Buying a car without viewing it in person

[Terzo123]

Bought a Monaro VXR "unseen" from a franchise Vauxhall dealer back in 2011. It was at the other end of the UK from me.

The salesman sent me a walk round video of the car, and I also arranged for an AA inspection prior to purchase.

The dealer then had the car delivered to my house as part of the deal.

The car was also covered under a network Q warranty which provided some peace of mind.

The warranty came in handy when the Clutch slave cylinder decided to st itself.

[c6r]

Am in similar position to the OP and been thinking the same. Looking for recentish midrange repmobile type thing like 330i/S4/etc 3-4yo probably but most of the suitable ones always seem to be at the other end of the country. I don't get involved with spannering cars - I know all the bits, and how it all works, but never do any real work on them myself - so I'm not sure what the point of going all the way to see one will be. If it's got clouds of smoke spewing out the back I can probably spot it, but anything less obvious but still serious there's no way I'd be able to tell especially not in 15mins on a forecourt. Added to that, I'll have just spent a morning and half a tank of petrol getting up there to view it, so you sort of have the pressure to go through and buy it or it's all been a massive waste of time.

I'm not that bothered about superficial stuff like scratches and scuffs, as my cars just end up covered in them anyway, it's only buying a well disguised lemon that is my concern really, so actually an online distance sale seems like actually the best way of avoiding that. Am I mad though?

[JayRidesBikes]

c6r said:

Am in similar position to the OP and been thinking the same. Looking for recentish midrange repmobile type thing like 330i/S4/etc 3-4yo probably but most of the suitable ones always seem to be at the other end of the country. I don't get involved with spannering cars - I know all the bits, and how it all works, but never do any real work on them myself - so I'm not sure what the point of going all the way to see one will be. If it's got clouds of smoke spewing out the back I can probably spot it, but anything less obvious but still serious there's no way I'd be able to tell especially not in 15mins on a forecourt. Added to that, I'll have just spent a morning and half a tank of petrol getting up there to view it, so you sort of have the pressure to go through and buy it or it's all been a massive waste of time.

I'm not that bothered about superficial stuff like scratches and scuffs, as my cars just end up covered in them anyway, it's only buying a well disguised lemon that is my concern really, so actually an online distance sale seems like actually the best way of avoiding that. Am I mad though?

This is my thinking, I can't fix a car myself I'm not going to find any issues myself by going to view it. The dealer has sent me a 6 minute walk around video, has done a fresh MOT and service and has sent it to Suzuki for air conditioning regassing, which wasn't mentioned in the advert but he told me over the phone it needed to be sorted. The car should be delivered at the end of this week so let's wait and see.

[Stever750]

I've just been in a similar position, but I didn't want to buy a car that I'd not driven before. I'm also not really bothered by superficial appearance or even colour, what does irritate me is worn trim, malfunctioning tech, poorly aligned steering etc etc. Whilst the DSR play in your favour, it's a massive pita to return a car that you know is crap after ten minutes test drive, so that's a rule I abide by. In my case, I found an identical car to the one I found locally, slightly better spec, but £2k cheaper, despite only slightly higher mileage; both main dealer. There's a reason why it was cheaper, and it's nothing to do with the generosity of the salesman, so I figured there was a hidden surprise, despite the personal video I was sent of the vehicle.
I'm also familiar with how the car works, but wouldn't attempt repairing stuff myself, but after years of driving different cars, you get a feel for one that's been looked after mechanically, and one that's not in a 15 minute test drive. Not definitive of course, but a really good indication.