Buying a car further afield… advice required

[StrawberryBurst]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 27 February 2024 at 17:13

[Kuwahara]

You have distance selling regs to fall back on ,out of interest what is it…

[bennno]

Is this a serious post? Tell them you’ll have the car and offer to give the deposit subject to agreeing a deal in principle that includes the px of your car. Describe your car very accurately, get them to put it in writing then pay the deposit.

What car is it / is it a main dealer etc etc? 5 hours is a long drive

[popeyewhite]

Lot of hassle. Wait till another comes up and save more money towards the car. The garage will not give you what you want px.

[bennno]

popeyewhite said:

Lot of hassle. Wait till another comes up and save more money towards the car. The garage will not give you what you want px.

How do you know that exactly? He’d surely be better asking the question first and seeing what they say?

[StrawberryBurst]

bennno said:

Is this a serious post? Tell them you’ll have the car and offer to give the deposit subject to agreeing a deal in principle that includes the px of your car. Describe your car very accurately, get them to put it in writing then pay the deposit.

What car is it / is it a main dealer etc etc? 5 hours is a long drive

Yes it’s serious. I’ve only every bought two cars in my lifetime, and made mistakes on both occasions. My first car before them was gifted to me. I am not very experienced and I don’t have a feel for what’s right or not.

I did ask for a valuation in writing but was told they’d have to see it. I will try your method out tomorrow and see what they say.

It’s a Jag XF. Main dealer approved used.

[StrawberryBurst]

popeyewhite said:

Lot of hassle. Wait till another comes up and save more money towards the car. The garage will not give you what you want px.

This is also another option. However I see no harm in trying bennos suggestion. Worst they can do is say no, which might be enough to put me off anyway

[bennno]

StrawberryBurst said:

bennno said:

Is this a serious post? Tell them you’ll have the car and offer to give the deposit subject to agreeing a deal in principle that includes the px of your car. Describe your car very accurately, get them to put it in writing then pay the deposit.

What car is it / is it a main dealer etc etc? 5 hours is a long drive

Yes it’s serious. I’ve only every bought two cars in my lifetime, and made mistakes on both occasions. My first car before them was gifted to me. I am not very experienced and I don’t have a feel for what’s right or not.

I did ask for a valuation in writing but was told they’d have to see it. I will try your method out tomorrow and see what they say.

It’s a Jag XF. Main dealer approved used.

Good luck, start by saying you’d like to proceed but that that it’s too far without agreeing a deal in principle first. You can say you appreciate you will need to see theirs and they yours, but ultimately they’ll look yours up on a valuation system and will ask you to describe its condition accurately.

See what they offer. If it’s low then say it’d need to be x to work for you given your finance owing etc, if so you’ll give deposit etc.

[popeyewhite]

bennno said:

How do you know that exactly? He’d surely be better asking the question first and seeing what they say?

Garage won't offer any more as px than WBAC/motorway etc to buy the car outright. Which wasn't enough.

[Sheepshanks]

StrawberryBurst said:

It’s a Jag XF.

Not a car I’d be buying if finances were as tight as you make yours sound.

[RD-1]

StrawberryBurst said:

At the minute, I have the £500. That’s enough to either make up the negative equity OR pay the deposit. I am not in a position to do both unfortunately.

OP, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but you asked for advice.

I wouldn’t be looking to buy a Jag XF at all, with £500 to my name.

Sounds harsh, but save a bit of cash and reevaluate is my best advice.

Best of luck with whatever you decide

[Ezra]

A few observations:

By your own admission you're not experienced buying cars. Why get involved in, what is likely to be for you, something that's overly complicated.

The exact model/spec you want might be as rare as hens teeth but, at the end of the day, it's a Jag XF...not some one-off custom special. I wouldn't do a 10 hour round trip for that.

If money is as tight as you indicate, a 2nd had Jag XF is probably one of the last cars I'd be looking at. Max, you'd get 12 mth warranty, after that - poss money pit.

You say you've made mistakes in the past. Until you do get experienced buying/selling cars, maybe head into safer territory (Toyota, Skoda, Ford)

[Mad Maximus]

StrawberryBurst said:

After a bit of deliberation and getting suggestions and research I finally have settled on the car I want.

