Buying a car online without seeing it first?

[brokenbiscuitsadness]

I know I want a Toyota Yaris and have seen lots of used models online through Toyota dealerships.
Problem is I live in the middle of nowhere and many of the dealerships are miles away.

is it wise to buy one without test driving it first? Am I likely to be able to get a reasonable deal over the phone/online or do I need to be there in person?
was kind of hoping if it was all ok they would deliver and take away my current car as px.

You would be ill advised.
They wont take your car away without having seen it

How about if I don’t px? It’s only worth about £500 anyway!

Have you looked at cinch? I recently bought my car from there without seeing it. I also part exchanged my car and they didn’t see it first. You put in the details and they give you a price.

My car was delivered and they took away my old one. It was incredibly easy.

I bought a car of cinch and they dropped it off and took my old car away as part exchange. Was really easy and no issues.

I'm interested in this too I have an old car, going really well but hardly worth anything. I don't want to spend any more on it so was thinking I might suddenly need a new car but may not have anything to part exchange.
I was looking at Cinch, who seem to offer to do this, but I didn't go so far as to put in my details.

Some dealerships will “deliver” a car for a deposit - so if they have a franchise closer to you they’ll drive it to that franchise. If you then decide to but they take the deposit off the outstanding amount of the car. (Or refund you if the cars not fit you).

I have done this, but not a Yaris. I test drove the hatchback version of the car locally via the main dealer, but bought the estate version from a dealer 300 miles away and we met midway for delivery. No px; my old car was bought off the street.

I did this but it was buying an approved used car from a dealership. I wouldn't do it from a non main dealer myself. And ive heard good things from people buying cars from Cinch

Do an mot history check to make sure you're not purchasing a nightmare, toyota usually do sell "approved" vehicles that have had the so many point check. I still do an mot history check too though.
Go online gov.uk/mot history check or something along those lines & type in the numberplate, it will give you any problems that have flagged up on mots.
I have an aygo. Luckily, I do live in the middle of nowhere but my nearest shop on the nearest industrial estate is the Toyota dealership 😂

I was thinking about this recently, seems not a good idea to buy without a test drive of the actual car you're buying but I guess it must work as cinch have been around a while. I dont suppose you get the best deal you could be convenience comes at a cost

We bought a car that’s not yet released so nowhere to see it. Watched loads of videos about it on YouTube. I know it didn’t give you the exact feel of the car, but we feel pretty well informed. Happy to report back once we get it

edited to add I learnt to drive in a Yaris. Quite a comfortable car

You might not get the best deal even if you turned up in person. I went for acar that was £9,999 & when I arrived, set to buy that car they said ooh that one isn't ready, but this one at £10,999 is ready to go.

In hindsite I should of said yes, if you can do it for £9,999 but I got talked into spending an extra grand. So even in person you might not get the best deal.

Have looked at Cinch but quotes seem quite a lot higher than the cars I’ve seen through main dealership. Also a much lower px quote

But that's a personal situation to you, in general I'd expect the pricing of sellers that will deliver and take away your old car unseen not to be as keen as a local garage that you can negotiate something specific to you but I may be wrong

As others have said, to do what you want to do, try Cinch. I have a friend that did this and they were really good. I believe their ts and cs include a period where you can return the car if it's not as expected/as described. I wouldn't try this with a traditional dealer or any sort.

Cinch seems to be at
least £2k more than through a main dealership

In 2018 I bought a car online - I forget where from and it was extremely straightforward. A nice man delivered to London from York and I had 100 miles to try it out before I committed.

Bought off Cinch, was a bit dubious but spoke to a sales rep and he promised to be available during the whole process. More than happy with car when it arrived, you get 14 days to return, you can reject for not liking the colour! Because you are buying on line they have to offer a no quibble return.

Don't.

Why not?