AutoQuake 2nd hand car sale - any one brought from?

jase1

Evidence of trolls and stooges on both sides right there.

For every fake review backing AQ there is bound to be a disgruntled trader having his time wasted by people coming in and bidding them £1000 under sticker price because "that's what the online places charge", and railing against them. More expensive than typical dealer indeed -- these would be the same shady cowboys who pick up a car from auction for £1000, make a few cheap "fixes" (my particular favourite was half a hundredweight of insulation tape around the shaft of a gear lever to keep the knob straight, rather than simply replacing it for £15), clean it and sell for £2500 without making any attempt to bring it uup to scratch, and usually entering false entries into the service record for good measure.

Sharkin_2

I bought VW Golf from AQ - it was a painless transaction and i have only had a minorish problem in that the heater motor failed! Guess what, the warranty sorted that out for me - so far so good! So, it's not all bad news - most of the experiences that are mentioned in this thread could happen to anyone anywhere. I am absolutely in no way at all affiliated with AQ - just a happy customer!!

alcan

Another Autoquake stooge.

What gives it away is the idiotic 1990's A-level marketing terminology that all these fake reviews are written in - all about 'painless transactions' or 'seamless experience' and all the rest of it.

How about this:

"I was nervous about using an online car retailer, but their easy-to-use website reassured me and before long I was undergoing a seamless experience. From the forty-plus photos on the website to the helpful people on the phone, I felt valued. Imagine my customer delight when the car proved to be better than I expected. No pushy sales talk either, because they don't use salesmen, just friendly customer-focussed advisory personnel. I had a slight problem with the demister switch, but fortunately (!) I had opted for the 1 year warranty and this was covered, no questions asked and no inconvenience at all except driving it 85 miles to a garage in Doncaster - but no problem for me. All in all, a painless and high-satisfaction level sort of transaction for me as a consumer, I respect their unique e-commerce business model and would recommend to friends and family alike.
Just don't go there unless you're READY TO BUY!!! "

Was that an Autoquake employee?? No, it was me, it took 20 seconds. Just like all the other fake reviews that Autoquake employees put on the Internet.

DUH!

alcan

And the funniest thing is, Sharkin originally put an Autoquake photo under his name!

DUH! Must go back to marketing skool.

Errata

alcan wrote: »

And the funniest thing is, Sharkin has put an Autoquake photo under his name!

DUH! Must go back to marketing skool.

Of himself?

alcan

No, even more bizarre, it was a picture of a Golf from the AQ website. Clever of him to remove it.

Seamless!!!

ceeahbee

This is a very good thread, it must be driving the big cheese executives at Autoquake absolutely potty! And so it should..if you look through properly, the majority of reviews for Autoquake on here are horrendous, with a spattering of obviously fabricated and (uncleverley) constructed shiny comments-as has been pointed out, written in the same style. Autoquake should start offering a better service to their customers rather than trying to improve the look of this thread-but they won't do that as that affects bottom line profit and putting false commentry on here is free.

jase1

The problem is ceeahbee, that this thread is unrepresentative. I am absolutely sure that some of the "horror stories" are just as fabricated as the good reviews -- I've spoken to dealers about the internet sellers such as Autoquake and they are not liked. Why? Because their prices are without doubt cheaper than the typical independent/poverty lane dealer. The minute I mentioned the name to one guy he cut me off mid-sentence and walked away -- what does that tell you?

I will only listen to a post that has been written by someone who has been on here a while -- positive or negative.

If Big Mike's Cars down Whessoe Road sells a few dodgy cars, they may get a bit of a reputation but they won't attract a whole thread like this. I'm not sure exactly how many cars Autoquake sells but it is likely to be quite a few, and if 1% of those are rubbish they'll easily attract a thread like this.

As I have said before you pays your money and you takes your chance. If you want a smooth buying experience, pay 40% more for the same thing down the local glass palace.

alcan

You're right, ceeahbee, the Autoquake "management" get very touchy about real people giving real feedback on real experiences. It upsets their marketing plan.

Much easier to fill review sites with pathetic little testimonials all written by the same person. And so much cheaper than selling reasonable quality cars!

As someone on another site recently expressed it:

If it looks like a duck and talks like a duck. . .it must be AUTOQWACK!

Qwack qwack Dermott!!!

alcan

Jase, my dear boy, this thread is NOT unrepresentative.

It is you who are unrepresentative, because you monitor this site hourly and you jump to the defence of Autoquake whenever a real person expresses a genuine opinion.

You also use A-level marketing terminology such as "smooth buying experience" which kind of suggests to me that you are yourself part of the wonderful world of Autoquake.

And why pretend that Autoquake cars are 40% cheaper than dealer cars? That is absurd. Autoquake cars are on average £1k less than dealer cars, but then the Autoquake customer has to pay:
Admin fee £150
Warranty £300
Breakdown cover £80
Overdue Service £250
Missing key £50
Plus cost of Autoquake's rip-off part exchange - could be £500 at least.
Plus repair of body damage which Autoquake cover up with gloss wax
Plus time and cost of travelling to Autoquake depot.

In other words THERE IS NO SAVING. Autoquake are MORE expensive.

And finally, you do not "take a chance" buying a car from a retailer, whether Autoquake or anyone else. You are covered by UK consumer law - which says the car must be as described, and must be free of defects. If the retailer breaks this law, you get your money back. There is no risk, no chance, no danger for the buyer at all.

Please give my regards to Dermott and the team.