Car buying companies "we buy any car" etc
Discussion
i presume these outfits are set up to offer rock bottom prices and then mark up and sell on.
Does anyone know roughly how much below true value they set their offers?
I ran my car (07 523i msport in case anyone asks) through a few of their sites around christmas time and the results came back at 13-14k now it has come back at 16 so they must think that values have risen a bit.
Shame i owe about 21k on it.
I would never sell to these companies however i was just keen to keep track of their take on values.
Does anyone know roughly how much below true value they set their offers?
I ran my car (07 523i msport in case anyone asks) through a few of their sites around christmas time and the results came back at 13-14k now it has come back at 16 so they must think that values have risen a bit.
Shame i owe about 21k on it.
I would never sell to these companies however i was just keen to keep track of their take on values.
Indeed. My OH (against my desperate pleading) used these to get rid of her Mini Cooper last summer.
Book value was £8.5 - 9k for a private sale, and she had been offered £7k in PX. WBAC offered her the same £7k which seemed fair enough.
Then the day before they were due to collect, she had a phone call saying the best they could offer was £6.5k, no negotiation. She already had the new car lined up so gritted her teeth and accepted. On the day they came to collect it, the guy was a complete twunt.
Her car was 3 years old, and immaculate. It had, however, had the disadvantage of being used on British roads and had a few - and only a few - stone chips around the front bumper. Not the bonnet, just the bumper. £100 off the asking price for each of those chips then, says he
And it had rained the night before, so the car was, understandably, wet. Glistening, water beading into great big puddles on the waxed paintwork. So the oik calls his boss, who says that he must not take the car away until he has dried it FFS
and inspected it properly! Luckily he was either too lazy or they wanted the car too badly, and he didn't bother.
Don't touch these companies with a bargepole.
Book value was £8.5 - 9k for a private sale, and she had been offered £7k in PX. WBAC offered her the same £7k which seemed fair enough.
Then the day before they were due to collect, she had a phone call saying the best they could offer was £6.5k, no negotiation. She already had the new car lined up so gritted her teeth and accepted. On the day they came to collect it, the guy was a complete twunt.
Her car was 3 years old, and immaculate. It had, however, had the disadvantage of being used on British roads and had a few - and only a few - stone chips around the front bumper. Not the bonnet, just the bumper. £100 off the asking price for each of those chips then, says he
And it had rained the night before, so the car was, understandably, wet. Glistening, water beading into great big puddles on the waxed paintwork. So the oik calls his boss, who says that he must not take the car away until he has dried it FFS
and inspected it properly! Luckily he was either too lazy or they wanted the car too badly, and he didn't bother.Don't touch these companies with a bargepole.
parapaul said:
WBAC offered her the same £7k which seemed fair enough.
Then the day before they were due to collect, she had a phone call saying the best they could offer was £6.5k, no negotiation. .
Issue a claim for a breach of contract and get her £500 back? The offer was made and accepted........Then the day before they were due to collect, she had a phone call saying the best they could offer was £6.5k, no negotiation. .
To be frank, these companies rely on the fact that people are desperate and so will have little choice but to take the s**e they offer, and of course then they look to take the p**s further, again, relying on the fact that the seller is desperate.
I wonder if anyone has ever sold their house to the equivalent place, I am sure that's a fun way to spend a day.
My record offer from one of these companies was £50 for an Omega. With about £150-worth of road tax left on it.
If I remember rightly they quite often sell on to the car supermarkets, so are looking for low-mileage cars with decent bodywork and interior, particularly Fiesta/Focus size with small and mid-range engine options - if you've got something that falls into that bracket, the offers are generally not quite so insulting, although then again if you do have something like that, you may as well sell it privately given it'll be off your hands just as quickly for a fair bit more change.
If I remember rightly they quite often sell on to the car supermarkets, so are looking for low-mileage cars with decent bodywork and interior, particularly Fiesta/Focus size with small and mid-range engine options - if you've got something that falls into that bracket, the offers are generally not quite so insulting, although then again if you do have something like that, you may as well sell it privately given it'll be off your hands just as quickly for a fair bit more change.
parapaul said:
Then the day before they were due to collect, she had a phone call saying the best they could offer was £6.5k, no negotiation.
I had the Rochdale Pug dealer do this years ago on the day we were to pick up Mrs Orb(s) new 406 Coupe. We drove there in the PX car and walked in all ready to collect the new car and miraculously they had devalued the PX by £500.We walked out and they lost their sale. I don't think they expected that - I bet 90% of the people they try that scam with will simply pony up due to shiny car syndrome. They then had the cheek to threaten legal action
Nolar Dog said:
I've sold 2 "sensible" cars to webuyanycar.com and got very good prices for both.
If it's a ready to retail car and as described then they have no reason to "chip you".
Obviously non mainstream cars are not their thing so they offer accordingly.
Yep, same here... Got well within book price for a diesel A4 that had a seriously noisy turbo. Quick and simple, rather than the previous 2 months of banging head against wall in classifieds. I was a little annoyed they turned up their noses for the bonnet having "had paint", which I had done a month or so previously due to stonechipping- And which made the car look immaculate. Tsk!If it's a ready to retail car and as described then they have no reason to "chip you".
Obviously non mainstream cars are not their thing so they offer accordingly.
I have used these companies websites to get a rough estimate of what my car's value is but wouldn't ever sell to these cowboys in case they pull anything dodgy. I'd rather cut my losses and sell back to the dealer or try and sell it privately.
As others have said, they are exploiting people who are desperate to sell and would use every excuse to knock the price down further. Wouldn't surprise me if they charged extra for every individual stone chip.
