The Modern Process of car buying
Discussion
I normally change my car every 2-3 years but I'm very casually considering an early upgrade for something larger.
However, since I bought my last car (May 2024), I've noticed the process appears to have changed somewhat. I'm very old school (if you call it that) in that I like to go and view a car, sit in it, test drive it and then make a decision.
I've made a couple of Autotrader enquiries asking for certain pieces of information but am just met with a generic email attempting to secure a deposit and no answers to any of the questions. This has happened with both enquiries at different dealerships and I get the impression they don't even want me to be on their premises! They want to deliver the vehicle to me unseen and move on to the next. This is frankly insance as far as I'm concerned - I would never purchase any vehicle without seeing it - we're not talking about a microwave here.
I'm looking for a good, honest dealership who will actually give a s
t about my requirements and let me spend some time with it before committing. I don't mean borrowing the car for hours on end and faffing about in the dealership. I'm a pretty straightforward person to deal with but this whole process is putting me off the idea completely. Is this the norm now or have I just been unlucky thus far?
However, since I bought my last car (May 2024), I've noticed the process appears to have changed somewhat. I'm very old school (if you call it that) in that I like to go and view a car, sit in it, test drive it and then make a decision.
I've made a couple of Autotrader enquiries asking for certain pieces of information but am just met with a generic email attempting to secure a deposit and no answers to any of the questions. This has happened with both enquiries at different dealerships and I get the impression they don't even want me to be on their premises! They want to deliver the vehicle to me unseen and move on to the next. This is frankly insance as far as I'm concerned - I would never purchase any vehicle without seeing it - we're not talking about a microwave here.
I'm looking for a good, honest dealership who will actually give a s
t about my requirements and let me spend some time with it before committing. I don't mean borrowing the car for hours on end and faffing about in the dealership. I'm a pretty straightforward person to deal with but this whole process is putting me off the idea completely. Is this the norm now or have I just been unlucky thus far?I m currently working abroad. Bought my Mrs a new car from the opposite end of the country from where we live. They are delivering it Thursday. Neither of us have seen it. Mrs spoke to the garage. Put her mind at rest. I sent her the money. Job done. Easy. No messing about and wasting time.
Edited by keo on Tuesday 9th September 13:06
Have bought my last two (used) cars on the tinternet, sight unseen, delivered.
In fact the last one they dropped on the drive and stuck the keys through the letterbox since I was out - didn’t see it in the flesh till 3 days later.
Wouldn’t do it any other way now to be honest, I hate the old process with a passion.
In fact the last one they dropped on the drive and stuck the keys through the letterbox since I was out - didn’t see it in the flesh till 3 days later.
Wouldn’t do it any other way now to be honest, I hate the old process with a passion.
I don't mind buying unseen and having it delivered but I do need to actually see and test drive the model of car to make sure it's suitable for me.
When you read reviews and there's a common consensus about a potential negative (lack of power for instance), I need to check for myself that I can live with it long term.
I'd hate to be forced to live with something that I could have struck off my wish list for want of a 15 minute test drive.
When you read reviews and there's a common consensus about a potential negative (lack of power for instance), I need to check for myself that I can live with it long term.
I'd hate to be forced to live with something that I could have struck off my wish list for want of a 15 minute test drive.
I suspect the majority of people don't really care and just want the process to be as easy as possible. They're used to buying everything from Amazon, etc. and expect buying a car to be the same. If the majority of people hated it enough to not engage with it then dealerships would sell nothing until they changed. They aren't changing, so I guess most people are happy.
The OH just bought a car unseen. She wanted something quite specifc (BMW 118i in Estoril Blue with heated seats and parking sensors) and they're quite far and few between. One cropped up but the dealership was a pain to get to so we did all the background checks and then she paid for it and then we went and collected it. The car is immaculate. Looks more like a three month old ex-demo than a 6.5 year old 65,000 mile car. I gave it a good hand wash a week after we brought it home and I'm baffled by how good the condition is, both inside and out.
Do all the background checks, read the dealer reviews on Google, Autotrader, Trustpilot, etc. and go over the car with a fine tooth comb well within the timescale of your distance selling rights period. Should be fine!
The OH just bought a car unseen. She wanted something quite specifc (BMW 118i in Estoril Blue with heated seats and parking sensors) and they're quite far and few between. One cropped up but the dealership was a pain to get to so we did all the background checks and then she paid for it and then we went and collected it. The car is immaculate. Looks more like a three month old ex-demo than a 6.5 year old 65,000 mile car. I gave it a good hand wash a week after we brought it home and I'm baffled by how good the condition is, both inside and out.
Do all the background checks, read the dealer reviews on Google, Autotrader, Trustpilot, etc. and go over the car with a fine tooth comb well within the timescale of your distance selling rights period. Should be fine!
I guess that we didn't enquire remotely, so perhaps that makes a difference - but we had no issues with a local BMW dealer.
