selling a car on webuyanycar?

[stoofa]

I used WBAC for the first (and thus far only time) a couple of years ago - was selling my 11 plate Octy vRS, 105k miles......
I gave a good description of my car - it did have a complete service history for example, there was a small dent on rear spoiler and then the usual chips for a car that age.

Chap does his inspection, I show him the mark on the spoiler first as that was the one I declared - didn't want him making it down for a second time on the same damage.
He mentioned one curbed alloy, didn't mark me down for very slight damage to a second. He did some other little bits of "mark there, mark there........"
Did the start car, drove it forward into a parking space opposite and then reversed it back again - popped bonnet, walked around the car with it running. We went into his office and it popped up with a price. He then proceeded to add in £100 increments to that price. We eventually stopped at a price £800 more than the Skoda dealer was offering me as a trade-in.

Hand shaken. I did NOT take the "pay me now" option - I think there is the option to have the money within 2hrs, then a next day. Remembering, mine arrived within 3 working days.

For me WBAC worked as the car was throwing up an Engine Management light - inlet manifold would almost certainly require replacement (known weakness on the car). I sat in the car park 10 minutes before my appointment with an OBD2 device plugged in and my mobile phone running Carista clearing the error codes and making sure the light wouldn't come on for their testing.
It was the main reason I wanted to either trade-in or use WBAC. I couldn't sell the car with that fault to "somebody". I know Skoda or WBAC would resell the car, but at least it would go to someone with a warranty and would get repaired for them.

 

[ericmcn]

WBAC very much depends on the car sold - they don't differentiate between different models of cars and in many cases you would get far more money elsewhere.

 

[mcast]

Sold it to them for £50 less than I bought it 8 months ago....£15450 vs £15400....their initial quote was £16,355 online.

The process took less than an hour total, between website, survey and sale.

I still don't have the money as their 2 hours to bank service was down, I need to wait until tomorrow.

Lessons learned:

subtract about 15% 6% off what they quote online as the online quote is for an unrealistic, showroom condition car
the buy guy seemed pretty normal, no bs
it's definitely easier than selling privately
the sale price wasn't much lower than elsewhere

I would use them again, if they pay me tomorrow

edit: i can't count, not 15% ....6%

 

[mccarf]

Sold it to them for £50 less than I bought it 8 months ago....£15450 vs £15400....their initial quote was £16,355 online.

What car was this out of interest? I've always had online quotes from them considerably lower than what I've actually got for the car in the end (via PX or private sale)

 

[Surveyor]

Sold it to them for £50 less than I bought it 8 months ago....£15450 vs £15400....their initial quote was £16,355 online.

The process took less than an hour total, between website, survey and sale.

I still don't have the money as their 2 hours to bank service was down, I need to wait until tomorrow.

Lessons learned:

subtract about 15% off what they quote online as the online quote is for an unrealistic, showroom condition car
the buy guy seemed pretty normal, no bs
it's definitely easier than selling privately
the sale price wasn't much lower than elsewhere

I would use them again, if they pay me tomorrow

If you've been honest about the condition 15% seems rather pessimistic when your own result was less than 6% reduction.

 

[mcast]

If you've been honest about the condition 15% seems rather pessimistic when your own result was less than 6% reduction.

I cant count

 

[mcast]

What car was this out of interest? I've always had online quotes from them considerably lower than what I've actually got for the car in the end (via PX or private sale)

A180d amg line 10k miles

 

[Maundie]

Just had a quote of £7k for my Focus, I'm certainly thinking about taking it to them, we don't need 2 cars anymore with both of us working from home.

Really can't be bothered with all the tyre kickers and I swap you for a Corsa m8 offers

 

[HangTime]

When we got rid of our last car I gave WBAC a go, from memory the online quote said £5600, after their checks it ended up at about £5033 or something, which I was able to negotiate up by about £150 to just under £5200 (by saying I'd been offered that in p/x and quoting guide valuations etc, just generally burning time in their office). In the end I didn't go with WBAC as was able to get £5250 p/x (which was also less hassle of course as you just turn up and swap cars) but they weren't a million miles away from getting my business. Just a shame you still have to do the dance getting them to bump up their offer etc; it's made out to be some sort of pain free process where you just get an offer and sign on the dotted line but at the end of the day it's not so much different from negotiating with a dealer, they have a margin they need to make or a target they want to hit, so you get low-balled and the game commences.

 

[DampCat]

My WBAC guy was super relaxed. Took my A3, started it but didn't drive it, agreed with my assessment of its marks, and ignored a bunch of scratches at the back. He even pointed them out and said "ah whatever". Came away with what they offered online, which was more than I was going to get in PX.

 

[MagicBoy]

I sold my old car to them in October. Very little hassle. Price was good, probably as the mileage was very low for the year. Their offer price had gone up 30% in the space of a couple of months.

They agreed with my damage assessment, knocked a further £100 off as I'd mislaid the service history which was fair. Didn't drive it, but started it up and checked the clutch/gearbox operation and for warning lights. I had the option for same day cash with a fee, which wasn't worth it. Got the cash three days later via bank transfer. Notification of sale was automated via their systems.

I'd use them again if the price was right.

 

[FISHGUTS]

Got 2.5k more than WBAC offered selling through autotrader a couple of weeks ago. Sold a 2 series gran tourer with a huge pile of extra's. They just gave me the basic model price.