Unfortunately there are zero of these cars for sale within a reasonable couple hours drive from me so it’s difficult to just go view one. One has popped up online and I’ve been in discussions with the dealer. It is however roughly a 5 hours drive away. I have asked about delivery and it is available but that gives me a bit of fear if I’m honest and I’m not sure I’d go for that.

The deal pretty much hinges on getting the right value for my part/ex, as I need a certain amount to clear the finance. I am roughly at about level equity wise, give or take a few hundred either way. I am also very reluctant to drive for 5 hours, add on another few hundred miles, only for the dealer to not give me enough to clear the finance or at least give me enough so I’m within a few hundred of clearing it. Plus the miserable journey home in that case. If they offered £500’less than the outstanding finance that’s fine I can make up that difference.

The dealer (main dealer, approved used car) wants a £500 deposit which they say is refundable once the sale is complete, however I haven’t seen any terms or paperwork confirming this yet, I have asked for it and I’m waiting on a response. I get it, they want to know I’m serious. They’ve also said that there’s no pressure for me to pay the deposit until I’m happy with the deal. Fine.

This is the dilemma I face. At the minute, I have the £500. That’s enough to either make up the negative equity OR pay the deposit. I am not in a position to do both unfortunately. The risk is, I can drive down and pay the deposit to secure the car. However if they then value my part ex at less than the settlement, then I’m stuck in a very hard place as I’ll need to walk away and then I’ll no doubt have a lengthy battle to get my deposit back (assuming it is actually refundable).

The time to drive down doesn’t bother me I love driving long distances, but I really don’t want to waste 10 hours of my life, and the dealer has said they can’t guarantee a valuation which is fair enough.

I thought about selling privately, or just going for the car without the part exchange, or selling to to WBAC or similar, however they don’t value it anywhere near where it should be so that’s a non starter. I don’t fancy selling privately at all either.

For those who are more experienced with buying cars, would appreciate advice. I think it’s too risky for me to pay the deposit and then not get what I need to clear my current finance as I wouldn’t have enough spare funds to make up the shortfall to settle current finance. Another option is trying to raise another £500 or so I guess but then that might take time and at that point the car could be gone.

Buying cars long distance with a part x is a pain in the arse. I did it a while ago. I ended up agreeing the deal in principle but the car I was buying was a bit worse than I thought and my part x was better than they thought. They wouldn’t change the deal but I know if it was the other way round they would have.

Tough call. Why not make a trip of it with partner or pal or kids and find a nice hotel and book a slot at a water park or local attraction. That way you can take the risk of not being able to do a deal but all wouldn’t be lost.

[interstellar]

If I only had £500 to pay the deposit or the negative equity then I would be asking myself if I can really afford this car?

I think you know the answer, sorry if it seems harsh but that’s not a deal I would be doing.

[StrawberryBurst]

Ezra said:

A few observations:

By your own admission you're not experienced buying cars. Why get involved in, what is likely to be for you, something that's overly complicated.

The exact model/spec you want might be as rare as hens teeth but, at the end of the day, it's a Jag XF...not some one-off custom special. I wouldn't do a 10 hour round trip for that.

If money is as tight as you indicate, a 2nd had Jag XF is probably one of the last cars I'd be looking at. Max, you'd get 12 mth warranty, after that - poss money pit.

You say you've made mistakes in the past. Until you do get experienced buying/selling cars, maybe head into safer territory (Toyota, Skoda, Ford)

It’s not that finances are tight. I just don’t have more saved up for the rainy day fund yet.

My last car was a Merc. I made the mistake of not checking the service history when buying. Not that I made a mistake buying the car, as it has been mechanically spot on for over 3 years.

Edited by StrawberryBurst on Friday 23 February 07:30

[swanseaboydan]

My observations - if yuu don’t have too much spare cash then a main dealer car with warranty makes sense ( especially on a jag)).
I would drive down there - have a look and thrash out a deal on the day. You never know, the deal may not work or even the car may not live up to your expectations- call it a day out / overnight trip and be open minded about it.
If you can drive down in one car and back in a new one that is perfect.
Do it soon, end of the month coming up; they may want to move stock.
Good luck.