A few months ago, I was considering a Z4 - went to see one at a dealer, and he was keen for me to take it out that day but I agreed to do it a few days later. Test drove it, didn't like it so left it at that.
A month later, we visited to see if they had a suitable car for the wife. Saw one we liked, test drove it while we were there and put a deposit on - collected a few days later.
A few months ago, I was considering a Z4 - went to see one at a dealer, and he was keen for me to take it out that day but I agreed to do it a few days later. Test drove it, didn't like it so left it at that.
A month later, we visited to see if they had a suitable car for the wife. Saw one we liked, test drove it while we were there and put a deposit on - collected a few days later.
8IKERDAVE said:
I normally change my car every 2-3 years but I'm very casually considering an early upgrade for something larger.
However, since I bought my last car (May 2024), I've noticed the process appears to have changed somewhat. I'm very old school (if you call it that) in that I like to go and view a car, sit in it, test drive it and then make a decision.
I've made a couple of Autotrader enquiries asking for certain pieces of information but am just met with a generic email attempting to secure a deposit and no answers to any of the questions. This has happened with both enquiries at different dealerships and I get the impression they don't even want me to be on their premises! They want to deliver the vehicle to me unseen and move on to the next. This is frankly insance as far as I'm concerned - I would never purchase any vehicle without seeing it - we're not talking about a microwave here.
I'm looking for a good, honest dealership who will actually give a st about my requirements and let me spend some time with it before committing. I don't mean borrowing the car for hours on end and faffing about in the dealership. I'm a pretty straightforward person to deal with but this whole process is putting me off the idea completely. Is this the norm now or have I just been unlucky thus far?
My experience now is that most dealers don't seem to want to deal with any customers face to face and actually work to make a sale, they just want to take orders online from people who aren't really too fussed over what they are buying and will just go through an ordering process. I find often now that as someone who does know about cars and will research what i'm looking at buying I often am better informed than the sales people. However, since I bought my last car (May 2024), I've noticed the process appears to have changed somewhat. I'm very old school (if you call it that) in that I like to go and view a car, sit in it, test drive it and then make a decision.
I've made a couple of Autotrader enquiries asking for certain pieces of information but am just met with a generic email attempting to secure a deposit and no answers to any of the questions. This has happened with both enquiries at different dealerships and I get the impression they don't even want me to be on their premises! They want to deliver the vehicle to me unseen and move on to the next. This is frankly insance as far as I'm concerned - I would never purchase any vehicle without seeing it - we're not talking about a microwave here.
I'm looking for a good, honest dealership who will actually give a s
t about my requirements and let me spend some time with it before committing. I don't mean borrowing the car for hours on end and faffing about in the dealership. I'm a pretty straightforward person to deal with but this whole process is putting me off the idea completely. Is this the norm now or have I just been unlucky thus far?valiant said:
I don't mind buying unseen and having it delivered but I do need to actually see and test drive the model of car to make sure it's suitable for me.
When you read reviews and there's a common consensus about a potential negative (lack of power for instance), I need to check for myself that I can live with it long term.
I'd hate to be forced to live with something that I could have struck off my wish list for want of a 15 minute test drive.
Can see that. I’ve never cared to be honest. When you read reviews and there's a common consensus about a potential negative (lack of power for instance), I need to check for myself that I can live with it long term.
I'd hate to be forced to live with something that I could have struck off my wish list for want of a 15 minute test drive.
I’m not entirely sure what I even have at the moment, it’s a fiesta, but what fiesta it is escapes me.
(Before someone comes at me, cars have too many wheels in my opinion; I do still have a reason for being here).
It really took off during lockdowns, kept me occupied, it was great with empty roads and empty very cheap trains though first class was a waste lol, but no ticket checkers on the trains meant getting on an earlier empty one was not an issue.
Had one or two issues on delivery, its how you talk to people and get the dealership to deal with it that means not taking it back. Most though give a casual look and that is it.
One I refused to do did come back lol, no way was I driving a 3 year old E-Transit from London to Mid Scotland, it was too big for my truck, refused every EV for those sort of distances TBH.
Had to collect one in Dublin once, the customers wife collected it and suddenly realised it was a SWB when they had ordered LWB while on the ferry lol, good old main agent organisation, as soon as I returned the first one they handed me the keys to the replacement LWB to go back lol.
Had one or two issues on delivery, its how you talk to people and get the dealership to deal with it that means not taking it back. Most though give a casual look and that is it.
One I refused to do did come back lol, no way was I driving a 3 year old E-Transit from London to Mid Scotland, it was too big for my truck, refused every EV for those sort of distances TBH.
Had to collect one in Dublin once, the customers wife collected it and suddenly realised it was a SWB when they had ordered LWB while on the ferry lol, good old main agent organisation, as soon as I returned the first one they handed me the keys to the replacement LWB to go back lol.
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