The Pros and Cons of Buying a New Car VIA Carwow

LouiseAH

I am thinking off buying a new car VIA Carwow as the price of 2nd hand cars that are 12-18 months old are very expensive at the moment. Any forum members have any feedback on buying a new car from Carwow.

WellKnownSid

I have experience of not buying through them.  My dealer told me categorically NO DISCOUNT.

I showed them the Carwow screenshot - and after much, much, much puffing they matched the quote.

Grumpy_chap

I don't see any reason not to by via CarWow, so long as they have the correct car at the correct price.
You should also check the prices from the other brokers.
I've only once purchased a new car via a broker, but that was not CarWow, simply because another broker had a keener price.
You can, of course, use the broker prices to negotiate with the local dealer.

mgfvvc

You don't buy from CarWow. They organise quotes from dealers and you buy from a dealer. Your local dealer will probably price match. If they don't then you buy from one of the dealers who quoted on CarWow.

Goudy

I've had some trouble with quotes through CarWow in the past.

If you are after a specific trim, in a specific colour or with certain build options you can get thrown quotes by dealers that don't have the exact car and once you start making contact they try and sell you something similar or something more expensive.

A few times I've been led to believe they had the exact car, even over the phone, but it turns out when you get to the nitty gritty they haven't and they try to up sell you a more expensive car which won't be in stock, so it's a special order and isn't discounted, a different trim or a different colour.

I know less and less manufacturers now offer build options these days which makes things far simpler and some only offer a few different colours but there are still some that do, so it worth considering that they actually have access to the car you want before you get your hopes up with a quote.

LouiseAH

mgfvvc said:

You don't buy from CarWow. They organise quotes from dealers and you buy from a dealer. Your local dealer will probably price match. If they don't then you buy from one of the dealers who quoted on CarWow.

I have changed the from to VIA. Hope this makes you happy.

LouiseAH

Grumpy_chap said:

I don't see any reason not to by via CarWow, so long as they have the correct car at the correct price.
You should also check the prices from the other brokers.
I've only once purchased a new car via a broker, but that was not CarWow, simply because another broker had a keener price.
You can, of course, use the broker prices to negotiate with the local dealer.

Grumpy_chap, can you recommend any decent brokers worth checking out as I would like to compare their prices with Carwow.

daveyjp

Many years ago we bought through drivethedeal, they are still operating, but they don't sell as many brands as they once did and choices are now limited to 6 major manufacturing groups.

Grumpy_chap

LouiseAH said:

Grumpy_chap, can you recommend any decent brokers worth checking out as I would like to compare their prices with Carwow.

When we purchased from a broker, it was DriveTheDeal.  
Broadspeed is another broker that I find the website easy to use, but never purchased from them.
The best thing is to do a search for something like "cheap car deals" or "car broker" or either of those with the make you like in the search string also.
The contacts that any of the companies work with tends to vary as time goes by.

ontheroad1970

Grumpy_chap said:

LouiseAH said:

Grumpy_chap, can you recommend any decent brokers worth checking out as I would like to compare their prices with Carwow.

When we purchased from a broker, it was DriveTheDeal.  
Broadspeed is another broker that I find the website easy to use, but never purchased from them.
The best thing is to do a search for something like "cheap car deals" or "car broker" or either of those with the make you like in the search string also.
The contacts that any of the companies work with tends to vary as time goes by.

Careful, the pedants might come to get you

mgfvvc

LouiseAH said:

mgfvvc said:

You don't buy from CarWow. They organise quotes from dealers and you buy from a dealer. Your local dealer will probably price match. If they don't then you buy from one of the dealers who quoted on CarWow.

I have changed the from to VIA. Hope this makes you happy.

It's about more than just pedant points. You are contracting with a main dealer, not a third party and get whatever extra protections that affords.