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

born_again

Stateofart said:

motorguy said:

GoldenOldy said:

Oh, Stateofart has worried me now!

Dont be.  Hes wrong.  End of.

Don't listen to the above, they don't know me or my experience.  It's been an issue for me in the past and something I always consider.  It was a gearbox failure in a car supplied by JCT600.  I took it to my local JCT600 and everything had to be talked through both dealers, the area manager and the manufacturer.  It took months to sort out and really I should have gone straight back to the supplier.

Any claim via manufacture warranty, which OP's new car will have can be dealt with by any of the manufactures or any of their franchised dealerships.

Jaybee_16

Bought a Ford in London. Moved to Wales and serviced in Wales. 

When I had a claim under the extended warranty, the AA delivered it to the dealer I use. They took the relevant bit of the engine apart, photographed the problem and emailed it to Ford head office for approval. Took a couple of weeks but wasn't bothered as I had a courtesy car of the same model.

photome

Stateofart said:

force_ten1 said:

Stateofart said:

force_ten1 said:

GoldenOldy said:

Oh, Stateofart has worried me now!

don't be worried what he said is not true 

  

Definitely true in my case and my Audi.  I should have taken it back to the supplier at first, which is my advice.

there are hundreds of thousands of fleet cars that are registered every year and they never go back to the supplying dealer for service or warranty repair so if what you say is correct then the whole fleet market would be at melting point and its not   

It doesn't really matter what YOU think.  In MY experience, going back to supplier would have solved many issues.

Was you car within the manufacturers warranty period

I have had 6  brand new cars over the past 20 years, none of them have been back to the supplying dealer and any problems have been sorted by the closest dealer

Goudy

As Hyundai have been mentioned in an earlier post, I thought I'd link in the T&C's of a Hyundai warranty.

5_year_warranty-terms-and-conditionspdf (hyundai.com)

It clearly states you can claim on the warranty at ANY authorised Hyundai retailer or approved repairer. 

It's been a while since I last opened my owners handbook, but they usually come with an appendix which lists all the current authorised retailers and approved repairs, though it does now appear those lists are electronic on manufacturers websites these days rather than in printed form.
Retailer Locator | Hyundai Motor UK
The lists pretty much cover the whole world.

These terms and conditions are not unusual, they are pretty much standard for all manufacturers.
There was a time when a certain car manufacturer farmed out their servicing, repairs and warranty work to a well known UK motoring accessory chain which might have caused issue abroad, but that was years ago and their warranties are well out of date now.

As I wrote before, it's the same sort of thing for most manufacturers approved used cars. (but not a dealer warranty)
It's often the same style of warranty but a little shorter in length.

A few years ago I bought a 2 year old car on an manufacturer approved used scheme.
Three months later I was coming back from a southern Italian port and all the dash lights lit up and I only had restricted performance.

There is no way I was going to attempt to drive it back like and that part of southern Italy isn't overly populated with large towns and cities,  but I did manage to find a local authorised dealer not far back towards the port and they fixed it there and then for me after a quick call to the manufacturers UK head office to confirm the warranty work.

A simple seal had split on the fuel injection system and it was leaking diesel at the high pressure pump, so no high pressure diesel at the injectors.
They actually worked on it through their lunch hour to get me back on the road quickly (lunch is a massive deal in Italy so someone was p*ssed off) and they couldn't have been more helpful.
I even think my Mrs got a double kiss on the cheeks as well left!

400ixl

Stateofart said:

It doesn't really matter what YOU think.  In MY experience, going back to supplier would have solved many issues.

Now you are contradicting yourself. One past you should have gone back to the manufacturer, the other the supplier.

For a warranty claim, you can go to your local franchised dealer, the original supplying franchised dealer does not get involved and does not need to.

The fact you went to another branch of the suppling dealer probably complicated things as they are financially connected and wanted to play internal politics.

It is a fact that you can go to any franchised dealer to have warranty work done, along with any service work and they will not care one iota as to who the supplying franchised dealer was.

You may have had a bad experience, there are always outlier cases, but that doesn't change the rule. 

Rover_Driver

That could have been part of Statofart's problem, JCT600 is a large company with several different manufacturers  franchised dealerships,. The different dealers, although they are part of the same company, do not all have the different manufacturer franchise arrangements and do not deal with a different manufacturers guarantee problems.

GoldenOldy

Good Afternoon one and all,

well, the deal is done. The car is at he showroom, I have received a video of it, I go and inspect and finalize the purchase next wednesday godwilling. It has many fancy features such as the seat going back automtically to allow easy exit. I am more than thrilled and thankyou all again for your kind advice.

Now then, do any of you know about gap insurance. I have read Martins guide, and contacted one of the companies he mentioned, click to gap.

I always imagined gap would pay out the amount you paid-the amount the insurer pays, but it seems it is not quite the case.

I am paying for the car by 0 per cent pcp and a deposit.

Click to gap do not do return to invoice cover where they cover the difference between the amount you paid and the insurance pay out, , or vehichle replacement cover, where they reimburse you enough to buy the exact same car at todays rates.

Has anyone had any experience of any companies who offer one of these two covers, and which do you think is best, replacement or return to invoice?

I realize my questions may be a bit of an imposition, but I dont know what i’d do without you all,
Thankyou

photome

That’s good news re the car

what model is it you are buying ( sorry if I missed that earlier)

I do t know anything about GAP as I have never taken it out 

Goudy

Others might disagree but I think Vehicle Replacement insurance might be better for you.

Return to invoice will just do that.
As an example, you pay £30,000 for a new car.
£5000 deposit and £25,000 finance.
Something happens and the car is a total loss, your normal insurance will pay out market value and the Gap insurance will pay the rest to bring it back up to £30,000.

But is doesn't take a couple of things into consideration.
1. The interest on your finance already paid (I see you are have a 0% deal but it's a consideration for most)
2. The car you bought for £30,000 might now be retailing for £33,500.

Vehicle Replacement insurance will pay you the difference between the normal insurance pay out for a total loss BUT will pay out to the difference in the cost of a new car at the new retail price.

So in the example above, Vehicle Replacement will pay out to £33,500.

But writing all that, the better cover comes at a greater price, so you need to work out what suits you, so it's worth shopping around for the best prices of each before you make your mind up.

Have a good read of this.
GAP insurance purchase types: which GAP policy is best for me? (ala.co.uk)

Grumpy_chap

GoldenOldy said:

Good Afternoon one and all,

well, the deal is done. The car is at he showroom, I have received a video of it, I go and inspect and finalize the purchase next wednesday godwilling. It has many fancy features such as the seat going back automtically to allow easy exit. I am more than thrilled and thankyou all again for your kind advice.

Fantastic news
Thanks for updating and I am sure you will be delighted with the whole experience and the car.

I can't comment on GAP insurance.