Have you bought a car online with no test drive?

[NCfor24]

Exactly that!
Need to replace the family car and have quite specific needs, and can see competitive deals online but it's an entirely online purchase.
DH wants to buy from a local dealer, see the cars, test drive etc. But there are significant savings to be had and money is tight!
Would be looking at a car no older than 2018 and spending £15-20k..budget was £10k but we decided to borrow and stretch to hopefully get a car which will last as kids become teens.

So can anyone share experiences of buying online please?

I bought mine online from a garage. It was driven 200 miles to me and they took mine away in part exchange. I got a great deal and a great car. No regrets at all and would do the same again.

Maybe I should add that I've never test driven a car. I buy what ticks my boxes

We've gone a step further and bought a car from an auction in Japan. We had driven a few in the UK and learned a lot about the process and what to look for before taking the plunge. It's current on a ship, due to arrive in a couple of weeks. Buying the same car, already in the UK would be about £17k. We are paying less than £10k for a low mileage, well maintained, luxury car. A brand new equivalent car is £60-80+k, so the savings are massive.

Could you please post the links for the websites you used.

I really like some of the Japanese imports.

Of course. We went with www.japimportsuk.com/

I hear good things about japautoagent.com, Just Japanese and New Acre Leisure too. Whatever you do, get a carvx.jp report before bidding and check that mileage and condition reports match up.

Yes my current car . I bought from cinch with no problems

@mustardrarebit thanks!

I bought a fairly expansive brand new car during covid. At that time dealerships weren’t allowed to be open for in person visits. It was even technically illegal to view cars on a forecourt and you certainly couldn’t sit in them or have a test drive. I just read a load of online reviews and made a decision on the basis of that.

The car I bought has been fantastic.

Thanks all.
We decided what we wanted but DH still not happy buying online. Luckily a local dealer I spoke to has found exactly what I asked for, same spec and trim etc and I've paid £99 holding deposit for first refusal when they get the car in next week. So we will be able to test drive. Phew! If DH wasn't here, I'd have totally gone with Cinch except they didn't have the car I'd chosen!

Hi OP,
It sounds like you are sorted for now.
One thing that we found really useful is checking the cars MOT history online
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

You can see whether the cars passed or failed and the faults.

I looked up cars with lists of faults that showed year in year out.

We bought our car (online from a garage with majority good reviews) and the MOT history showed that it had either passed it's MOT or failed in a very minor way such as a bulb. We found that reassuring and it has been great.

This won't help if the cars are too new to have an MOT of course but our budget was smaller so lots showed up as corroded etc.

Ds bought his last car from Cinch online. Had a really positive experience. Had a small issue within warranty period so Cinch sorted it all. They booked it into main dealer and they did a thorough all over check whilst they had it too and it had no other problems.

Dp is a mechanic though, so would never buy a car without seeing it.
With so much knowledge he would always want to see and inspect it himself first.

I've bought two cars online with no issues. You get a period of time to return anyway.

I've bought through cinch too, really good experience. I knew exactly which car I wanted because I'd had it as a courtesy car from a garage while my old one was in so I just found the newest, best-specced version of it within my budget on cinch. I thought the photos and information on cinch was much more thorough than on cazoo. Had the car 6 months now and very happy with it.

Yes, we did last year. Same budget/age of car requirements. We used a big national chain dealer, and the car was transported pretty much the length of the UK to get to us.

No regrets at all. We for a great deal and the car is brilliant. I would 100% do it again. We got to avoid car salesmen and their wittering too.

Bought from Cinch , no problems at all

Depends on whether you have a period in which you can return the car and get your money back.

We did through Cazoo. I was a bit wary about doing this for something so expensive (I try jeans before I buy them!), but the process was really easy. You have something like 2 weeks to return- in addition to statutory reasons- so it felt like an extended test drive.

Well I collect my car from a main dealer tomorrow.
DH has just informed me that Cazoo are in financial trouble. Not sure whether that would impact warranties etc but as it happens a local garage found me what I wanted.
I still think if DH's worries weren't a consideration I would buy online!

I’ve bought 4 cars on my own from a dealer; the first 3 I visited in person and sat in/viewed the car but didn’t test drive, and the last time it was 2021, there was still some Covid restrictions so I looked online and they brought my new (2nd hand) car and took away mine in part-ex.

I may have just been lucky but I think my method works for me; I have only bought brands I’ve had good experiences with, so a ton of online research and know what I like and what is important (stereo, air con etc). Once the decision has been made I don’t think I need to see it in person

We did this. Had it delivered to us with a 14day return clause and it's actually the best, least problematic car we have ever owned. Also the most expensive but worth every penny

If anyone is reading this in the future you may be interested in joining Boundless, the Civil Service Motoring Association. You have to be a Civil Servant, work in the public sector or in a former public sector organisation, such as rail or the post office, or a former employee or retired. You then can buy a car through their partnership. I got a fantastic deal on a car bought for an executive, when I went for the first service I found out they had paid for five years service upfront! Boundless has two level of membership, the lower level is only 38.00 pa and you get free entry to Kew Gardens and lots of other discounts including on car breakdown cover and car insurance with LV.