Outside Lane - car buying service

motorguy

Steve

As a point of clarification for below, do you invoice the total price to the customer, thus making you a dealer, or do you invoice a seperate fee to the buyer and they pay the, in this case, auction house direct?

thelawnet wrote: »

They are not a dealer, they claim to be a 'car buying service'.

I'm not entirely sure if your rights are the same as they would be from a dealer.

Steve_Myers_2

We issue two invoices both payable to Outside Lane. The first invoice is for the vehicle and is required prior to delivery. We use the clients money to purchase the vehcile as we are acting on their behalf. We then issue a final invoice, payable upon satisfactory completion of our service. This will also include any extras that our client might have requested such as new tyres etc.

motorguy

Steve_Myers wrote: »

We issue two invoices both payable to Outside Lane. The first invoice is for the vehicle and is required prior to delivery. We use the clients money to purchase the vehcile as we are acting on their behalf. We then issue a final invoice, payable upon satisfactory completion of our service. This will also include any extras that our client might have requested such as new tyres etc.

So the customer is physically buying the car off you, not your trade source?

thelawnet

frothey wrote: »

What I don't get is for £800-£1000 above auction you're not far off getting one from a dealer, warrantied/prepped/ and a bit more comeback?

Well if you want a particular car spec that's hard to find, it might be hard to find it from a local dealer.

thelawnet

Steve_Myers wrote: »

In the VW example you quote, you are absolutely correct in that vehicles should have a certain level of maintenance to ensure conformity to manufacturer guidelines and in some instances to maintain manufacturers warranty. In some instances our clients are looking for a 'bargain' and are happy to purchase a car that might have missed a service or two as long as this is reflective of the price.

Ok but the price isn't on your site, and the information that it has missed a service or three isn't on there either. I would be a little concerned if I wasn't told....

As I understand it, if I ask you to buy a car you will bid it up to the book price, unless I specify a higher price?

Steve_Myers_2

All of our clients pay us directly and not the source. With regards to the full specification, history and price of the vehicle we collate all of this information before a client placed an order. So if you saw a vehicle you were interested in then we would provide you with all necessary information - you simply register your interest with no obligation. In some instances the prices that we have don't take into account the condition of the vehicle, so again, this is where we add our value by fully appraising the vehicle and advising our client of an expected price which as you mention should be close to 'book' (CAP) price.

thelawnet

Steve_Myers wrote: »

All of our clients pay us directly and not the source. With regards to the full specification, history and price of the vehicle we collate all of this information before a client placed an order. So if you saw a vehicle you were interested in then we would provide you with all necessary information - you simply register your interest with no obligation. In some instances the prices that we have don't take into account the condition of the vehicle, so again, this is where we add our value by fully appraising the vehicle and advising our client of an expected price which as you mention should be close to 'book' (CAP) price.

thanks, I actually expressed an interest in the aforementioned Eos 3.2 on thursday night, but nothing back yet. It's up for sale tomorrow but I guess it won't be me buying it!

Steve_Myers_2

Please accept my apologies thelawnet, I didn't want to go down the hard sell route. If you are interested in the vehicle then please do register on our website or indeed call one of our sales team who would be happy to help (0845 519 2584) and if we have missed that specific Eos then I'm sure we will have some other suitable options becoming available.

Kind regards

Steve

shpabi

Steve_Myers wrote: »

We issue two invoices both payable to Outside Lane. The first invoice is for the vehicle and is required prior to delivery. We use the clients money to purchase the vehcile as we are acting on their behalf. We then issue a final invoice, payable upon satisfactory completion of our service. This will also include any extras that our client might have requested such as new tyres etc.

I bought a car from OUtside Lane in October - I was mostly vbery pleased with the service. However I was not aware until I took delivery of the car that there was only one key. It costs about £150 to replace this. I have been promised this key so many times and fobbed off now so many times that it has left a really bad taste. I did fortunately have the foresight to hold back £100 - the trade price of the key - from your commission (second invoice) but that still leaves me to pay another £50 or so ( a lot of money for me), plus all the hassle. My "personal shopper" seems to have gone AWOL and no-one is responding to my calls. I would really appreciate this being sorted. Is it worth losing my custom plus that of other friends whom I would otherwise have recommended?? Regards Shpabi

Steve_Myers_2

Dear shpabi,
I'm very disappointed to hear that our hassle-free service has failed you on this occasion. I believe this matter has now been resolved, something I personally looked into for you the moment I received your letter.

Please do let me know if there is anything further we can do for you and once again I offer my apologies for our uncharacteristically poor after sales service on this isolated occasion.