Buying a car without seeing it?

413x

413x

413x

Caporegime
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Having no car, and having some specific requirements for one makes finding them difficult.
Ie locally.

I'm considering buying a car remotely.

Is this daft? I've read mixed views of both sides.

Why I'm considering it?
Its only a run about, I don't really care to much about condition. It's going to get dirty, roughed up etc.
I don't know enough about cars that seeing it I would be able to diagnose issues. Apart from obviously stuff like clear rust etc.
I've heard you do have DSR type protection? Ie 14 days cool off?

I'm unsure if this (DSR) is legal or garage by garage?
It'll come with a garage warranty. Which also helps.

Its going to take a long time and lots of hassle to view cars in person.
 
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413x said:
I've heard you do have DSR type protection? Ie 14 days cool off?

I'm unsure if this (DSR) is legal or garage by garage?
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Yes it should be covered by the DSR Regulations - however given that these add additional protection in your favour, you may find that a lot of dealers will not agree to a deal over the phone, and will expect payment etc to be made upon collection.

DSR is a legal requirement - it isn't specific to individual garages.
www.gov.uk

Online and distance selling

Rules for online and distance selling for businesses
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

413x said:
It'll come with a garage warranty. Which also helps.
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A Garage warranty is essentially worthless - your consumer rights already protect you for 6 months. Particularly scummy are the dealers that try and force you to take an aftermarket warranty (e.g. Warrantywise, AA etc), and then try to use that to cover any repairs rather than paying for it out of their own pocket.

(As per the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you are entitled to a full refund within 30 days if faulty, and a repair/replacement/partial refund up to 6 Months.)
 
Good to know. I guess can only ring and find out.
If they won't do the distance selling, might a reason to avoid entirely.

Useful info thanks.
Haven't bought a new car in 5 years
 
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Depending on whether you want to spend extra, but why not get an AA inspection done on it prior to purchase.
I used to be an AA inspector and you’d be surprised some of the dross that’s sat on car dealer forecourts.
Some absolute horrors out there.
 
JonRGV250 said:
Depending on whether you want to spend extra, but why not get an AA inspection done on it prior to purchase.
I used to be an AA inspector and you’d be surprised some of the dross that’s sat on car dealer forecourts.
Some absolute horrors out there.
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Have read this too. Is it worth it? Ie it's not a quick check over? I know it's meant to be in depth.
 
It does depend on the inspector, and some I worked with were utterly useless.
Personally I’d always spend an hour (including a 6 mile test drive) doing the job correctly, but that’s just me.
But in general I’d recommend getting one done.
 
413x said:
Having no car, and having some specific requirements for one makes finding them difficult.
Ie locally.

I'm considering buying a car remotely.
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Go for it, you should be safe if you follow advice such as an inspection and check for some type of return/reject clause in the deal.
 
Thanks for your input everyone. Kind of feel it's actually better to do this remote. Will call the place tomorrow
 
Yeah i've bought cars without seeing them, there is obviously more luck in it but if you can get really good quality pictures before and then have a really good chat with the dealer it can work out ok.

Touch wood it's worked out fine for me and i'd do it again, mostly as i live in the **** end of nowhere so if i want a specific car its a LONG journey usually
 
I kind of did this. Agreed to buy a car from a dealer in Ipswich. I think I send a £200 deposit, drove down from Scotland in my trade in, arrived just after 4pm. Paperwork signed, money transferred and drove home, arriving about 1am. I suppose I didn't buy it remotely and never lay eyes on it, but the first time I saw it in person was ten minutes before transferring the money.
 
Spending thousands on a car and not even viewing? a lot of dealers nowadays offer a refundable deposit upon viewing which is what i did when i bought my FK8
 
I’ve bought many cars blind and never had an issue. You just make it clear in writing that if you are unhappy on the day of collection with the car you will reject the car for a full refund and never had anyone say no to that term.
 
Regardless of the law, I would set a small budget aside for a service, tires, and service at the minimum. My current car I kinda bought it remotely, I asked the dealer to send me a walk round video and then I asked them to refurb the wheels (which then came with new tires when I got it). Technically I went to collect and part ex my old car so DSR won't apply but in my head I pretty much bought it as old car had 1 week left of MOT and I had to leave the country for like 3 weeks at the time so no time to find a new car.

I would play the statistic game, do the usual checks like MOT History, pick a brand and model with a good track record, set aside a small amount for repairs. Going back to the dealer 300 miles away to get them to do a realignment is just not worth the hassle. I would pay for that myself.
 
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I'm not a mechanic but know a bit about cars and still have had grief with buying cars and dealers. Even the car flippers on YouTube often get caught with some unexpected issue with a car.

Getting dealers to honor warranties is another nightmare. Maybe I've been unlucky but only the minority seen to honor warranties without a quibble many will argue the wording of the warranty and frustrate you trying to make you give up.

When cars were easy to fix this was less an issue. These days where simple things are expensive I'd be more wary.

Obviously people on this thread had good experiences.
 
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OspreyO said:
I'm not a mechanic but know a bit about cars and still have had grief with buying cars and dealers. Even the car flippers on YouTube often get caught with some unexpected issue with a car.

Getting dealers to honor warranties is another nightmare. Maybe I've been unlucky but only the minority seen to honor warranties without a quibble many will argue the wording of the warranty and frustrate you trying to make you give up.

When cars were easy to fix this was less an issue. These days where simple things are expensive I'd be more wary.

Obviously people on this thread had good experiences.
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Hoovie from Hoovie Garage bought an X6M once, although a private sale and found out they'd swapped the S 'M' engine for a standard BMW engine. Do your checks, check VIN in all places where visible!
 
I think it's one of those things where you might be ok a couple of times and then eventually you'll get shafted big time :D
 
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