Buying a car online -remotely

rubble2

Good Morning,

Does anyone have any experience of buying a car (effectively unseen) from a dealer whereby the car is delivered to your home address?

Just wondered if this is considered too risky and what protection is provided should you wish to reject the car (with a valid reason)

We are considering a car that is about a year old and will be looking for complete service history. - we will probably only consider a car from a franchised dealer but I appreciate there are purely online suppliers and wondered if they were a possible alternative.

Thanks in advance

Bigphil1474

Some of the bigger car supermarket type places will move a car to your nearest outlet so you can go and take a look. Personally, I wouldn't buy a car remotely without ever seeing it. You just need to look at the Ts&Cs - AIUI you would have a 14 day cooling off period , but may still incur some costs if you return it (such as the cost of returning it etc.) I suspect that companies that are using a remote selling model will be equipped to deal with returns in that way. Read the fine print before agreeing to anything.

A car that is a year old won't have much of a service history - one service at most, and the year 1 service will probably be an intermediate one. The year 2 one would likely be a bigger service, so maybe look at 2 year old cars to save a few quid?

Mildly_Miffed

You have the legal right to cancel and return the car via distance selling regs, for a full refund, on top of your normal consumer rights and any guarantee the vendor provides…

But, honestly, isn't it just SO much easier to go and look at the damn thing first?

Unless you're buying something seriously esoteric, there'll be one at a dealer that isn't on the far side of the moon, so for the sake of a half-day outing (and you can probably put a couple of candidates into the same trip), it just cuts out so much potential hassle…

fatbelly

All the used car websites will allow you to search by distance so my recommendation is to look at 100-mile radius and go to see a few in the flesh.

Bigwheels1111

When I purchased my last car a Peugeot 5008, it was a pre reg with 3 miles on the clock.

The dealership was 120 miles away.

I test drove the same make and model, as the colour I wanted was parked behind several other ones.

Was quicker to drive the front one.

Agreed a price, went back, 120 miles to collect the car.

Drove off, within the first miles the cruise control was broken, a brake fault appeared, so I turned around and went back, I was sent into town to get lunch on them.

Four hours later I went home in their loaner car.

They fixed the car and delivered it 3 days later.

At last I could drive my car, within 2 minutes I found the car pulled to left, so bad it would drive in a circle on its own.

Long story short, the left side from wheel to wheel was half an inch shorter than the right side.

Car returned and train ride home. Time and expense ouch.

So conclusion, go to see it, drive it, buy it if 100% happy.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6664383/buying-a-car-online-remotely

"… Just wondered if this is considered too risky and what protection is provided should you wish to reject the car (with a valid reason)…"

If you have a "valid reason" (ie the car is not of satisfactory quality, is not fit for purpose, or is not as described) then it doesn't really matter if you've bought it via a "distance contract" or in person.

You still have the usual statutory right within 30 days of delivery to exercise the short-term right to reject for a full refund. You do not have to accept a repair.

After 30 days the dealer would be entitled to one attempt either to repair or to replace. If that attempt failed you would then be entitled to a refund, but the dealer is permitted to reduce the refund to reflect your use of the car.

The only real difference about buying via a "distance contract" is that under the Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you can also cancel the contract up to 14 days [see Note below] after delivery for any reason (ie it doesn't need to be faulty).

So long as you haven't reduced the value of the car by "… handling of the goods … beyond what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods… " (whatever that means in the context of buying a car) you will be entitled to a full refund when you cancel the contract. If you have reduced the value of the car by your use of it, the dealer can reduce your refund to reflect that reduction in value [see Note below].

If you do cancel you might be responsible for returning the vehicle. Check the T&Cs of the contract.

It's up to you to decide whether being able to cancel a "distance contract" would be more advantageous to you than actually buying in person. Yes you have the right to cancel it within 14 days for any or no reason at all, but you have to be careful not to reduce its value if you want a full refund

[Note - if the dealer doesn't provide information about your right to cancel, the cancellation period can be extended beyond 14 days, and the dealer might not be entitled to reduce your refund.]

Altior

Beyond the consumer rights stuff, especially if you want to keep the car, there are the practicalities to consider.

I bought a brand new car via PCP, dealer was 60 miles away. Opted for delivery, and this was the car being driven to my home (I was aware that was the method). When it arrived, there were two issues. One, the driver ate his lunch in the driver seat believe it or not, so my 'brand new' vehicle had food on the steering wheel 🤮

The slightly more significant issue was that an alloy had a tiny stone chip. Some people might be able to look past that, but I couldn't. There's no way of knowing when the chip occurred. It was a Ford, and I had a Ford dealer a mile away but a different dealership brand. The dealer I purchased from agreed to swop the wheel out but only if I took back it to them. Couldn't be done via the local dealer. So of course, that is quite the dilemma, 120 mile round trip in a brand new car to swop a wheel due to a barely noticeable chip, or live with the chip. After debating the dealership I eventually accepted a gratuity payment in consideration of the dirty interior and chipped wheel.

I was able to use the local Ford dealer for warranty claims, subsequently. I would distance purchase a vehicle again, but in the knowledge that it is a bit of a gamble (even in my case, a brand new vehicle).

Herzlos

For a car that's in warranty it's less of a concern - you can take it to the local franchise dealer for any issues regardless of where you bought it.

You'd need to give it a thorough inspection when it arrives for stuff like wear and tear damage, and be happy with it before you accept the car, and don't let the driver fob you off with taking it if you're not happy.

HHarry

I’ve done this 3 times and I think it depends on the circumstances.

The first time was in the early 2000’s. A main dealer had mis-priced a car in Autotrader. I called left a deposit and then picked it up & drove it home. The mis-price made it worth taking the risk.

More recently, this year, my daughter needed a new car (quickly) following an accident. When the right thing popped up, I again paid a deposit immediately and then went and collected the car. In that case the amount spent wasn’t significant (to us) and if it was a lemon we could have just found something else & taken a hit on it.

I appreciate your case is slightly different. If it was something in a very specific spec coming from a franchised dealer, I might consider it.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6664383/buying-a-car-online-remotely

Many 1 year old cars will not have any service history, as no services are due..

paul_c123

The problem is you'd need to basically accept a range of cosmetic issues, as it would be argued they are not "a fault" and expected on a secondhand car, to varying degrees.

Some people absolutely abuse cars and some dealers don't fix items you might assume should be.