Buying any car at distance and unseen is not for the faint hearted and is of course hugely risky. For those, like me, who are too busy to spend weekend after weekend looking at cars, it is a tempting way to go car shopping!! I have done it on four previous occasions and probably saved about £10000 against buying from local cars. The main advantage, though, is that you can buy the exact colour and spec you want rather than compromising with what is available locally. I don't part ex my cars and always pay with cash. I personally wouldn't buy a car privately this way-too risky even for me.

East Anglia and the North East offer the greatest savings-probably due to the lower population density, salaries and business costs in those regions. I follow a set routine for screening cars from Autotrader, Ebay and Pistonheads. First I speak to the seller. Does he sound genuine and return phone calls promptly? Is he evasive when answering specific questions about the service history and previous owner? If the car passes the first step, I then get the seller to walk around the car and describe any damage to the bodywork, the condition of the brakes and tyres and their overall impression of the car. I keep a written record of all comments made. I then look at the rest of the dealers stock. If it is mainly £2000 runabouts and a £15k Freelander I walk away!

If the car passes the second stage, I then contact the garage who has done the servicing. They can provide a huge amount of information not present in the service log so this is well worth doing. Some can even remember the car in question and confirm information given by the seller. The next stage is checking the MOT and mileage history. This site https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle is completely free and allows you to cross check the mileage and any repairs required for the MOT. The final check is HPi. This one is critical even if you are buying from a Trader. I only use the official HPi site https://www.hpicheck.com/?gclid=CjwKEAjwi6...oCA-rw_wcB it costs £19.99 but is well worth it. You also get a free market price appraisal (mileage corrected).

Assuming I am happy with all the information, I purchase the car and use Shiply to collect and deliver it. For those not familiar with Shiply, it is basically a reverse auction site for car transport companies. You submit your details and wait for the quotes. I have always found the price quoted to be cheaper than the cost of the train ticket and diesel if I collected it.

So given all of the above checks, I thought I would be reasonably informed on the condition of any car I bought-until now. I bought a HSE as a second car-advertised as "immaculate condition with unmarked interior" with £2k just spent on it with Guy Salmon. It passed all the above checks with flying colours and I had it delivered last Friday. As the transporter rolled up my heart sank. There was considerable damage to the drivers side of the car-so much that I asked the delivery driver if he had collected the correct car! All four tyres were of different makes and it was missing the mudflaps shown on the car in the photograph. It had also had all of the rubber wheel arch edge protectors removed and a huge rip to the drivers seat. It was clear I had been scammed.

I immediately tried to phone the seller who of course didn't pick up. As a consequence, I emailed him to tell him I was rejecting the car. There are two areas of law that protect buyers-The Sale of Goods Act and Distance Selling Regulations. The seller was in breach of both so I was reasonably confident the law was on my side. Getting my money back would be tricky but not impossible. When he eventually got back to me he pretty much told me to p**s off. Undeterred, I sent a second email outlining my case and the action I was going to take. Fortunately, I had the money to leave the car rusting in the garden if required whilst I took him through the courts. He got the message and offered a full refund. In my particular case, the pictures of the car in the advert were of one he had sold in the past (same colour and spec) and he had even gone to the trouble of removing the details of the condition from his advert-after I had bought the car! Autotrader were brilliant and emailed a copy of the original add.

So would I buy at distance unseen again? Probably not!

Excellent write up and a great outcome

I bet you had a fit when you saw it arrive and danced a jig when the money landed back in your account  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I have no sympathy for you, and anyone who buys a second hand car unseen in this manner should expect problems such as this.

the amount of time you spent sorting out the issue would have been better spent viewing a few cars.

Iain

I totally understand your point of view Iain-that was the reason I posted it. Hopefully after reading this no one else will make the same mistake I did.

yes Labradorslave it is a warning to others, some of whom may be unable to obtain a full refund like yourself.

Iain

It's a minefield the second hand car market we all stand on one now and again.

One of my neighbors did a similar thing, bought a used Jaguar from a Land Rover dealer (they also have a Jag franchise) the condition was not as described and the mileage was about double what was stated in the advert.
He also got his money back in the end but it's not something I would ever contemplate doing, besides
I enjoy winding the salesmen up and laughing at their excuses when they offer ridiculous trade-in prices. FL2 SD4 Metropolis Auto Santorini Black / ivory completely stock.

It's true that light travels faster than sound, some people look quite intelligent until you hear them speak.


Stop global winging.

Its a tricky one... I've had good and bad experiences at main dealers and locals...

T Terran



'The' Car For The Modern Day UK Roads ( ie all the pot holes )

'A Freelander that leaks oil is just marking its territory' - Wise words

Now a member of the FL2 'Silly Bill' Club