Buying a car and having it delivered (ie without seeing in person)... is it wise?

macman

Are you buying a new car, or a used car?

k3lvc

I've had a couple that've been delivered from the other end of the country but both were specific models/specs under approved used schemes from main dealers (Jaguar & Mercedes) - the Merc was a seamless transaction, the Jag had a couple of niggles that should've been picked up in PDI but were resolved at local dealer and charged back to supplying dealer

Personally I wouldn't touch anything outside of these criteria for a remote delivery/transaction

BOWFER

I'd only consider if buying new.
I wouldn't buy used without a test drive, it could be horrible.

Mickey666

I bought my first E-class estate from a Merc main dealer about 200 miles away.  It was a 'used, approved' vehicle, two years old, one owner from new, 21k miles, full Merc service history.   They delivered it to my house.  No problems at all and I kept it for another nine years and added around 100k miles.

I'm not fussed about test driving a car.  Unless you're buying something unique then they're all much of a muchness these days and all will out-perform 99.9% of drivers.  I guess I'm just not really that interested in them and only care that they are reliable. 

The only car that has ever put a smile on my face is my old Defender . . . so clearly gadgets, speed and comfort are not that important

BOWFER

Mickey666 said:

I bought my first E-class estate from a Merc main dealer about 200 miles away.  It was a 'used, approved' vehicle, two years old, one owner from new, 21k miles, full Merc service history.   They delivered it to my house.  No problems at all and I kept it for another nine years and added around 100k miles.

I'm not fussed about test driving a car.  Unless you're buying something unique then they're all much of a muchness these days and all will out-perform 99.9% of drivers.  I guess I'm just not really that interested in them and only care that they are reliable. 

The only car that has ever put a smile on my face is my old Defender . . . so clearly gadgets, speed and comfort are not that important

I don't bother test driving new cars either, no point.
But used really needs a test drive.
It could have a juddery clutch or anything.

Sealate

I had my doubts also but because of lockdowns etc. decided to go ahead.  Everything went okay but my thoughts afterwards were that this was probably the best way to purchase a nearly new second hand car (what do you do with a new car?).  Why?  Because you have an extended period of time to test drive the vehicle.  Modern cars have so much electronic/computer controls that you need this time to discover if it all really works and that all the advertised spec is there in your car.  If you are not happy, these companies offer your money back without quibble. Also there is no sales pressure.

KLB

macman said:

Are you buying a new car, or a used car?

A used one...

KLB

I think I'll try to buy locally but not totally put off from buying online if I have to. It's true, there'll always be more horror stories out there than good, but am pleased to see some people here have had good experiences.

justworriedabit

Hi OP

No, we bought different cars and first automatic we bought unseen, untested, we just knew what we wanted.  Both of the cars we have atm, sat in my car a local showroom ie similar to mine but bought over the phone as I said cheaper to get cars from the north/midlands/etc.
The SUV, we'd never been in one of these particular ones just read online reviews, saw on the road and sat in one for a few minutes when friends turned up with one before we brought it.

Many main dealers will bring the car over it's all part of the negotiations and if there is a profit in it for them, so often the cars will be more than a few k's. The cheapest one we had delivered about ten yers ago was a fiesta 1.6 auto, 3 yrs old all the way from Yorkshire. Car was one private owner, FSH and it was a good un.

Good luck.

bob_a_builder

NBLondon said:

Given that there a few companies advertising on national TV (Cinch, Cazoo) it seems there is a market for this.  If you are buying the same/similar model again then the test drive isn't to see how it feels; it's to see if it sounds wrong or doesn't match the ad.

I'd say maybe you need to treat it like a hire car; examine everything you can before signing, use photo and video, just in case you do decide to send it back and they suddenly claim you have damaged anything in the meantime.

Interesting question though...

 I notice that these sort of companies generally say the return period only last 7 days 

Yet for most ( all ?) online purchases the usual rule is 14 days  ( as below)

They can no doubt afford bigger layers than I can but it seems a bit odd


"

• Consumers have a right to a refund when an item fails to match the information given prior to purchase and, often more helpfully, for any reason within a minimum 14-day cooling off period.