We Buy Any Car...Any Good?

[Sprockutt]

Has anyone had any experience with selling their car to companies like We Buy Any Car?

We are replacing our July 2011 Yeti 1.2 SE with Panoramic roof and another couple of minor options that's done around 20k with my in laws November 62 plate Yeti SE that's standard apart from metallic and only done 9k. But I'm going to have to sell mine to allow her to fund the purchase of her new car which is a Dacia Duster Stepway. So it's actually worth less brand new than her present car second hand. Crazy but they have got it into their heads that they want a diesel even though they do low miles and they like the sound of the £20 a year tax. They were thinking about a Greenline Yeti but when they seen that the Stepway offered what they were looking for at £7k less then they have decided to stick that money in the bank and treat themselves to a couple of holidays....so maybe not that crazy after all. It's not actually a bad looking car but it is a step back in time technology wise and is nowhere near as refined as the Yeti. But it gets them from A to B economically in a SUV style car with a higher driving position.

Anyway back to the point of the post. It's a no brainer for us to take advantage of this situation and buy their car. I would normally prefer to sell privately but not at this kind of value. I just don't think many people will part with over £12k (private sale valuation by Glass's & CAP) without the security of a dealer/trader offers.

I approached the Dacia dealer and asked if he would be interested in buying the car as used stock. He informed me that he would be delighted to for £9.5k. I obviously told him to ram his kind offer. Both the Glasses guide and CAP say as a trade in I would be looking at between £10.5 and £11'ish. So I then tried We Buy Any Car and they have privisionally offered £10750. I'm assuming that they will try and beat me down a bit but the car is pretty much spotless apart from kerbing to one of the alloys. I really can't see my Skoda dealer bettering that but I may be surprised but I very much doubt it. Can I expect to be shafted when I take the car along to one of the WBAC offices? Any other horror stories with them? I'm very suspicious and cynical.

[999pooch]

You can always say no

Go along and see what they say. It will only be an hour of your time to find out. Probably less time than posting & replying to many, many guestimates.

[Llanigraham]

They will go over the car with a fine tooth comb and every tiny fault will result in a minus sign in their calculations.

And you will be pressurised to sign the deal their and then.

[Th3Grinch]

As long as it is as you described. They will give what they offered. There is one near my work and I sit and have a fag and a brew watching them do checks. From what I can tell its similar to the 'visual check' done at services. A way to help you get what you want from it though is by having fsh. Ideally from skoda and the car being clean. Only say this as someone walked away having lost 700 of their offer so that wbac could have it professionally cleaned.. an hour later and a sponge monkey in a transit turned up and started slapping his schmolex watch all over the paintwork. I have been told by a few people that its a good service to use as long as the offer is right. Some I have seen have been silly low. But if the offers right but they change it for whatever reason. Say no. Not sure if you can play companies of against each other in that industry.

[Sinky72]

I sold my 2005 Honda Accord to them last October and it was a breeze. They knocked a bit off what I was quoted at first (due to a few scratches and a new tyre needed) but still was around the same quote as some dealers and in other cases, beat them by a few hundred pounds.  I also got to say I wasn't pressured or felt pressured into signing the deal there and then.  It won't be for everyone but I was pleased with the price and service I received.

[999pooch]

They will go over the car with a fine tooth comb and every tiny fault will result in a minus sign in their calculations.

And you will be pressurised to sign the deal their and then.

You can only be pressurised into selling if you are desperate.

If you know the value of the car beforehand, and the costs of selling via traditional methods, then just do simple maths and work out if it works for you. If it doesn't walk away

[Paul52]

Not used them myself but a friend used them to offload a VW Touran when he bought his Yeti a couple of years ago and felt he got a fair deal from them. Guess it could vary from branch to branch. As 999pooch says, you can always walk away if the deal isn't right for you.

 

Depending on your view on these things it might be worth getting a bit less than you hoped to avoid the uncertainty of advertising the car, waiting around for potential buyers to view it (some of whom may not turn up), haggling over price and getting calls from people who don't want to buy it but do want to sell you advertising space. And this could be going on over a few weeks.

 

I would say get a price from two or three of these sites, decide if the offers are even close to what you would accept and go from there.

