I have a range of contacts in the motor trade and have worked with and sometimes alongside them for many years now. I met one of my chums yesterday who was telling me about a company that had started up an online car sales business during the lockdown. Been in the trade a good while, but relatively new to car sales.
Obviously they have a website etc but I was amazed to hear that people will not only buy a car unseen over the internet, not so unusual I guess, but send a bank transfer to their account with no check on the veracity of the company.
Whilst we were talking the phone rang and it was a buyer to confirm that he had sent £16k to their bank and was looking forward to getting his new car. As it happens they are a legitimate and trustworthy business and I was told it was a good car too. it will be driven several hundred miles to the new buyer in the next few days.
Perhaps I am old fashioned but I would want to see/test the car, buy from a nearby seller in the event of problems and I have been known to do a Companies House check on the business as well. In fact many years ago now I was so concerned about somebody in the trade I even consulted a private detective, a most illuminating and as it turned out justified action.
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I'd be dubious too for all the obvious reasons, though I have done it in the past fairly frequently. Mind you, thinking about it now, it's always been with dealers that I have some contact with, knowledge of, or a trusted recommendation. I don't think I'd risk it with a new firm I found on the internet.
My further issue is that I rarely know what I want. I tend to go to places which have got stuff, push, prod and touch, and then see what takes my fancy. Often it is not what I thought it was going to be.
But then,as I mentioned elsewhere, I am not a big spender on cars so I guess mostly my risk is lower.
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My much loved 335 was bought on a click to buy basis. Never saw it until I collected it from the dealer. Mrs RP also bought her Mini online, the whole deal was done online and on the phone, the car was delivered by another branch of the same dealer. No issues with either purchase.
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Even legitimate companies can go bust, I am very wary when handing over money ahead of time.
Using a credit card gives protection for purchases under £25k but isn't always feasible.
The firm that supplied and erected the timber frame and insulation for my house wanted the best part of £100,000 at least 10 days before delivery. I asked what protection was in place for my money if they failed to fulfil, e.g. an escrow arrangement. The answer was "none" and the contracts manager was surprised and a little offended by my question and claimed nobody else had ever asked it.
I said I would have to do a financial appraisal of the company before agreeing to this, knowing they had already manufactured the frame. He looked gratifyingly alarmed. As it happens the company's balance sheet has plenty of cash on it (which I had already checked) and I did in fact make the advance payment but it was worth seeing his face.
The surprising thing to me is that they haven't been more or less forced to set up an escrow account, but it seems people generally go along with it even though many would find the loss life changing were it to go wrong.
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Out of curiosity what checks can you do on a firm like that?
I know you can check companies house etc but there are so many potential issues with taking them at face value?
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>> Out of curiosity what checks can you do on a firm like that?
>> I know you can check companies house etc but there are so many potential issues
>> with taking them at face value?
There can be, public information is always out of date and there's always a slim chance that there will be a massive hole in the accounts that nobody knows about.
This particular one is a public company, with accounts and trading statements etc. on the investor section of its website.
tinyurl.com/hjfz2fe8
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>> Obviously they have a website etc but I was amazed to hear that people will
>> not only buy a car unseen over the internet, not so unusual I guess, but
>> send a bank transfer to their account with no check on the veracity of the
>> company.
>>
>> Whilst we were talking the phone rang and it was a buyer to confirm that
>> he had sent £16k to their bank
We had a case a while back at work.
A customer tried to transfer a life changing amount of money to a different bank to buy a new toy.
The fraud systems kicked in because the receiving account had been used for a fraud before and the other bank had not closed the account.
The customer was called but would not take our advice claiming that he knew best. His account was suspended and the authorities notified.
Unfortunately the man had access to the bank account of a limited company with another bank and transferred the money from that account and lost it all.
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Pay by credit card if you can. Even if only a token deposit is paid in this way you should be covered for the whole cost.
If the company won't do this - avoid!
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Not in the least bit surprised. Cars are no more than journey appliances and the sales model has changed to suit. After all, you don't turn up to Curry's with some oil and a steak and insist on testing the cookers, do you?
I do still like a test drive though and I understand the raised eyebrows when others buy a vehicle sight unseen.
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I think the most surprising thing for me is that the seller has only been in business selling cars for a few months, an enterprise that resulted from lockdown. So no track record or reputation for selling cars and yet people happily transfer five figure sums with no sight of the car or check on the supplier. A good point about paying at least something by credit card, and this business has a large online activity in a related area.
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I bought a car unseen last July. As well as Googling the dealer's Companies House records, I looked at their premises on Google Street View and found some reviews with a Google search.
The car's been fine; I suppose the only risk there was that Google might not be bona fide...
Also, the dealer I work for has been selling cars to remote clients throughout lockdown. We simply have a contract which says they have 14 days to change their mind for any reason and we'll come and collect it and issue a full refund (minus £1 per mile covered after 20 miles). No-one's changed their mind yet. This is on both brand new cars and classic sports cars, so there must be something in it.
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I guess there's two parts;
1) Would I buy a car unseen? - Yes I would.
2) Would I buy it from some bloke new or unknown in the business without a track record? - Probably not.
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>> I guess there's two parts;
>>
>> 1) Would I buy a car unseen? - Yes I would.
In March I purchased a new car online. Paid a deposit by credit card for the S75 protection.
Boring choice really but I just need something to get me round and about and long journeys for work (south coast to Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham etc).
It was a run out model of the Tucson which had 1/3rd off and cost less than the equivalent spec super mini and less than the same spec ex-demo models and low mileage used ones on Autotrader by £2k to £3k!
The whole process was very smooth and no annoying negotiations to squeeze the pips out of the deal.
Unfortunately, and not associated with the purchase of the car, I ended up in hospital for a couple of weeks so I haven't had much use from it.
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I think there is quite a difference between buying something new-ish (say under 3 years old) against something which has had a longer life. These days I would imagine the chances of buying a 2 year old car which turns out to be a disaster would be fairly slim, though I know there'll be a story along soon to prove me wrong :-)
I've bought 4 or 5 cars at auction of up to about 4 years old, and I was happy to risk it so long as they have the service history and appear reasonably well looked after. (Yes, I know I could see the car but you can't get in them, or drive them, and you can watch them being started and driven into the auction hall but other than that you never see-hear them running)
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Since about 2006 I have bought six used cars online. All were fairly new (the oldest four years old and 20,000 miles). All bar one bought with the express agreement that if I was not happy I could simply reject it on delivery and the driver would return to base with the new car and my money refunded.
Of course all the cars bought with the refund option turned out to be exactly as described and they gave years of excellent service. The one I forgot to agree this refund option on, was the one that was a total dog and I sold it after three months losing about £2,000 in the process.
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Well, I wouldn't - No FM2R
