Buying a car without seeing it?

Arrange an independent pre purchase inspection if you’re worried. Even for a car that I had seen I’d be doing this for anything half decent. I can scratch my chin and kick tyres with the best of them, but I’m no mechanic!
 
413x said:
Its going to take a long time and lots of hassle to view cars in person.
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It's not a good idea to buy a car unseen IMO. When you go in person, you can also get an idea of the type of person you are dealing with, which is just as important. You look at their premises and see what kind of outfit you are dealing with etc.

What kind of car are you buying?

It's worth putting the time in to find a decent car. It's not a great idea to buy the first car you see, look at a few to see what you can get.
 
tom_nieto said:
Arrange an independent pre purchase inspection if you’re worried. Even for a car that I had seen I’d be doing this for anything half decent. I can scratch my chin and kick tyres with the best of them, but I’m no mechanic!
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That's very honest, and without being disrespectful to anyone here, but how many actually and genuinely know what they should be looking for?
I'd wager not many.




https://www.google.com/search?sca_e...6DZvOiRAxWvWUEAHRbPM_UQyNoBKAB6BAgREAA&ictx=1
 
We bought our last car unseen from Cinch. Credit to them, their advert painstakingly pointed out any imperfections.

When we arrived to collect I spent a good 30 minutes examining the car before going inside to sign the paperwork, though I had already paid in full by this time.

I took along the following:

Mirror on a stick
Led lamp
Garden kneeling pad

I visually examined every bit of the interior, exterior and underside, as best as I could.

I checked that everything worked

I checked that nothing looked obviously broken or out of place under the bonnet.

I checked all the bits and pieces were present such as locking wheel nut, spare key etc.

Once inside, after checking the paperwork and service history I felt that, as a non mechanic and someone not in the motor trade, I'd done everything I could to ensure that I wasn't buying a lemon and signed for the car.

Happy to report the car has been great, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy remotely again.
 
OspreyO said:
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.
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It's not a question of a dealer not honoring a warranty as they're always third party so it's actually nothing to do with the dealer anymore (part of the reason they sell them). The issue is that most warranties don't cover the obvious and more expensive things that go wrong on a car.
 
Purchasing a car without personally viewing/inspecting is something I wouldn’t do.

A car purchase is the second biggest financial commitment you’ll make behind buying a house, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do the latter without a couple of viewings.

Maybe paying for a third party inspection might be a good compromise.
 
I don't think there's anything I can do. I can see paying for an inspection. But me? I don't really know enough to make a judgement. Short of finding a load of rust.

With warranty and DSR I'd actually wonder if it's better to do it all remote?
 
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I'm looking at a VW touran now. There's not many autos in my. Price band that also have the boot space for what I want.

Also, I'm starting to get annoyed not having a car now.
 
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radderfire said:
It's not a good idea to buy a car unseen IMO. When you go in person, you can also get an idea of the type of person you are dealing with, which is just as important. You look at their premises and see what kind of outfit you are dealing with etc.

What kind of car are you buying?

It's worth putting the time in to find a decent car. It's not a great idea to buy the first car you see, look at a few to see what you can get.
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Problem is don't have a working car. If I start going to see multiple cars could easily end up with a 500+ pound train ticket bill and multiple days of lost time.
 
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413x said:
I don't think there's anything I can do. I can see paying for an inspection. But me? I don't really know enough to make a judgement. Short of finding a load of rust.

With warranty and DSR I'd actually wonder if it's better to do it all remote?
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There is loads of info on the internet about how to check a used car. It's not rocket science. Spend an afternoon or two learning what to look for, and you will be way less likely to get ripped off.

A warranty isn't a way for you to avoid hassle. As above, a lot of things won't be covered, and warranty companies do their utmost to avoid paying out.

There's a YouTube channel by a car trader call High Peak Autos:

www.youtube.com

High Peak Autos

Welcome to High Peak Autos! My name is Matt and I am a car enthusiast and used car dealer based near Manchester, England. I'm always interested in finding used bargains so I tend to film with used cars, mostly. Follow me on instagram and twitter and make sure you subscribe - I've got plenty of...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

From his videos, he seems like a trustworthy and decent trader to me, but you could form your own opinion. He's near Manchester though, a distance from you. However, as you don't seem keen on going to view too many, maybe phone him up and ask him if he has anything or would be prepared to help you find something. Alternatively, see if you can find other car traders on YouTube nearer you, that you can assess as trustworthy.
 
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radderfire said:
There is loads of info on the internet about how to check a used car. It's not rocket science. Spend an afternoon or two learning what to look for, and you will be way less likely to get ripped off.

A warranty isn't a way for you to avoid hassle. As above, a lot of things won't be covered, and warranty companies do their utmost to avoid paying out.

There's a YouTube channel by a car trader call High Peak Autos:

www.youtube.com

High Peak Autos

Welcome to High Peak Autos! My name is Matt and I am a car enthusiast and used car dealer based near Manchester, England. I'm always interested in finding used bargains so I tend to film with used cars, mostly. Follow me on instagram and twitter and make sure you subscribe - I've got plenty of...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

From his videos, he seems like a trustworthy and decent trader to me, but you could form your own opinion. He's near Manchester though, a distance from you. However, as you don't seem keen on going to view too many, maybe phone him up and ask him if he has anything or would be prepared to help you find something. Alternatively, see if you can find other car traders on YouTube nearer you, that you can assess as trustworthy.
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I doubt it's worth me ringing around as what I'm after is so unusual it's more looking for the car than looking for the dealer. It's the automatic component plus the load space that makes it very difficult to find cars at this price.

To get to Manchester (as an example) is 100 pounds on the train + 20 for taxi to train. Another 100 if you decide don't like any cars. And an entire day lost.
That's equivalent of quite a pricey repair on a car bought remotely.

Edit.
Even worse is the day loss. If don't find something that's another week without a car. As can only do this on Saturdays.
 
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radderfire said:
For the benefit of this thread, what are your car requirements, and what is your budget?
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Budget about 6500.
Car needs to be automatic.
Car needs to be able to fit a huge mountain bike (29 inch) wheels in back. (with front wheel off).
I definitely do not want a lip on the back. That has been a right pain with the 207.

I've looked at vw touran, citeoen berlingo. Ford focus s-max (but not sure about s-max).
 
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413x said:
Budget about 6500.
Car needs to be automatic.
Car needs to be able to fit a huge mountain bike (29 inch) wheels in back. (with front wheel off).
I definitely do not want a lip on the back. That has been a right pain with the 207.

I've looked at vw touran, citeoen berlingo. Ford focus s-max (but not sure about s-max).
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So this is your "small van" sized vehicle buy?

Is there anything Japanese that fits the bill, e.g. from Honda, Toyota or Mazda? That will likely be more reliable than a Touran, and you might find more automatics.
 
radderfire said:
So this is your "small van" sized vehicle buy?

Is there anything Japanese that fits the bill, e.g. from Honda, Toyota or Mazda? That will likely be more reliable than a Touran, and you might find more automatics.
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Not that I have seen. But I'm no expert. I've googled things like "touran/berlingo alternatives"

Ideally the car would have died after I got the high top van.
I wanted to live with it to see what I really need in a car afterwards.
I guess at worst I can sell what I buy now if (for example) I don't end up using thr small vehicle as much for the MTB/kayak etc.
 
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Bought a car recently without seeing it, little mini cooper. Turns out to be a good car. Paid for it before seeing or driving it :cry:
 
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