trousers Posted 21 October, 2023 Share Posted 21 October, 2023 (edited) Greetings fellow Saintswebbers, I'm contemplating buying a used car for my daughter from one of these new fangled online retailers... e.g. Cinch, Cazoo, etc. Being an old fashioned kinda chap, I would usually avoid these sort of places like the plague but my brother recently had a good experience buying a car for his son from Cinch, so I'm tempted to give it a go.... Would appreciate hearing any experiences anyone else has had with buying a car from these sites, in particular Cinch, just in case my brother's good experience was the exception rather than the rule (a quick peek at Cinch's online reviews suggests most people have a positive experience but, being a professional cynic, I'm never entirely convinced about the authenticity of online reviews). Cheers in advance comrades Edited 21 October, 2023 by trousers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerx16 Posted 21 October, 2023 Share Posted 21 October, 2023 Would you buy a used car from this man ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted 21 October, 2023 Share Posted 21 October, 2023 My last two cars have come from Cazoo. The first one was a dream. Chose the car, paid online, PX'd the old one (they give good PX values and their stock is cheaper than other online retailers) and picked up within a week. It really was a 'cinch'. The second was a different story! I only got the second because after 18 months the first developed a fault that would have cost about £2.5k to fix. Again, good PX price and managed to keep the engine management light off long enough for the exchange. BUT. So many issues from Cazoo with the one I bought. First it wasn't ready, then, when they finally got it prepped they noticed the windscreen needed to be changed. Eventually exchanged after about a month! I didn't use their aftersales with the first, but did with the second. Truly horrendous! They had changed a wheel during the preparation process but hadn't connected the new one to the monitoring system so a warning was permanently on. Then one headlight wouldn't switch to main beam. About 5 weeks for these issues to finally be fixed. Currently waiting for a speaker to be replaced, another month so far for that! Their customer service is shit. Really shit! If you email them, you get an auto response saying they'll be in touch in five days. They won't. Their chat is equally as bad as the person on the other end invariably isn't the one that can deal with the problem so they have to pass it to someone else. They then 'forget' to deal with it. Phoning them is as painful as every other customer service phone line with lots of promises and little delivery. I guess you get what you pay for as their cars are usually about £1k cheaper for a comparable model elsewhere. If there is nothing wrong and you don't need their customer service you win. No idea if Cinch's customer service is any better though.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnersaint Posted 21 October, 2023 Share Posted 21 October, 2023 Looked at both in the summer when buying a car for my daughter. They certainly looked a good value option but most seemed to have average to above mileage. Now that might have just been the cars I was looking at. Ended up paying slightly more but not much for a 70 plate Fiesta Active after a spontaneous visit to the local Ford dealer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 21 October, 2023 Share Posted 21 October, 2023 Personally I would only buy a car from an approved garage or a reputable local dealer, wouldn’t even buy from a private seller. So much can go wrong with cars that can be expensive id rather pay a bit more and know who I’m dealing with 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whelk Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 I know someone who has sold a couple of duds (deliberately) to Cinch or similar, patched up to get a superficial valuation. Pity the poor sods that bought them as pretty sure they don’t do any deep mechanical work to repair 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmes_and_Watson Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 I've just buy from local sources, that I've heard plenty of word of mouth about. Yes, it's probably more (although I've had some really good deals). Better that, than the horror stories I've heard from other places, and any uncertainty on just how good a deal I'm getting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 22 October, 2023 Author Share Posted 22 October, 2023 Cheers for the feedback/anecdotes guys. Appreciated 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 Not a chance I would spend the money needed for a half decent car online (or privately). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 On 21/10/2023 at 11:23, trousers said: Greetings fellow Saintswebbers, I'm contemplating buying a used car for my daughter from one of these new fangled online retailers... e.g. Cinch, Cazoo, etc. Being an old fashioned kinda chap, I would usually avoid these sort of places like the plague but my brother recently had a good experience buying a car for his son from Cinch, so I'm tempted to give it a go.... Would appreciate hearing any experiences anyone else has had with buying a car from these sites, in particular Cinch, just in case my brother's good experience was the exception rather than the rule (a quick peek at Cinch's online reviews suggests most people have a positive experience but, being a professional cynic, I'm never entirely convinced about the authenticity of online reviews). Cheers in advance comrades I've never bought from one of these guys, and never would. One of them is tied in with we buy any car, cleans them up, marks up the price and sticks them on line. One of the others buys straight from auction and does similar. I'd never pay the premium for buying from one of these sites, but I turn cars around frequently (25 ish cars in the last 20 years) and prefer private sellers, or auction. BCA list their cars in the same way as their sister site (cinch or cazoo, I can't remember which) and you get the same detailed physical description, but the advantages a lower price and choosing your seller. You can, for example, go for ex lease cars in the knowledge that they've probably been well maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 46 minutes ago, egg said: I've never bought from one of these guys, and never would. One of them is tied in with we buy any car, cleans them up, marks up the price and sticks them on line. One of the others buys straight from auction and does similar. I'd never pay the premium for buying from one of these sites, but I turn cars around frequently (25 ish cars in the last 20 years) and prefer private sellers, or auction. BCA list their cars in the same way as their sister site (cinch or cazoo, I can't remember which) and you get the same detailed physical description, but the advantages a lower price and choosing your seller. You can, for example, go for ex lease cars in the knowledge that they've probably been well maintained. WeBuyAnyCar is owned by British Car Auctions who use the company to source cars for their auctions. As fo buying anything online the usual principle applies, caveat emptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 9 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said: WeBuyAnyCar is owned by British Car Auctions who use the company to source cars for their auctions. As fo buying anything online the usual principle applies, caveat emptor. I'd never buy a webuyanycar via auction. I've only sold to them when I've had something my conscience wouldn't let me sell to a private buyer, and I think lots of shite find their way to them. There is plenty of direct from lease stock and other good stock available from BCA, and it's a good way to buy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 26 minutes ago, egg said: I'd never buy a webuyanycar via auction. I've only sold to them when I've had something my conscience wouldn't let me sell to a private buyer, and I think lots of shite find their way to them. There is plenty of direct from lease stock and other good stock available from BCA, and it's a good way to buy. I don't think you can anymore. The BCA in Bridgwater closed during Covid and hasn't reopened since. I have bought a couple of ex lease from there but when I was passing the other month I popped in to be told the only sell online to trade now. Annoying as have saved £'000s over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sevvy Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 Hi trousers, the last 2 cars that I bought second hand, got them from main dealers but from up north, one Darlington 6 month old the other from Derby 9 months old, I live in Southampton saved a fortune, the cost differences was amazing between North and south on cars, and could still get the cars serviced or any work done locally, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted 22 October, 2023 Share Posted 22 October, 2023 On 21/10/2023 at 11:23, trousers said: Greetings fellow Saintswebbers, I'm contemplating buying a used car for my daughter from one of these new fangled online retailers... e.g. Cinch, Cazoo, etc. Being an old fashioned kinda chap, I would usually avoid these sort of places like the plague but my brother recently had a good experience buying a car for his son from Cinch, so I'm tempted to give it a go.... Would appreciate hearing any experiences anyone else has had with buying a car from these sites, in particular Cinch, just in case my brother's good experience was the exception rather than the rule (a quick peek at Cinch's online reviews suggests most people have a positive experience but, being a professional cynic, I'm never entirely convinced about the authenticity of online reviews). Cheers in advance comrades Cazoo is shit. Multiple experience, shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted 23 October, 2023 Share Posted 23 October, 2023 18 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said: I don't think you can anymore. The BCA in Bridgwater closed during Covid and hasn't reopened since. I have bought a couple of ex lease from there but when I was passing the other month I popped in to be told the only sell online to trade now. Annoying as have saved £'000s over the years. Just noticed that. Not ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buctootim Posted 23 October, 2023 Share Posted 23 October, 2023 15 hours ago, Sevvy said: Hi trousers, the last 2 cars that I bought second hand, got them from main dealers but from up north, one Darlington 6 month old the other from Derby 9 months old, I live in Southampton saved a fortune, the cost differences was amazing between North and south on cars, and could still get the cars serviced or any work done locally, I did that with mine. Was cheaper to get it in Yorkshire and have it delivered than buy it locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan The Flames Posted 24 October, 2023 Share Posted 24 October, 2023 On 22/10/2023 at 15:02, Whitey Grandad said: WeBuyAnyCar is owned by British Car Auctions who use the company to source cars for their auctions. As fo buying anything online the usual principle applies, caveat emptor. You have a 14 day right to return anything bought online, including cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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