Warranty if you buy from somewhere like drivethedeal?

knightsy

Hi all, looking at getting the better price from drive the deal. Just wondered how a car warranty works. Say we buy a car with a 3 year warranty included but the particular dealer turns out to be 300 miles away. If something goes wrong with the car will ur warranty work for any fixes done at the service department of your local dealer?

I'm guessing so because people must buy new cars and then move house all the time, but its my one concern!

forgotmyname

The local dealer can do the work. But they may try and fob you off as you didnt buy the car from them. They make give priority to owners that purchased cars from them.

Depends on the dealer and what their customer service is like.

neilmcl

forgotmyname wrote: »

The local dealer can do the work. But they may try and fob you off as you didnt buy the car from them. They make give priority to owners that purchased cars from them.

Depends on the dealer and what their customer service is like.

Never known that to be the case with new car warranties.

OP, your warranty is a manufacturer backed warranty and will apply throughout the UK dealer network.

daveyjp

We bought through drive the deal. Dealer was 200 miles away. Problems were dealt with by a dealer 6 miles away. No issue with the dealer as they get paid by the manufacturer for warranty work anyway and they will want servicing work.

harrys_dad

Most dealers make more money from warranty repairs and servicing than they do from selling a car. Any local franchised dealer will do work for you.

bigjl

Drive the Deal vehicles are simply cars bought with fleet discounts

They are no different to a car you buy from your nearest dealer.

In fact they are likely to be supplied by your nearest dealer.

They are no imports from Cyprus.

SLITHER99

I only ever had one issue with a warranty repair.

I did buy brand new through a deals website. I don't recall which one but I doubt it had anything to do with it.

Basically, I had my fiesta booked in for an MOT about 2 weeks before it was due. It surprisingly failed on a number of items, including both front seat belts, brake pipes and a few other non wear and tear items. I just said, whatever, fix it! It's still under warranty. The only things I front up said I'd pay for were two defective tires and if I recall a smearing windscreen wiper.

The dealer tried to say that all this work wouldn't be covered under warranty and I had to eventually argue the matter with Ford Customer Services who eventually gave in. It took a good week but eventually I got my way.

It did save me a monstrous £1300 bill!

cheekyweegit

Bought my Yaris via Carfile online, and got it from a dealer 500 yes 500 miles away (£800 cheaper than local dealer 2 miles from my front door and who I asked to match the price. they didn't and cost of petrol to pick up, overnight hotel and food costs I still saved £600+).

Problem with water droplets / clouding in the tai light which were replaced no problem under warranty at yes you guessed it the local dealer two miles along the road.

Would I buy off the internet again, yes without a doubt, a little wary as never bought a brand new car before, let alone from the internet, but process was smooth and easy.

Just pay if you can at least £100 on a credit card for section 75 protection

Penelopa.Pitstop

No problem with buying the car from Drive the Deal or any other website when car is supplied via UK dealer. I bought 3 cars from different dealers away from home and had no problem. One was even delivered to my front door and I never seen the dealer in person.

I discovered that dealers up North are more flexible with discounts.

willstevens

We bought our car through uk car broker and the dealer they used was not our local dealer, no problems using our dealer when taking our car for a service.

Orangezorki

I have always looked at online brokers when buying a new car, but in 5 purchases over the past 6 years (loooong, and definitely not moneysaving story), I have never actually used an online broker. I've always managed to get at least 80% of the discount.

This is my 'patented' technique:

1. Look around to find the car you actually want. Take a few test drives. Study the online brochures and find out exactly what you want - spec, options and colour, basically everything you should always do when buying a new car. Unless an amazing deal comes around there is no point in spending all that money for something you don't actually want.

2. Look at the reliable brokers - Broadspeed and DriveTheDeal seem the best. Print off the best deal you can get, as proof. If you look at other sites please check that it is like for like, and not a pre-reg (I'm looking at you, AutoeBid!), or nearly-new.

3. Get a good online quote for the trade-in value of your current car. There is no point in getting a great deal if you are then shafted by £1k plus on the trade in value. Whatcar.com have a completely free service that allows for a very neat single page print-out with all important information listed.

4. Go back into your local dealer and say that you want to make a deal today, and that you have seen some tempting deals on the internet. The chance of an instant deal makes them think that you are an easy catch and ripe for a big profit, but you are prepared! If they try to tell you that it would be an import or a pre-reg, disabuse them of their misconceptions.

5. Get a free coffee.

6. Be nice, polite, and patient. They are within their rights to decide that they don't want to sell to you. It's also just not pleasant to be rude to someone just doing their job. Explain that you can't justify spending a month's extra salary on them, but if they have a good deal you would much prefer to have your numberplate proudly display the dealer's name instead of Toyota of Bognor Regis, or VW of Upper Ramsbottom.

7. At this point, you will be given a first offer. This is always a bad one, but just good enough that an unprepared person might be tempted.

8. Bring out your trump card- your printouts. Show the dealer how they clearly state a better price for exactly the same car, with the same options and deals.

9. "Ooh, we can't make a profit on that, don't know how they can do it. But I'll just check with my manager."

10. They will come back to you with a much, much better offer. It's up to you whether or not to take it, but if it is close to the online deal, I would. In my opinion, a small amount extra is worth it for the benefit of a local supplying dealer, and not souring the relationship. Don't say this yet, though.

11. Ask for one, little, thing more. A bit of chrome trim, a cuddly toy, a keyring, a full tank of petrol.

12. They will almost certainly say yes, and you can do the deal there and then.


Using exactly this technique, I saved about a month's salary on buying a new supermini today. Was able to painlessly get my discount raised by about £2k and an extra £500 for my trade-in. And I get a local dealer who know I can pop round at a moment's notice, and no need to spend loads of money on travel to a dealer I have never seen 400 miles away.

The main issue is to stick to your guns while being positive. There will always be dealers that give the trade a bad name. I always remember one, the name eludes me (perhaps RockHectare?) that bizarrely said that if I bought the same day for full price, they would discount the paint protection from £599 to £399. The only thing was I could get a £1500 discount online, and the paint protection was £399 everywhere else! And they really tried the hard sell, when there was no deal to be done.

David