 

[ericmcn]

Got 2.5k more than WBAC offered selling through autotrader a couple of weeks ago. Sold a 2 series gran tourer with a huge pile of extra's. They just gave me the basic model price.

that's the trouble with WBAC, My Subaru is worth £5k at least but I wont get that from WBAC - They don't differentiate between models and just treat it as as bog standard Subaru

 

[kissenger]

Sold my car to WBAC today. Was quoted £6250 and after checks that dropped to £5200. Managed to negotiate up to £5700.

That might sound bad, but I'm fairly happy. It was a Brown Skoda. I did not relish the prospect of trying to sell it, and there were a few issues that I would have had to pay out on soon (MOT, tyres, etc). It also worked for me because I'm hopefully going to be buying a house in the next 6 months and didn't want to take out any credit. WBAC will clear your PCP for you.

The 'negotiation' was a bit weird though, because they knocked a lot off for things I barely noticed, and didn't query some really obvious stuff, like the home repair job I did on the wheels using a £5 paint kit off Amazon! The guy said two panels had stone chips and that it's circa £400 to respray a big panel. I got the impression it's just part of their business model to more or less arbitrarily knock money off the quote and see if it works, but it is still much quicker than a private sale.

 

[MissChief]

Sold my car to WBAC today. Was quoted £6250 and after checks that dropped to £5200. Managed to negotiate up to £5700.

That might sound bad, but I'm fairly happy. It was a Brown Skoda. I did not relish the prospect of trying to sell it, and there were a few issues that I would have had to pay out on soon (MOT, tyres, etc). It also worked for me because I'm hopefully going to be buying a house in the next 6 months and didn't want to take out any credit. WBAC will clear your PCP for you.

The 'negotiation' was a bit weird though, because they knocked a lot off for things I barely noticed, and didn't query some really obvious stuff, like the home repair job I did on the wheels using a £5 paint kit off Amazon! The guy said two panels had stone chips and that it's circa £400 to respray a big panel. I got the impression it's just part of their business model to more or less arbitrarily knock money off the quote and see if it works, but it is still much quicker than a private sale.

Of course they want to knock off as much as possible so when it goes to auction they can make as much money as possible. Also if you believe they do any work on the cars before they get sold you’re sorely mistaken.

 

[mcast]

Of course they want to knock off as much as possible so when it goes to auction they can make as much money as possible. Also if you believe they do any work on the cars before they get sold you’re sorely mistaken.

That's just part of the game, most people know it's a high online offer which will be cut using nonsense excuses. The main thing is how the final offer compares to elsewhere, in my case it was fair.

Honestly, I wish they just gave you a price after survey without the excuses, makes them sound shady.

I've still not had my money, after paying for next working day, I think yesterday was an English bank holiday though.

 

[joey1211]

£50 depreciation over 8 months
You bought and sold well there.

 

[lordrobs]

Wotz yer best price blud? I’ve got £7k cash right ere, can come and get it 2nite. Is this still for sale? Asks a multitude of questions that are in the advert. Says they will be round tonight to have a look. Doesn’t turn up. And many other reasons people don’t sell privately.

It's a shame the people you've described are so prevalent as it really puts people off selling privately. I had a really frustrating time dealing with all the kids, freaks and weirdos of Norfolk plus the "Wots ur best price m8" people of the rest of the UK when selling my 306. Over a decade on I was ready to just auction my wifes Grande Punto to avoid the hassle but she insisted. Listed it via FB market place, guy arranged a viewing that same evening for the following day, bought it there and then. I was amazed!

Personally I love buying privately. By the time I go to view a car it will have to be not as described for me not to be leaving a deposit with them as I ask the obvious questions I'm not sure on upfront. You can also tell so much from a listing where someone has taken the time to describe the car. While my last two purchases have been private I can't see me buying private again as there are so few to choose from now.

My only experience of WBAC was when my boss sent me down with a 10 year old 168k Passat. Pretty decent condition and Full VW service history. After the initial assessment and some tapping on the computer we were at £80 In the end he offered £250 which we naturally didn't take them up on.

 

[HangTime]

That's just part of the game, most people know it's a high online offer which will be cut using nonsense excuses. The main thing is how the final offer compares to elsewhere, in my case it was fair.

Honestly, I wish they just gave you a price after survey without the excuses, makes them sound shady.

The thing that annoys me is not the original high offer, it's more having gone through this whole tyre-kicking chirade, then having to negotiate back up again. That guy got offered £5200 and settled on £5700 so there was at least £500 of fat there. So it undermines any confidence in their system for having science behind it, why bother saying "I'll deduct £xx for this, £yy for that" if you then subsequently whack £500 on top of it anyway, meaning the numbers must have been false? May as well just have a quick look round and say OK based on this condition we can offer 12% below the original valuation then you push back and settle on -8% or whatever. There will be people who won't push back enough, my wife would likely just accept everything at face value. Now you could argue that makes it better for others as they get enough profit out of those who don't negotiate to help subsidise lower margins available to the people who do negotiate, but their whole marketing these days seems to be based on how easy and simple everything is which isn't really the reality unless you are just after a quick sale and happy to take hit on the valuation.

I know they need to push for margins everywhere they can so it's not realistic for them to give you a final realistic price straight up following inspection, but it's frustrating nevertheless and makes you feel you may as well just be sat in a dealership thrashing out the best price-to-change deal you can.

 

[Sitoo1]

Just before lockdown I used local car buyer sell my car and they came to me which was a result because I didn't have a mot. When they got to me they did an inspection and knock the price back, what was understandable because my rear bumper was a bit bad, I did say this on the phone but they said it was worst than they expected (figures), however, they told me that when they do the inspection they knock of less than wbac, and that wbac use main dealer prices when inspecting, I wouldn't know but i was happy with what i got.