Anyone rejected a S/H car from a dealer and how did it go ?

[DaveNP]

I agreed to buy my current V70 without seeing it. I had spent several months combing the internet looking for a replacement for the 850 I had, and not followed up on a number of cars for things as simple as a badly worded advert, when this one came up it looked right and was a bargain so I checked out the company selling it, which looked good. I then made a couple of phone calls to them to check some details and agreed to buy it on the strength of the way they were on the phone. As it happened when I went to pick up the car, without even checking my details they gave me the keys and told me to go and check it out and have a drive and when I was happy to come back to the showroom and we'd do the paperwork and payment, ten years later I think I can say it's one of the better car purchases I've made.
To be fair to the new online sellers, whilst I don't believe the 'reconditioned' word, I have friends who have bought from both of the main players both are happy with the deal they got, even though one of them did take advantage of the option to return the first car within the first week and had a replacement delivered.
Like a lot of things, there's no need to assume everyone is a crook but you need to do your checks and understand what you're getting in to.

[ITSv40]

I think where the online sellers score is with modern Joe public who has no interest in cars or motoring and wouldn't know if they were buying a pup if they saw one. Apart from weirdos like us on here who take an interest in our cars the only things most buyers would check is whether it has a wheel on each corner and check that screen thingy on the dash that they can start the microwave on the way home and have a hot ready meal waiting for them when they walk in the house.

One of my neighbours has just bought a secondhand BMW convertible at something like £40,000. Bought unseen from a main dealer in Leicester who had it transported from another dealer in South Wales. It was no different to buying any white goods on line.

[kiloran]

Absolutely - "buy the seller, not the car". Different marketplaces but I apply that logic buying and selling camera gear/optics and bicycles. Usually in the £1500-£2000 range so not small potatoes. All as a private seller and usually via eBay. I always ask a couple of dumb questions to assess whether the seller knows what they're selling, and the same is true when I'm selling stuff - check out the address, check out their previous purchases, make contact post-sale, etc. I think I've had two sales go slightly sideways in over 20 years and one of those was a deliberate fraud attempt on used electronics (the old "buy the same item as the one I've broken, and send the broken one back claiming it was damaged in transit" scam). Lesson learnt as I was selling to a new eBay account with zero feedback (back in the day when you could neg buyers). Didn't lose out on the sale either.

[kiloran]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

I think where the online sellers score is with modern Joe public who has no interest in cars or motoring and wouldn't know if they were buying a pup if they saw one. Apart from weirdos like us on here who take an interest in our cars the only things most buyers would check is whether it has a wheel on each corner and check that screen thingy on the dash that they can start the microwave on the way home and have a hot ready meal waiting for them when they walk in the house.

One of my neighbours has just bought a secondhand BMW convertible at something like £40,000. Bought unseen from a main dealer in Leicester who had it transported from another dealer in South Wales. It was no different to buying any white goods on line.

It's certainly the model for new sales already. Particularly for personal contract hire and the like. I think people take the view that cars are so complex that a test drive is pointless. And also see a 3 month or 6 month warranty and think that will protect them. The right to reject is also a big factor. Quite a few used dealers (admittedly main agents) are offering a free 30-day exchange. It's exactly like buying a fridge.

I bought my 940 sans test drive but it was only £1200 and I figured if it turned out to be a nail I could easily part it out for what I'd paid for it.

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by Wagon Sailor

Are you suggesting that we should abandon the concept of trust? Surely there's a point where we have to assume people are more likely to be decent than not, otherwise it's downhill all the way.

what "trust" ??
these "buy your car online" are Not there to "trust them" they are there to make Money and play on peoples fears of "covid" and to pander to those Too lazy to get off there bums and go SEE

Far too many people's reason to sell the car is They know theres a BIG bill coming soon / a problem that will need £££ to Really fix it but a £5 bodge job will get it sold


"a fool and his money are Soon parted",,, never more true than buying a used car sight unseen/untested.

its Why The AA/RAC offer the service to check the car over Before buying
(for those not mechanically minded,)
its Why HPI offer the checks they do ,,,

[kiloran]

AA/RAC checks aren't worth it. Ten mile road test really isn't long enough to show up big bills. Buy a car with a decent warranty, make sure you've got time to drive it a lot in the first couple of weeks, exercise your right to reject if it's not up to snuff.