Buying a car from the mainland...

[tomah]

It seems that there are quite a few of you on here who have done this, so I thought I'd pick your collective brains.

There are obvious benefits (more options, better prices, cleaner examples) and pitfalls (hassle, expense, no comeback), but I'm wondering how you go about it. So,

1. Do you stick to owners clubs/forums where you've a better chance of getting something well looked after, or have you bought from ebay/autotrader?

2. Do you only buy from dealers? If so, how does the warranty they may normally give, apply?

3. How do you go to see it? Fly to the nearest city and get a train/meet the guy at the airport?

4. How do you get the car across? Drive/boat, or get it delivered?

5. How do you stop people selling the car before you get there? Do you give a deposit before you go to see it?​

That'll do for now. I'd just like to open up my options when looking for a new car, and getting my head around how to buy from the mainland would help with that.

 

[Eamo_vxr]

Any time I've done it, fly over and drive the car back on the boat! I always ask for really detailed photos, underneath, service history etc etc! If the seller doesnt do that for you walk away! I'd get on the blower and get an idea of what kind of person they are, I'd stay away from email/text only as it doesn't give u a good idea of the character your dealing with!
As a back up Plan, try and have a few cars to look at on the same day, realistically close to each other! Bringing a few mates and hiring a rental car and making a day of it is best.
There's risks with everything imo, if you get a good feeling go for it and remembe, if it seems to Good to be true, 99.9% of the time it is!

 

[Coog]

I bought the Jeeps on fleebay with absolutely no back-up plan lol. Was buying based entirely on description and a brief chat with the owners. Got lucky both times... as in I got home. Still have one of the Jeeps which turned out to be a cracker (lucky), the other one wasn't so great but still got good use out of it especially given the saving over a local one.

Will probably do it again for the next one as there's never any choice over here but don't think I'd fancy going for something expensive unless everything was well planned.

 

[Gaz]

1. Do you stick to owners clubs/forums where you've a better chance of getting something well looked after, or have you bought from ebay/autotrader?

I've bought about 25 cars from across the water, which is more than some people and a lot less than others. In my experience, it's really been a mixture of owners clubs, and other ads sites such as eBay/Autotrader/FreeAds/etc. Yes, you have potentially a higher chance of getting a better looked after car from the Owners Clubs but there's plenty of other good ones out there too - irrespective of where you find it, you just have to look over it carefully when buying and that will tell you a lot of what you need to know.

2. Do you only buy from dealers? If so, how does the warranty they may normally give, apply?

Bought 3 or 4 from dealers, got a warranty with them but never had to use any. I doubt it would be feasible for anything small given that the dealer in England could be 600 miles + from you and the cost of getting there is down to you, but for something like an engine failure I would certainly be pursuing it.

3. How do you go to see it? Fly to the nearest city and get a train/meet the guy at the airport?

Yup, usually.

4. How do you get the car across? Drive/boat, or get it delivered?

Always drive. Don't want a nasty surprise when it's delivered to you, you'll find out a lot more on the drive and if there's something bad rearing it's head (and you bought off a dealer) you can at least turn round and go back. Personally I'm not trusting enough either, if I got it delivered I'd be expecting them to take a lot less care than I would.

5. How do you stop people selling the car before you get there? Do you give a deposit before you go to see it?

You can, but that's a risk if the car is a pile of crap. Sometimes you just have to take their word on it that they'll hold it - that's the risk of buying far away. I always try and have a few backup cars I can also go look at, and a copy of the Trader in my bag!

 

[Father Stack]

Bought two cars from across the water, one wasn't too great, the other one was a good one.

You just need to not worry so much! Find the one car you want, and line up a few others as back ups. Or if the one you want isn't what you think, buy an autotrader and buy something to get you home then sell it on for profit when you get home.

I always just ask for lots of detailed photos and take their word for it. You're taking a risk but that's part of the fun!

 

[tbdevpaul]

Buy it as far away from stranraer as possible and enjoy the drive home LOL. I have bought two cars from the mainland, fly over and boat back, booked the boat on my journey to the boat the last time as i was stopped by the police on route and missed the one I had booked LOL

I think if you can its a good idea to set up 2 or 3 potential cars to see in the one visit and dont feel that you must buy one, if you book your flights far enough in advance book a return, might cost an extra £20 but might remove the need that you feel you must buy.

Its all very easy but make sure you have insurance etc set up for the drive home. Without that the Police would have had me that day.

The 1st car i bought hadnt been MOT for 2 years and the police sometimes check the queue at the Ferry terminal. paperwork again and a friendly police man and I got home but do your best to make sure everything is in order. Was lucky that time driving a Sorn car from Wolverhampton to Stranraer

 

[tomah]

@Eamo
Good tip on the calling them and asking for more photos. Photos are a funny thing, as I'm sure you've all discovered, in that they rarely paint the whole picture. I always try to ask, even over here, if the car has any dings, scratches, etc, and sometimes after being told 'no', you go and view it only to find out it's not 'mint' at all. I've been trying to think of better questions to put sellers on the spot, such as, "Could this car be in better condition for its age? If so, in what way?"

