'd drive me to Bristol - a 7 hour round trip.
I really don't fancy spending the best part of a day on buses and trains. There's one bus an hour from my house to Penzance station, and the 10 mile journey takes the best part of an hour. More waiting at the station, slow train to Plymouth/Exeter/Bristol, then another bus. I did this once, when I sold my 911 to a specialist in Plymouth about 5 years ago. Not a pleasant experience, but the price they offered made it worth while.
I'd do it if I had to, but I'd rather pay a reasonable amount to get someone else to deliver it.
[quote=buyer&seller]
I am a Cazoo fanboy, they paid me £7k more for a car than WBAC/Motorway etc offered. Then they had the cheek to make it the smoothest and quickest selling process ever.jason61c said:
just use Cazoo. Sell your car to them and get more cash for it. Then buy one from them.
You do seem to be a Cazoo fan boy, do you work for them? To top it off, I had a look at some of the cars at the local centre during drop off, they were all really clean and as described against online descriptions.
So yes, I'm a fan. No sales people, no "i'll have to go and ask my boss". Good quality stock at good prices with no hassle.
so multiple reasons that i'm a fanboy.
Edited by jason61c on Friday 29th October 14:12
Good to know that Cinch (and other car buying groups) do the home delivery thing - I didn't realise that.
I've just had a look at some of their stock, and the prices seem comparable with "up country" off-brand main dealers, so cheaper than what I'd pay locally.
I also tried a part exchange valuation on my Picanto, and it came back £1000 higher than the quote I got from WBAC on Tuesday.
That's a bit odd, as Cinch seem to be part of the same group.
I've just had a look at some of their stock, and the prices seem comparable with "up country" off-brand main dealers, so cheaper than what I'd pay locally.
I also tried a part exchange valuation on my Picanto, and it came back £1000 higher than the quote I got from WBAC on Tuesday.
That's a bit odd, as Cinch seem to be part of the same group.
clockworks said:
Good to know that Cinch (and other car buying groups) do the home delivery thing - I didn't realise that.
I've just had a look at some of their stock, and the prices seem comparable with "up country" off-brand main dealers, so cheaper than what I'd pay locally.
I also tried a part exchange valuation on my Picanto, and it came back £1000 higher than the quote I got from WBAC on Tuesday.
That's a bit odd, as Cinch seem to be part of the same group.
How did Cazoo do?I've just had a look at some of their stock, and the prices seem comparable with "up country" off-brand main dealers, so cheaper than what I'd pay locally.
I also tried a part exchange valuation on my Picanto, and it came back £1000 higher than the quote I got from WBAC on Tuesday.
That's a bit odd, as Cinch seem to be part of the same group.
jason61c said:
How did Cazoo do?
Not tried Cazoo yet. I can't actually order a new car or sell mine for a few days, as I'm waiting for replacement wheels from Kia (goodwill repair for lacquer peel). That's getting done next Wednesday, then I can take some pics for the part exchange/sale valuation.Nothing worse than finding the ideal new car, and it being sold by the time I'm ready to do a deal, so I'm not going to look too closely yet.
Just getting all possible options lined up.
Something I did spot on the Cinch website was how the 420d is subject to the higher road tax for the first 5 years. Unfortunately this coincides with when the facelift models went on sale. Big difference - £130 pre April 2017, £490 after.
Edited by clockworks on Friday 29th October 15:47
I bought my current car remotely not long ago - it was only in London (I'm in Bristol) but it was during lockdown and I needed a car as work in healthcare visiting patients. I paid a deposit and had made it very clear that if the car was not as described then I would be refusing it on arrival. It was only a 2 grand car (18 year old 6 pot 3 series) so I took a punt and was happy with the car. Think I paid 50 odd quid for delivery.
I previously paid for an independent car inspection for a different car (AA and RAC do them - I used clickmechanic who hook you up with an independent mechanic. Paid 100 quid and was more than happy with the service, the mechanic advised me not to buy saving me a headache in the long run. Have you thought about using an independent inspection service?
I previously paid for an independent car inspection for a different car (AA and RAC do them - I used clickmechanic who hook you up with an independent mechanic. Paid 100 quid and was more than happy with the service, the mechanic advised me not to buy saving me a headache in the long run. Have you thought about using an independent inspection service?
Someone suggested it. Not sure if it's necessary on a 4 or 5 year old car that comes with a 14 day cooling off period. I wouldn't get an inspection done on a car bought face to face from a main dealer.
I'll have to think about that one. Not even sure it's possible with a car from an online dealer?
I'll have to think about that one. Not even sure it's possible with a car from an online dealer?
jason61c said:
[quote=buyer&seller]
I am a Cazoo fanboy, they paid me £7k more for a car than WBAC/Motorway etc offered. Then they had the cheek to make it the smoothest and quickest selling process ever.jason61c said:
just use Cazoo. Sell your car to them and get more cash for it. Then buy one from them.
You do seem to be a Cazoo fan boy, do you work for them? To top it off, I had a look at some of the cars at the local centre during drop off, they were all really clean and as described against online descriptions.
So yes, I'm a fan. No sales people, no "i'll have to go and ask my boss". Good quality stock at good prices with no hassle.
so multiple reasons that i'm a fanboy.
Edited by jason61c on Friday 29th October 14:12
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