Is it safe to buy a car from a dealership 100 miles away?

Stateofart

Always see the car in person.

100 miles isn't too far, but if you need work you'll soon get fed up with taking it.  Last two cars I've bought have been within around 80 miles.  One went back three times, the other twice.  Found a local place eventually that was a franchise as it's probably been in the garage ten times since ownership, maybe more.

GoldenOldy

Ooh, would you have to take it back to original place then if it develops a problem?

CliveOfIndia

GoldenOldy said:

Ooh, would you have to take it back to original place then if it develops a problem?

It depends.  For an older used car then yes, you'd need to take it to the place you bought it from if there's a fault that's covered by their "after sales warranty", or whatever the correct terminology is.

If it's a new car (or new enough that it's still covered by the manufacturer's warranty) then you should be able to take it to any franchised dealer - for instance, if you buy a Ford from a Ford dealer 100 miles away, you should be able to take it to any kosher Ford dealer for warranty work.  Although in your original post you did say "The dealership does not have any dealerships local to me" - which does sound a little odd.

Of course, anything that's not covered by warranty can be done by any competent mechanic.  So long as he's VAT-registered and uses genuine OEM parts, this wouldn't invalidate the warranty.

Grumpy_chap

CliveOfIndia said:

If it's a new car (or new enough that it's still covered by the manufacturer's warranty) then you should be able to take it to any franchised dealer 

The OP has stated they are getting a brand new car.

GoldenOldy said:

I have seen the car i originally wanted , it is an unregistered car but at a dealership already. 

It has all the bits n pieces I need.
However it is over 100 miles away!

There is no reason at all to be concerned with buying a brand new car from a dealer that is not immediately local.
Any warranty or service issues can be dealt with by the local Dealership.

CliveOfIndia said:

Although in your original post you did say "The dealership does not have any dealerships local to me" - which does sound a little odd.

I understood that to mean that the Dealership is "Fred's Ford Franchise of Frimley" who also have branches in Fairlee, Falmer and Farnborough all under the branding "Fred's Ford Franchise" but the OP lives in Falkirk where the Dealership ("Fred's Ford Franchise") does not have any branches locally.


Hopefully the OP can get this car they located with the equipment spec and extras they desire (and before anyone else jumps in to snap it up) and then be very happy with the purchase

GoldenOldy

Ok. So the car is a hyundai. I hope to purchase it from Harrys Hyundais of Hull (to carry on the theme).
My local agent however is Henrys Hyundais of Halifax.
I have written to Harrys today to ask what would happen in the result of a fault.
They have written back and said the Hyundai has a 5 year warranty, and I can take it to any approved Hyundai dealership if something went wrong.
I hope they are right.
I am both excited and frightened and as this is likely to be my last car , I don't want trouble!

Stubod

..don't worry..they are right, any franchised dealer will be able to sort out any warranty issues, and do any servicing for you....(as they did with my Kia...).

motorguy

GoldenOldy said:

Ooh, would you have to take it back to original place then if it develops a problem?

if its not under manufacturers warranty, then yes.  Otherwise, no.

Stateofart

There is no reason at all to be concerned with buying a brand new car from a dealer that is not immediately local.

Any warranty or service issues can be dealt with by the local Dealership.

It's almost always easier to deal with the original supplier.  Believe me, I've dealt with franchises in different towns all supposedly the same...it all goes back to the original supplier and not going to them for any faults can lead to massive delays.

force_ten1

GoldenOldy said:

Ooh, would you have to take it back to original place then if it develops a problem?

ln your case no it is a brand new car and it has a manufactures warranty and it can be repaired at any main dealers of the same brand 

most dealers are a franchise to the brand and if there is an issue the repairing dealer bill the brand for the work so l have never had a dealer refuse to do warranty work 

l live in a rural area and have never bought a car closer than 40 miles but have bought from garages 250 plus miles away 

ln your case l would be more than happy to proceed with the purchase my current car was a pre registered car with 20 miles on the clock and came with a full manufacture's warranty and it will go into a dealer 30 miles away for service and they are going to look at one minor warranty issue with a heated seat that l have not bothered about untill the car goes in for service    

GoldenOldy

Oh, Stateofart has worried me now!