webuyanycar experience..

Flukester

Flukester

Flukester

Man of Honour
Joined
1 Nov 2007
Posts
4,402
Location
Christchurch UK
Thought I'd share my experience with these guys.

I know they are just a middleman so take a cut in your motors value before selling on to dealers / traders, but they drive a very hard bargain and are not stupid

This was a last ditch attempt to sell a old V Reg A Class A170 Avantgarde, which was in below average / poor condition.

- 130k miles
- all corners scraped
- tired interior
- all body panels with dings / scratches
- A Class 'knocking' suspension
- No service history
- new MOT

and the potential deal breaker for me

- over tight steering from some kind of steering column problem (common on these cars). The steering squeaked and 'stuck' on certain positions of lock.


Anyway, I turned up at some hole in the wall office after website had said £750 value (which I doubted very much). He comes out and looks over car....noting all the visible damage. Then what I was dreading, he asks for test drive.

Next up I'm in his pokey office and he starts to work his devaluing magic :). Fair play he did say if the car was perfect, it would have been sold to a dealer for £900, but the problem was the steering, most would run a mile.

After tons and tons of haggling I walked with £300 (and a £50 admin fee to take from that). He said if steering had been perfect he would have given over £500.

Not happy, but even so a small improvement on the next option to shift the car, which was scrapping.


Moral of the story, they do indeed buy any car, but you won't be getting much, though better than scrap heap.
 
ffs you would have got more than £250 sticking it in the free ads spares or repairs
 
Foxtrot26 said:
ffs you would have got more than £250 sticking it in the free ads spares or repairs
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This TBH.

It'll be whacked through a local auction with no reserve and having a full MOT and will make a good 3 times+ what you just got for it.

Hell, I'd have had it for £250 as long as the steering problem did not mean it was dangerous to drive.

Another WBAC fail :(.
 
wbac do serve a purpose though... they allow you to get rid of shed cars in a instant, without having to spend time struggling to sell.

I was disappointed I didnt get the wbac dance from salesman, I should have demanded it for that money lol
 
Flukester said:
wbac do serve a purpose though... they allow you to get rid of shed cars in a instant, without having to spend time struggling to sell.
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Is it really worth losing maybe £250 waiting a week or so for an ad to run on ebay and a bloke to come and pick it up? Or shoving it through your local ***** auction house?

I absoultely hate WBAC's marketing strategy. You can tell in their ads that they know that they are having you on, but "It's only a couple of quid, surely your time is worth more?".
 
Not much to say other than /facepalm.jpg

You drove to their office and pay £50 admin fee rather than advertising it privately and not having to do either of those, plus gaining more money for the sail.

Failbo0at!
 
Just out of interest, how many people would let a car you know has dodgy steering go to someone who may not have realised (because that's the only way the OP was going to get much more money on the car)?

WBAC, and indeed garage trade ins, do involve trading some cash for convenience, or conscience (I've certainly sold cars to garages that I wouldn't have sold to private buyers...) That's not a bad thing, it's just a thing, and while I'd certainly shy away from using WBAC under the vast majority of circumstances, the situation the OP is in sounds exactly like a good situation to palm a lemon off in reasonably good conscience.

I'll also note that the OP says 'last ditch attempt', which I would assume means he's already tried to sell it by other means such as those people are recommending...
 
Joshy said:
Is it really worth losing maybe £250 waiting a week or so for an ad to run on ebay and a bloke to come and pick it up? Or shoving it through your local ***** auction house?

I absoultely hate WBAC's marketing strategy. You can tell in their ads that they know that they are having you on, but "It's only a couple of quid, surely your time is worth more?".
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Hate it? I admire it. For something so in favour of the business to work is great!

They make money from lazy/foolish people :)
 
Doughnut007 said:
Or an auction... possibly online :D
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the bay every time, I got 700 for a car in average condition with a blown engine that was only worth 1200 mint condition!

then 450 for a car that I was going to have scrapped

and 700 for a car that was worth 750 18months and 18k miles ago
 
I got more than that for a 11 year old 106 diesel with no mot, no tax, no history, knackered engine (huge plumes of smoke and a big bang at 95mph, never started again after that), dented all over and interior stank of diesel where a 25 litre drum had leaked all over the boot.

I just put a 3 day auction on ebay with no reserve and a bloke with a flat bed turned up and gave me 275 quid. I'd only paid about £400 fully working with long mot :p
 
my mate sold his megane 225 sport thingy to them with the abs light on and a knackered turbo, they didnt even test drive it or do much of an inspection, they were more interested in the bodywork condition, he ran away laughing I know cos I gave him a lift back LOL
 
£300 for an A class with a new MOT? You are barking mad, even if the car was a dog you'd have doubled that on eBay; even non-runners go for more.
 
Oh dear.

Not being an arse but tell me more about this :

OP said:
After tons and tons of haggling I walked with £300 (and a £50 admin fee to take from that). He said if steering had been perfect he would have given over £500.
Click to expand...

What is 'tons' and what did you haggle on? This sounds like an awful deal.
 
I have an old heap of junk that's due for replacement. wbac offered 70 quid for it. I'm going to pass on the 70 quid and have it scrapped - to make sure nobody else sits in it.
 
I sold my volvo to them with a knackered gearbox.

Online offered me 900quid, left with about 800 from memory. Car was worth 1500ish in perfect nick and checking online it has never been retaxed so happy enough.
 
They're not interested in the mechanical condition for the most part because they only need the car to move under it's own power across the auction floor.
 
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