[StrawberryBurst]

Mad Maximus said:

Buying cars long distance with a part x is a pain in the arse. I did it a while ago. I ended up agreeing the deal in principle but the car I was buying was a bit worse than I thought and my part x was better than they thought. They wouldn’t change the deal but I know if it was the other way round they would have.

Tough call. Why not make a trip of it with partner or pal or kids and find a nice hotel and book a slot at a water park or local attraction. That way you can take the risk of not being able to do a deal but all wouldn’t be lost.

Not a bad suggestion, may go for a round of golf or go to a football game, so at least it’s not completely wasted

[bennno]

popeyewhite said:

Garage won't offer any more as px than WBAC/motorway etc to buy the car outright. Which wasn't enough.

How do you know that? As it depends on many factors. Whats the margin in the car they are selling, how long how they been trying to sell it, what’s the p/ex car and do they have a dealer in group that sells those etc etc.

[Gad-Westy]

bennno said:

popeyewhite said:

Garage won't offer any more as px than WBAC/motorway etc to buy the car outright. Which wasn't enough.

How do you know that? As it depends on many factors. Whats the margin in the car they are selling, how long how they been trying to sell it, what’s the p/ex car and do they have a dealer in group that sells those etc etc.

Whilst you are right in principle, unless it’s something unusual, the usual WBAC, motorway etc should be a reasonable barometer +/- a bit. If the OP says those offers are far too low I’d be highly doubtful a dealer PX figure is going to change the outlook very much. But anyway, I can’t see any reason at all why the dealer couldn’t give an estimate before the OP sets off.

I think I agree with others that with £500 available this all sounds a bit marginal and any travel costs, golf day, hotel stay (or family day out at a water park!) is going to wipe most of that out anyway. Is there nothing a little cheaper anywhere that would put a little cash back in the bank and make the whole thing much more comfortable?

[StrawberryBurst]

Gad-Westy said:

bennno said:

popeyewhite said:

Garage won't offer any more as px than WBAC/motorway etc to buy the car outright. Which wasn't enough.

How do you know that? As it depends on many factors. Whats the margin in the car they are selling, how long how they been trying to sell it, what’s the p/ex car and do they have a dealer in group that sells those etc etc.

Whilst you are right in principle, unless it’s something unusual, the usual WBAC, motorway etc should be a reasonable barometer +/- a bit. If the OP says those offers are far too low I’d be highly doubtful a dealer PX figure is going to change the outlook very much. But anyway, I can’t see any reason at all why the dealer couldn’t give an estimate before the OP sets off.

I think I agree with others that with £500 available this all sounds a bit marginal and any travel costs, golf day, hotel stay (or family day out at a water park!) is going to wipe most of that out anyway. Is there nothing a little cheaper anywhere that would put a little cash back in the bank and make the whole thing much more comfortable?

Just for the avoidance of doubt. The £500 available is what I have allocated out of my budget towards the car, whether that be to make up an equity shortfall or towards a deposit. I’d need to remove £500 from elsewhere in my budget to add to it and have enough to do both the part ex and cover negative equity.

Travel costs, potential golf or whatever would come out a seperate budget which is unrelated to my new to me car budget.

After I got over a SUV lust. I figured a saloon was the best bet for me. I’ve looked at many, different models and brands. I set up an excel sheet to rate them all myself based on reports. And the XF won. It ticks all of my boxes. There’s also a slight sentimental element with the XF due to a family member having one. My second choice was an A6, which by all accounts is just as reliable if not worse. My third choice was a 5 series/6 series GT but there was things with those I couldn’t get over.

Sounds like my options are

- just drive down and try thrash out a deal same day but have a back up plan so not a wasted trip
- move on from this one, save another £500 and have a look again in a month or two, although I risk never finding one in the same spec again
- move funds from elsewhere to cover the potential shortfall in equity
- ask for the deal in writing

Something to think about

Edited by StrawberryBurst on Friday 23 February 08:05