We buy any car and others

[bwest76]

So as not to ruin the sales thread on SC.




When I bought my car this year I started by getting quotes from several of these places (they didnt exist when I bought my last car).

Some quotes seemed over inflated.

Having never used them before I expected to be offered less than quoted when I turned up, but in the end I didnt need to use them.


I was quite surprised as most of the car dealerships where using WBAC themselves as a guide and all told me the same thing.

That with the internet nowadays the price they asked for was accurate across the trade (major not back street traders).

In the end I got a very good price with 6 years total warranty on a 2023 car (model about to change) they even offered me slightly more than WBAC.


I could see we where close on the sale and managed to get an even better price,just by asking and taking my time.

Yes I was looking at the difference in price not just the part exchange value.

I would have had trouble selling my car privately for the price they offered so was quite pleased.


Before turning up at the place I bought the car from I had talked to the manager on the phone,he didnt give me the hard sell (which had allready made me walk away from one dealer).

I had pointed out that one of the same group dealerships had the same car for quite a lot less,he then matched that price and thanked me for pointing it out.

When I arrived he made me a tea, I spotted his rather nice watch and we had a friendly chat.



As I say I was surprised that WBAC prices were used in negotiations,it shows they must be influencing the market.

[JonRA]

I've sold three cars to WBAC - the most recent around 2020 - at the time I felt the prices were pretty decent and because my cars were generally clean there was either minimal or no money knocked off by WBAC when they physically assessed the cars. I also used WBAC offers to get dealerships to up their part-ex offers on a couple of occasions (ie to match the WBAC price). I was surprised on one occasion when a dealer wouldn't match the WBAC price so I sold it to WBAC and paid cash for my next car - (and I didn't buy from the dealer who wouldn't match the quote).

But when I tried to sell my wife's car 14 months ago, a WBAC offer was not good so I got a Motorway quote as well - it was over £2K higher and when I actually followed the process through and got offers from dealers, I accepted an offer around £3K higher than the WBAC quote.

[bwest76]

Interesting I had a very high quote from motorway as well but was a bit sceptical, maybe I should have gone along with it.
Its clear a quote can also help you negotiate.




"I was surprised on one occasion when a dealer wouldn't match the WBAC price so I sold it to WBAC and paid cash for my next car"

That was my plan B but then once sold I would have had to get the new car delivered to me,which made it complicated.

[Ruggertech]

In the last few years I've bought two campervans from different conversion companies. In both cases I had cars to part exchange and in both cases they gave me the exact quote I received from wbac.

[Taxboy]

Interesting I had a very high quote from motorway as well but was a bit sceptical, maybe I should have gone along with it.
Its clear a quote can also help you negotiate.




"I was surprised on one occasion when a dealer wouldn't match the WBAC price so I sold it to WBAC and paid cash for my next car"

That was my plan B but then once sold I would have had to get the new car delivered to me,which made it complicated.

Sometimes the dealer doesn't want your car e.g. they may feel they are overstocked or they need to move the car on in the trade as it's not the type of vehicle they sell. Looks like a win all round you get a better trade in price and the selling dealer is happy with the profit on your new car

Sent from my moto g(7) plus using Tapatalk

[JonRA]

"I was surprised on one occasion when a dealer wouldn't match the WBAC price so I sold it to WBAC and paid cash for my next car"

That was my plan B but then once sold I would have had to get the new car delivered to me,which made it complicated.

Fortunately the WBAC site was walking distance from my house and it was a quick train ride to the dealer for the new car - plus I had use of my wife's car in the few days without a car of my own. But it could easily have been a lot more hassle which might have made me feel differently.

[Pitfitter]

As far as I’m aware is that Motorway’s quote is the price they hope to achieve at auction and is not firm offer like WBAC, it then may take several attempts to sell-or not at all- so if time is an issue might not work?

[spuds]

As far as I’m aware is that Motorway’s quote is the price they hope to achieve at auction and is not firm offer like WBAC, it then may take several attempts to sell-or not at all- so if time is an issue might not work?

You may well be right mate but I’ve sold to motorway (who offered considerably more for my old SL than WBAC) and it was entirely hassle free, the only concern being that the money wasn’t actually in my account when they drove the car away but it was in next day as they’d stated in their email so all good.

[Rob153]

Motorway will only give you an indicative price, they’ll look at how previous similar cars have faired on their platform etc…. it’ll be priced as a percentage of cap (trade guide) not guaranteed to sell at the suggested price but will normally return more than WBAC.

[spuds]

Motorway will only give you an indicative price, they’ll look at how previous similar cars have faired on their platform etc…. it’ll be priced as a percentage of cap (trade guide) not guaranteed to sell at the suggested price but will normally return more than WBAC.

I honestly didn’t realise that when I sold through them so just ‘lucky for me’ I guess?!

[Rob153]

I honestly didn’t realise that when I sold through them so just ‘lucky for me’ I guess?!

Just a word of advice, In the future I wouldn’t let my car go with funds being in my account- Motorway only act as an intermediary, all they do is introduce you to the Dealer, they do vet them to a point but even so some bad apples do slip through. As a whole it’s a good platform, although they do charge some expensive fees to buy through them.

[spuds]

Just a word of advice, In the future I wouldn’t let my car go with funds being in my account- Motorway only act as an intermediary, all they do is introduce you to the Dealer, they do vet them to a point but even so some bad apples do slip through. As a whole it’s a good platform, although they do charge some expensive fees to buy through them.

Noted, and thank you.

[SimonH]

WBAC is owned by British Car Auctions which is where historically most trade-ins at dealers end up, so no they don't influence price, they reflect live auction prices.

The benefit of WBAC is of course any dealer worth its salt will offer you less than the auction price by a margin, so if you go forearmed with that value it gives you something to negotiate with.

Motorway operates differently in that your car is put out to tender with dealers to put stock on their forecourts for the main part so if you have a car of any value and quality you will probably end up with quite a lot more from them - I've sold three cars through Motorway and very happy with the results. If you've been through the process you'll know that once you proceed you have to take a load of photos to prove the cars state, not once have I had any attempt to reduce the offer.