[33q]

Personally I would phone a couple of Skoda dealers

I did use an internet buy firm,not wbac, and I got a fair deal. Wbac offered about £2500 other firm 3150.

[Llanigraham]

You can only be pressurised into selling if you are desperate.

If you know the value of the car beforehand, and the costs of selling via traditional methods, then just do simple maths and work out if it works for you. If it doesn't walk away

I'm only going on my personal experience.

I came home with my car without their money.

They offer their best prices on cars they know they can sell, but if you have something that is not popular they will screw you down.

[Lady Elanore]

I've sold a few cars direct to dealers. A Fiat Sedici to a Fiat dealer netted me £100 less than I paid for it 2 years earlier and I sold a BMW 123d which was on a PCP at the time, direct to a BMW dealer (funnily enough it was the same dealer I had bought it from, but as I was dealing with the used car section, they didn't realise until we had shaken hands ). I got the equity back which I used to buy an A4. Did something similar with the Audi. Simply ring up the dealer, or pop in and ask to speak to the Sales Controller. Then pitch them that you have a car you are selling and wonder fi they would like a beautiful XXXX for their stock. If your car is in nice condition, there is a good chance a dealer will be interested.

[Splooter]

Slightly OT, but where do the cars that WBAC buy go ?

 

Do they have a dealer network by another name?, sell them on to car supermarkets, auction, or what ?

[mannyo]

Webuyanycar put all the cars through auction, they are owned and operated by British Car Auctions.

http://www.am-online.com/news/2013/5/17/bca-signs-a-deal-to-purchase-we-buy-any-car/32948/

 

They will never offer you more than auction price, otherwise they would make a loss on every car.

 

I would approach your local skoda dealer and see what he would offer for the car, a 2011 Yeti with some nice extras would be a good buy for them. WBAC will give you a base price that takes no options into consideration.

[StevesTruck]

It used to be that the did they wanted went to carcraft and everything else went to bca. That's a few years back though so it might be different now.

[mannyo]

It used to be that the did they wanted went to carcraft and everything else went to bca. That's a few years back though so it might be different now.

 

Indeed, but last year BCA purchased the company outright so they all go through auction.

[Ryeman]

My new (2012 plated) 2/14 registered 103TDI DSG 4x4 Oz spec. cost me £16k......runout before FL model.

By our standards, a bargain.

[Sprockutt]

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply. All of the above info and advice is a much appreciated.

 

I have the car booked to go into my dealers Henry Bros in Glasgow so I'll be asking them for a price then. I spotted some small corrosive staining on the internal welded seam at the bottom edge of the drivers door. They have agreed to to repair this so once this is done the car will only have the kerbed alloy to bring the price down by either WBAC or the dealer. I'll make sure it is detailed and looking at it's very best before I take it in and see what they say.

 

I'm hoping they are reasonable with me and are low on Yeti stock at this price point. If not next stop will be WBAC or even some local reputable independent traders. The car should be very appealing to them as it has the right spec and colour full Skoda history with additional air con service, never been in an accident or been smoked in. I've even kept the engine bay clean since new so the car is prime stock and should pretty much sell itself.

[yetimus]

I've used wewillbuyyourcar.com. They offered a better price for my 2009 Audi than We Will Buy Your Car (over £2500 more) and they came to my house to inspect the car. After a slight drop in the original offer (£200) due to some stone chips that I missed, we agreed on the price and the money was in my account within 10 mins and the car was driven away.

 

All pretty painless. Spotted the car online at an Audi franchised dealer a couple of weeks later.

[notyeti]

I just sold a Fiesta ('55) privately for £3k.  The guide private price somewhere around £3200.  Actual sales I could find were around £2800.  The initial offer, unseen, from We Buy Any Car was £2400 I think they would have beaten it down (bumper and bodywork bumps and blemishes) by about £400 or so - cost of fixing -. 

 

So I sold for about £1000 or 50% more.   Worth the hassle.  Looking at your figures, the £1000 difference looks comparable (% a lot different).  But then as you say, private buyer, 12K?  Hmm.  I had less luck trying to sell a more expensive car - but then the Yeti is much in demand, and I was selling a posh Passat.  I think you might sell for £500 - £1000 more  than the WBAC offer. - only £45 or so on autotrader and some polishing.