We Buy Any Car - what is the "real" price paid ?

[Brian Lacey]

I know that many now sell their car via sites like WBAC.com and the price they offer online for my 2015 BMW Active Tourer is (small) ok. But what I was wondering is how much is deducted after the "inspection" ? Almost 7 yrs old it is not perfect, some kerb scuffs on the alloys, some minor surface scratches, no dents or deep paint damage. Is the inspection deduction a negotiable figure or do ties like WBAC just refuse to budge ?
Any experiences would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Brian.

[dundarach]

I'd love to take my 75 in, during an office st-off I won with £250

I wonder if they'd knock it down any more, I'd not pay £250 for it!

[RUSSELLM]

Did you notice the option to notify them of dents, scratches, etc for a more accurate estimate ?

[Brian Lacey]

RUSSELLM said:

Did you notice the option to notify them of dents, scratches, etc for a more accurate estimate ?

Oh yes, I was as truthful as possible, no point otherwise.
Cheers
Brian.

[Rozzers]

If you declare it all honestly you might get a small price chip, as it’s hard to declare it all on their for. but they have leeway to ignore minor stuff.

I was chipped down slightly but it came back up.

Actually getting the money was the biggest problem.

[Baldchap]

Back when tax was transferrable, my mate priced up a tatty Mazda Xedos 6 with 11 months tax and similar MOT. They offered him £90 for it. There was either £40 or £50 admin fee, and the small print stated they kept the outstanding tax.

By my reckoning he would have been paying them in excess of £100 to take an okish V6 car with almost full tax and ticket.

[Networkgeek]

WBAC noticed I had one wheel a slightly different shade of black to the others.

I didn't end up selling the car, but I couldn't unsee the color difference after that.

WBAC cost me £250 for an x4 wheel refurb

[Volvolover]

I took a mint three and a half year old car in last summer (Fabia Monte Carlo)

They had offered well over the odds for it, tried to chip me £500 saying it had been painted.......i pointed out to him paint was original but we both agreed we could see a slight imperfection (water mark?) in the paint finish.

They paid what they originally offered. Jolly good experience it was too

Id say if you took something older in and its not perfect prepare to come off the bid price by 4 figures depending on value of car

[Trevor555]

I recently sold my wifes car to them, I didn't do the condition report.

They were very fair, knocked £200 for marks on the rear bumper, and one wheel with damage.

They tried to knock off £400 but when I was walking away he asked what I'd take for it.

So yes, you can negotiate, their first offer wasn't set in stone for us.

[RoadToad84]

My 2011 Mini R60 lost power steering recently and at around £1500 to replace, I couldn't justify it, so tried WBAC. Was honest on the online thing, and their price came in at £2006. Not bad considering it was only worth £2800 at book price.

Got down there and went through it all, and the dude actually offered £2080.

Bit his hand off.

[sxmwht]

Networkgeek said:

WBAC noticed I had one wheel a slightly different shade of black to the others.

I didn't end up selling the car, but I couldn't unsee the color difference after that.

WBAC cost me £250 for an x4 wheel refurb

[Mark Asread]

I sold a car to WBAC. I didn't bother declaring all the dents and wheel scuffs as I knew they'd adjust the price on sight anyway, and had already decided it would go to them for whatever price. So I was quoted online for a mint car, when actually it needed 4 wheel refurbs and a small smart paint repair. On inspection, they chipped a fair amount off for that, a few hundred, as I expected.

But because the car would do well at auction and we both knew it, they put the few hundred back on after a wee haggle and bought it for the online mint quoted price. So they do have some wiggle room after computer says no. They can phone the mothership for permission to do a deal.

I can't imagine you ever getting more than the online quote though. If you bother to turn up they know you'll accept that amount.

[Brian Lacey]

Thanks all, some very helpful comments.
Cheers
Brian.

[TheRainMaker]

You could try Motorway, I was offered around 20% more from them over WBAC.

[distinctivedesign]

I have sold two cars to WBAC in the last month.

First one was seven months old and they quoted more than I paid new. Car was immaculate. No attempt was made to chip the price and the experience was seamless.

Second car was seven years old - a few small marks but in very good condition for seven years. Patchy service history but this was all declared on the quote form, as were the few small marks. Quote was satisfactory, and upon seeing the car they only chipped me a further £25 as I had put pretty much everything on the quote form. Left the car with them to await my money.

Then the fun began.

I eventually got fed up and issued a lawyers letter (I work with lawyers every day, so it is easy and cost me nothing). I finally received my money a couple of days ago - some two weeks after they took possession of the car. Had I not engaged a lawyer I would still be waiting.

I would be extremely cautious about using them in future.

[Trevor555]

distinctivedesign said:

I have sold two cars to WBAC in the last month.

Then the fun began.

I eventually got fed up and issued a lawyers letter (I work with lawyers every day, so it is easy and cost me nothing). I finally received my money a couple of days ago - some two weeks after they took possession of the car. Had I not engaged a lawyer I would still be waiting.

I would be extremely cautious about using them in future.

Did they say why the payment was delayed?

[Otispunkmeyer]

Trevor555 said:

I recently sold my wifes car to them, I didn't do the condition report.

They were very fair, knocked £200 for marks on the rear bumper, and one wheel with damage.

They tried to knock off £400 but when I was walking away he asked what I'd take for it.

So yes, you can negotiate, their first offer wasn't set in stone for us.

Sold the FiL's S-Class after his passing to WBAC. Now it did have full service history, but as its all on a compute somewhere and we couldn't prove it, they marked it down as part-service history. Only dropped the offer by about £200.

I suppose we could have walked and gone back to the supplying dealer (thing was serviced on the dot with them every time) to get the service history access, but at the time, we'd arranged to get the car to our local WBAC and the MiL just wanted it gone. So for the sake of an easier life just accepted the slight knock.

[Jamescrs]

I found if you are honest declaring marks and damage etc they are ok and pretty much pay what they say they will, when I sold them a car the guy said I was overly critical of it and stuck a bit back on for me which covered the transfer of money fees for a faster payment.

I find a lot of people who complain forget to add the damage etc to the valuation they get online.

[so called]

I sold one to WBAC last year. Their original offer was increase twice by £500 each time before I made an appointment.
At the appointment it was upped by another £300 because I two new tyres.

I sold another car last year to Arnold Clark and they increased in a similar way and increased on the day as well.

Get your quote and wait a couple of weeks and see if the offer improves.

[sjg]

Was several years ago but I declared everything, they decided some was so minor they took it off and paid £150 more than the quote as a result. All done in 20 mins, money in the bank next day.