Having just got rid of my 2 year old Polo TDi last week which had another year of HP to run, I exercised VT as I had paid 50% and as the final balloon is likely to be more than the car's trade in value I simply handed it back to them with no questions asked. The chap came round and had a quick scan, once both sets of keys, V5 and logbook was handed over the car was taken away without any fuss.
As others have said, they are exploiting people who are desperate to sell and would use every excuse to knock the price down further. Wouldn't surprise me if they charged extra for every individual stone chip.
Having just got rid of my 2 year old Polo TDi last week which had another year of HP to run, I exercised VT as I had paid 50% and as the final balloon is likely to be more than the car's trade in value I simply handed it back to them with no questions asked. The chap came round and had a quick scan, once both sets of keys, V5 and logbook was handed over the car was taken away without any fuss.
amare32 said:
As others have said, they are exploiting people who are desperate to sell and would use every excuse to knock the price down further. Wouldn't surprise me if they charged extra for every individual stone chip.
Can you actually read or just another one making assumptions? You will find that WBAC.C will frequently offer a better price for your car than any other dealer will.
Nolar Dog said:
amare32 said:
As others have said, they are exploiting people who are desperate to sell and would use every excuse to knock the price down further. Wouldn't surprise me if they charged extra for every individual stone chip.
Can you actually read or just another one making assumptions? You will find that WBAC.C will frequently offer a better price for your car than any other dealer will.
Free world and all...
Not that I would consider using them but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Edited by amare32 on Sunday 22 March 19:36
OllieWinchester said:
Bottom book, then they chip you further when you get there. Avoid unless you arer truly desperate.
You've dealt with them all ? Or just heresay ?I sold my Phaeton with WeWillBuyYourCar.com and was offered £6000 more than WeBuyAnyCar.com, and several £K more than a dealer.
I was given a price online, a guy turned up, made sure the bodywork was A-OK, didn't even drive it, waited for me to confirm I had cleared funds in my account and took the car. No haggling, no chipping me.
I recommended them to my brother in law (a dealer) who had a Zafira to offload, and got more from them than any other trade was offering.
(I have no connection with WWBYC)
Edited by GT2man-2 on Sunday 22 March 22:05
I may be changing my car in the next week or so. Have paid a refundable reservation fee to hold a car, until/if details are sorted out..
Dealer offered me £7100 for a 2007 Passat
WeWillBuyYourCar.com £7150
WebuyAnycar.com £7700
Think I'll try a few VW dealers in the morning..
The dealer may lose the sale if they cannot even be arsed to pay what WeBuyAnycar would pay!. Afterall, they can just drive it down the road & get that for it, and they have sold me a car!
Dealer offered me £7100 for a 2007 Passat
WeWillBuyYourCar.com £7150
WebuyAnycar.com £7700
Think I'll try a few VW dealers in the morning..
The dealer may lose the sale if they cannot even be arsed to pay what WeBuyAnycar would pay!. Afterall, they can just drive it down the road & get that for it, and they have sold me a car!
I used to do a bit of buying and selling cars and those guys are ruthless. I did quite well out of putting wanted ads in the local paper, as it would turn up weird and cheap stuff which people had never got around to cleaning up and advertising. I never promised to buy any car, but would typically state what I could sell most easily - small hatchbacks or a good diesel.
I came across quite a few people who had spoken to these companies, and every single one of them had ended up offering an outrageously low figure. At the money they were offering, they could probably have made a reasonable profit just putting them straight into auctions. I wouldn't be surprised if many did just that. They would also nearly always make an offer over the phone, get you to commit to selling it, then when they come to collect find any minute fault and knock as much off as possible. Then whine on that they already have a buyer etc if you back out of it.
They go off minimum trade prices for poor condition then knock off the estimated cost of repairs at full rates. These prices are for used cars which always have minor stone chips and so on.
Not that I ever really paid generously, I was out for a bargain and people knew this when they called. But I wouldn't take the piss so much as many in the cynical old world of car trading!
It really shouldn't be surprising though. They are there to make money. All is fair in love, war and car dealing. If you really have to deal with these people then stick to your guns until they walk away because the price is too high. Then at least you know you're getting their top dollar.
The only way to get a good price for your car is clean it up and put a photo ad in Autotrader, priced at the going rate for that car and mileage.
I came across quite a few people who had spoken to these companies, and every single one of them had ended up offering an outrageously low figure. At the money they were offering, they could probably have made a reasonable profit just putting them straight into auctions. I wouldn't be surprised if many did just that. They would also nearly always make an offer over the phone, get you to commit to selling it, then when they come to collect find any minute fault and knock as much off as possible. Then whine on that they already have a buyer etc if you back out of it.
They go off minimum trade prices for poor condition then knock off the estimated cost of repairs at full rates. These prices are for used cars which always have minor stone chips and so on.
Not that I ever really paid generously, I was out for a bargain and people knew this when they called. But I wouldn't take the piss so much as many in the cynical old world of car trading!
It really shouldn't be surprising though. They are there to make money. All is fair in love, war and car dealing. If you really have to deal with these people then stick to your guns until they walk away because the price is too high. Then at least you know you're getting their top dollar.
The only way to get a good price for your car is clean it up and put a photo ad in Autotrader, priced at the going rate for that car and mileage.
AJS- said:
They go off minimum trade prices for poor condition then knock off the estimated cost of repairs at full rates. These prices are for used cars which always have minor stone chips and so on.
When they came to collect my car they noticed a light 8" scratch down the rear quarter, and quite a few bonnet chips I hadn't spotted. They still paid the full amount, didn't try to chip me.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff