WBAC valuation vs selling or trading in

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ver01@

ver01@

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Third car I got a quote from WBAC and for the third time I sold the car privately for +20% more which BTW translated to almost one thousand pounds.
Hassle selling privately, wasted time which could be spent with the family as per their ad? Thank you sir but I will take the extra money any time and take family on a nice holiday ;).
What are these people thinking? How can this be a viable business model?
 
wbac only give semi-ok prices for reasonably new cars, sub 3-4 years. after that they don't really want them so give almost comically low prices. AFAIK, they buy cars to put through auctions, so pre mot (or at a time when mot should be a given) they can shift easier and for better cash at the auction house, so it's not in their interest to buy anything older. why would anyone want to shift a moderately new car quickly, instead of private sale? it's playing into the hands of 3 year HP deals and someone not wanting to go through the trouble/risk of private sale (and the pain of insurance/demo of an expensive car), but offering just that little bit more than a trade in.

1k being 20% more, so sold for 6k and wbac was 5k - so, depending on the car, it's possibly well older than their prime market.
 
I sold them a green Citroen saxo 1.2 diesel with lexus lights that would hardly start for £40. I still think they overpaid.
 
Their main aim is making it easier for someone to get rid of a car, a new car they'll offer a reasonable price for, less so than selling privately but it's all about convenience for the seller. Put a car on AutoTrader and there could be loads of timewasters before someone slightly interested in buying actually comes along. They'll offer less because they'll still need to shift the car and net a profit for themselves. Some of the cars ready to be scrapped they still offer on as they can strip parts off and sell them individually for a good profit margin, and once they've taken all they can from it, they can scrap it and get scrap metal value for it.

£40 for a Saxo might seem like they're paying over the odds, but once they sell said Lexus lights they could be in profit just for that. Their whole business model has risks, mainly at the top end of the market which is why full market value isn't offered. Someone I know bought a Seat Leon MK1 Cupra R for £1000, took some parts off for another Leon of his, then broke down the £1000 Leon, sold it for parts and got well over £2000 back from it. Easy(ish) money.
 
The was a massive thread on Pistonheads about the Mk3 Focus RS. Guy on there claimed that as WBAC only offer £19k for a nearly new one then that is all they are worth an no-one could get more. He stuck to his guns until the thread was locked. WBAC will offer what they want and always low ball to make money. On higher end newer cars they have little interest as they can't shift them on later and don't want the risk so they offer comical money.

For reference I got 3 offers over £28k for my RS which WBAC offered £19k on. Privately I could probably get £32k. Decided to keep it anyway though.

We did try them with an older car. My dad is looking to part with a 2012 Mondeo Estate. Relatively low mileage. Took it to WBAC who offered over £1k less than the web offer. In the rain the guy ran his hand over the bonnet and told us it had been resprayed and knocked £400 off. He then said wheels were kerbed (they werent) and knocked £165 off per wheel where he thought he could. Also knocked some off for us having had the bumper repainted professionally last month due to a large number of big stone chips. We spent £300 to fix the damage and he took another £300 off as it wasn't original (would have taken money off for chips too apparently so can't win there).

Avoid WBAC at all costs. Spend some time selling the car and keep the extra money.
 
No. Bumper yes. Bonnet no. He didn't notice the bumper. We told him after. He had no idea and was just knocking money off. We did hear after that they are paid 15% of all reductions they can do. Not sure if true but would explain a lot.
 
WBAC have offered £9700 (pre deductions) for my 64 plate Fiestas ST3. I've had no bites on Autotrader with it up for what I would deem a fair price, except for one guy who wanted my "best price to get it off my hands quickly". I said see the ad and he didn't respond :p

I may take it to WBAC and see what they offer post deductions for a laugh as its got be sold within the next 4-6 weeks max
 
Skillmister said:
I've had no bites on Autotrader with it up for what I would deem a fair price
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The problem i've always seen when buying cars is that people always think they're worth more. Unless it's a car in demand, or something unique/pristine condition, then people are going to be reluctant paying over the odds for something just because the seller feels it's worth more.
 
I wrote a review of WBAC a few years back on here:

wingman said:
There's a TL;DR version at the bottom.

I understand I am going to be opening a can of worms here but I feel obliged to review my experience of We Buy Any Car that I had today.

The details;

  • Car for sale - RenaultSport Clio 200 (December 2012)
  • Mileage - 8,400
  • Condition - Almost mint, one very minor mark on one alloy (my bad :rolleyes:) and a couple of bonnet scratches (not my bad).
  • Initial internet offer from WBAC - £10,690.00

I've been seriously thinking of selling my car on and off for the last month and it has been added to the 197/200.net forum and advertised in a few other places and only really had a bite or two, no "real" interest so to speak.

This weekend I had a guy contact me with regards to the car and we agreed that I'd accept £10,250 for the vehicle (it was up for £10,700). I did initially want an easy transaction and so I contacted the six nearest Renault garages multiple times. A few weren't interested unless I was part exchanging and the others were offering low amounts, the highest of which was £9,700.00.

I was in VW buying a Polo with my cousin on the weekend and I got talking to the salesman, completely off the record of the reason we were there, with regards to the price I could get for my Clio 200. He punched it into Glass' guide (I think), and he came up with £9,700.00 too. So I lost a bit of faith. Still, not being overly desperate to sell it didn't pose too much of an issue.

Anyway, the prospective buyer over the weekend agreed to come visit me on Sunday to view the car. I advised that I appreciated he was coming from 180 miles away and that since the car is almost mint I would not be coming down on the price and if he wanted it, it would need to be £10,250.00. The buyer cancelled on me on Sunday morning as he had lost his lift, however he would visit on Friday this week.

On the off chance I punched the car into WBAC today and gave an honest representation of the car and got the quote above. I've heard horror stories over the years and, for a laugh, I booked an appointment to see one of their representatives this evening. Dad and I have always spoke about how rubbish the company is but on retrospect we have no hands on experience. At the very least it would be an anecdote for us for future potential users, almost knowing it was going to be a waste of time.

All I can say is that from start to finish (which was circa 20 minutes), it was one of the most simplest, easiest transactions I've ever dealt with. The guy was friendly, overly so in fact. He took an interest in the car and what my future plans were, and then we went out to look at the car. He picked up on the two issues and brought the price to £10,528.00, which then had to have the £74.99 selling fee and £24.95 CHAPS option taken to bring it to £10,428.26.

An even better bonus is that I've just renewed the VED so I've got a £200 refund to look forward to as well.

Anyway, cut a long story short, a very, very easy transaction and a real friendly service.

I know this might be "cool story bro", but I couldn't find too many reviews online that reviewed "newer" cars that were being sold to WBAC. And people seem to real bent out of shape because WBAC took their initial valuation down to £500 from £1,500, despite the fact that a) there's no obligation to sell to WBAC and b) it's probably a rust bucket anyway. And I know I could've gotten more with it privately and no I don't like throwing money away. But an easy transaction and a hassle free experience holds a value, too. This post might help one or two people maybe thinking of selling to WBAC.

TL;DR - used WBAC thinking it was going to be a joke and they'd offer me a tenner, walked out selling my car for almost a grand more than the dealer was offering. Chuffed.
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Still feel the same about it to be honest and would happily use them again in the future under the right circumstance. It's not the evil being most make it out to be.
 
Guy at work sold them a crappy old Renault Scienic with a hole in the fuel tank which barely ran. They paid more than expected, but they obviously didn't inspect it properly :p

I wouldn't want to actually BUY one of their cars lol. Sound like a death trap....
 
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Not tried selling a 'new' car to WBAC but I always get a bottom price from them and see what the dealer will do, last week they gave more money for the part ex than WBAC would cash price.
 
Nasher said:
Guy at work sold them a crappy old Renault Scienic with a hole in the fuel tank which barely ran. They paid more than expected, but they obviously didn't inspect it properly :p

I wouldn't want to actually BUY one of their cars lol. Sound like a death trap....
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WBAC do a basic check to make sure it starts whilst parked up then go around the car looking for marks on the paintwork, they do no mechanical checks when your there then it's off to auction.
 
Glanza said:
Not tried selling a 'new' car to WBAC but I always get a bottom price from them and see what the dealer will do, last week they gave more money for the part ex than WBAC would cash price.
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Dealers will give more money for a part exchange as they want to make it look like you got a good price for your car, when in reality, they've increased the floor value for the car they're selling to you to make up the difference.
 
it's just the car version of those mobile phone companies, of course they low-ball stuff.

they profit off people who really dont want the hassle of getting rid themselves, same way the dealers do with part-ex.

if you want to get the best price and your prepared to take the time and effort for private selling then fair play, but there's enough folk out there for whom the lower price is worth the convenience or a guaranteed sale.
 
Depends on the situation as ever really

I got a few hundred more from wbac than I could get trade in for the Octavia. The dealer wasn't remotely interested in it as you would expect and I had reached the bottom of what I could get off the Focus.

Only a few hundred pounds but given they are a 5 minute bus journey from me I would rather have the money, plus I didn't really want that car going to someone privately if I'm perfectly honest.
 
Wouldn't use WBAC unless I was absolutely desperate to clear space / get rid. Not only is their offer always lowball but you then have to pay admin fees etc just to rub a bit more salt in.
 
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