79 replies to this topic

[Nathan94]

Don't EVER use webuyanycar, huge scam.

Went with my Mum to get rid of her 54 Megane Privilege, offered us £100 and we stated poor mechanical condition as it had a problem, but we expected to go home happily with a t least £900....

Got there, guy comes out with a clipboard in his 40s, starts looking at every inch of his car, then you are invited in to his office where he offers us under £300, my Mother went a bit mad....

The reason why we were offered £300? Well, the headlight a minor and I mean minor little chip in it about a couple of millimeters small, barely noticeable unless you had your face right up to it, but yeah apparently because of that a new unit was needed from Renault at a cost of £250, yeah right, of course they'd source one from Renault...

Also the service light was on so he wanted to knock us down a few quid on that, we had stated it had a short MOT left but again wanted to knock us down on that.

There were also some other pathetic things that I can't even remember that the consumer wouldn't even notice, things that don't affect the running of the car, just things they can use as excuses.

But that's just what happened when we visited them, we sold the car privately in the end for a reasonable amount :)

[MaxAndPaddy]

To be fair on them, I a few years ago offloaded an old Renault Megane on them, they offered more than a garage did as a part x, and when I took it to them expecting a financial fight they just payed up the full amount quoted

They have their uses!

[AVV IT]

The reason why we were offered £300? Well, the headlight a minor and I mean minor little chip in it about a couple of millimeters small, barely noticeable unless you had your face right up to it, but yeah apparently because of that a new unit was needed from Renault at a cost of £250, yeah right, of course they'd source one from Renault...

To be fair what you describe really isn't a scam that's unique to them. It's the way used car dealers tend to operate if you take a car to them and your not using it as a trade in on something else. I bought a Renault scenic from a dealer a few years back, the car actually belonged to the wife of the guy who ran the place and his son had even learned to drive in it. It was about six years old and I bought it with a few scratches and signs of wear and tear as it was a well used family car, but the guy offered to buy it back off me if ever I came to sell it as it was a decent car and he knew its history.

About 18 months later we had bought another car, so I took it back to see what they would offer me for it (it had a dealer/trade in price of £1,700 at the time according to Glasses guide). I spoke to the original guys son, who walked around the car and made a long list of all the scratches that it had and then offered me £900, having knocked off £200-300 for each panel that he said would have to be resprayed if they were to sell it on. I waited for him to finish and then asked him why then his dad had sold the car to me with all those scratches on in the first place, without repairing them first. I then told him that as I understood it, he himself had made most of those scratches when he learned to drive in it a few years ago and now he had the nerve to try and charge me for the cost of repairing them. He was a bit lost for words, so I told him where he could stick his £900 and that his entire forecourt was full of cars that were covered in scratches that they hadn't repaired and had no intention of repairing either. I then added that if he didn't treat his customers like they were idiots, then maybe he might sell more cars.

I sold the car private sale for £2k in the end and his family's car lot went out of business about a year later!!

Edited by AVV IT, 24 January 2012 - 05:35 PM.

[Nathan94]

Still though, I bet they try it on with a lot of people and sadly some will either fall for it or be really desperate for cash.

Edited by Nathan94, 24 January 2012 - 05:40 PM.

[AVV IT]

True, but then not every one wants the hassle and stress of selling a car private sale. I've sold many cars over the years and let's face it selling a car privately can be a whole load of hassle.

It often involves dealing with idiots making you ridiculous offers and then getting offensive when you decline them. You have to put up with complete strangers coming round your house, test driving your car and not turning up for the viewings arranged. You have to put up with people agreeing a price, but then trying to knock money off when they come to collect, then there's the risk of someone trying to rip you off with a dodgy bankers draft, or the risk of someone robbing you afterwards if you have done a cash deal instead. Then there's all the issues of the person trying to bring the car back when something goes wrong with it soon after they have bought it and then accusing you of selling them a dodgy car.

All in all, it can be an awful lot of stress and hassle in order to get an extra few hundred quid. Whilst I'm prepared to put up with all that to get the most cash possible, I can see why a lot of people aren't and would rather settle for a lot less cash for the convenience of taking their car to a dealer or webuyanycar.com and accepting a much lower price to avoid all those risks, hassles and worry.

Edited by AVV IT, 26 January 2012 - 02:36 PM.