Also, I never thought of hiring a rental car, as you have to try and get it back to the company again. But I suppose if you've someone with you that's not an issue.

@Coog
I wouldn't be spending over £5k, so it's not really anything that could financially cripple or leave me with a loan to pay and nothing to show for it.

@Gaz
That's a lot of cars if you're not trading (or maybe you're actually about 70 years old?? )

You can get some decent prices at times for delivering cars on shiply.com, which is why I wondered about getting it delivered. The price of ferries now is frightening. But, you're right about driving it home, although it won't help much if you bought privately.

@Gaz VW
The tip to buy 'something' and drive it home to sell it for profit is an excellent tip. If you've already booked the ferry, etc, the money you could make on something could easily offset the expense incurred. Nice one!

@tbdevpaul
To be honest, I think the first time I buy from the mainland I'll buy in the Glasgow area. My dad lives there, and it would make things much easier as he'd pick me up at the airport, take me to the car, etc, etc.

The problem with booking flights in advance is the fact that you kinda need to be on the ball when buying cars under £5k as clean Honda's and BMW's don't sit long at that price.

Good real-life experience tip there, too. Thanks for that.

 

[Gaz]

@Gaz
That's a lot of cars if you're not trading (or maybe you're actually about 70 years old?? )

I'm not 70 yet, but I'll be halfway there in a few years . Used to buy and sell the odd one, but they were mostly for myself. I went through a 6 year phase of changing my car every 3 or 4 months just because I wanted to try them all lol

 

[Nicky]

1. Do you stick to owners clubs/forums where you've a better chance of getting something well looked after, or have you bought from ebay/autotrader? Have bought from Driftworks (huge drifting forum), SXOC (Nissan Owners Forum), eBay and AutoTrader.

2. Do you only buy from dealers? If so, how does the warranty they may normally give, apply? Bought privately and from dealers. Never had an issue with either, as both kinds of buyers have been more than helpful regarding emailing pictures detailing every aspect of the car which has been asked about as they know we're going to the hassle of flying over etc.

3. How do you go to see it? Fly to the nearest city and get a train/meet the guy at the airport? Usually fly to the nearest airport and get trains or taxi's to the house, or in the case of a dealer, they have picked us up from the airport.

4. How do you get the car across? Drive/boat, or get it delivered? Normally, it would just be fly over, buy car, drive home, if its as described and everything is acceptable. In the case of buying the track car, we took the ferry to Cairnryan with the jeep and trailer, drove to the guys house (600 mile from the port), bought the car, then trailered it home on the same ferry.

5. How do you stop people selling the car before you get there? Do you give a deposit before you go to see it? Any time we have bought something, if a deposit was required, it was sent via PayPal to hold the car, or just email the seller the confirmation of the flights when they are booked, which seems to be enough in most cases as they know you are genuine then. ​

Basically, if your buying a straight and genuine car, the seller should have no issue sending further pics or have any problem with you asking alot of questions, given that you'll be venturing the distance to buy from them. If they seem awkward or don't really want to cooperate, they aren't for you... Simples

 

[james123]

Mainland

I recently bought a VRS octavia from across the water, alot easier than i thought.Stuck to the forums, sent a deposit on paypal, then just organised flights, and a ferry..And got the car for alot cheaper than it would have been over here!!
The advantage of the forum was that there was loads of pics and threads rite there for me too see and it had been owned by at least two people of the Briskoda website !

 

[Daviddunlop83]

I was looking at a car last week and got an RAC inspection done on the car which was apparenly "excellent condition" with full service history and 43k on it and looked really well on all the picturs the guy sent including scans of all service history etc

Was so bad the RAC guy wouldnt even road test it.

Look at the report below

 

[Coog]

Those RAC checks seem pretty comprehensive

 

[tomah]

I've never known anyone to splash out £150 to get an RAC check done.

Nice one! Good to know they're comprehensive.

Was that just the Essentials package?

 

[Daviddunlop83]

I've never known anyone to splash out £150 to get an RAC check done.

Nice one! Good to know they're comprehensive.

Was that just the Essentials package?

£150 was more like £240

It was the full check not just the essentials one.

There is 11 pages of it but i didnt put it all up as a couple of the pages have the full details of the car and owners etc on it.

 

[Daviddunlop83]

One good thing they do also is check all the paint depth with the electronic gauge so even if a panel has been painted well they will still know.

 

[tbdevpaul]

240 seems like a bargain for that david, money well spent. Do the RAC then cover the car if it ****s itself ?

 

[stevieturbo]

Sounds like a lot of "mint" cars in England. The value of the inspection is really dependant on the value of the purchase.

And The inspection is purely that. I doubt you would have any comeback, as nobody can predict what might happen in the future. The inspection is only valid for the vehicle at that time.

But it may help in buying an RAC warranty for the vehicle if the inspection was good. I'd think most inspectors would err on the side of caution with their report too, so a car would need to be up to scratch.

Does their report cover accident, finance etc like HPI offer ?

 

[Daviddunlop83]

Sounds like a lot of "mint" cars in England. The value of the inspection is really dependant on the value of the purchase.

And The inspection is purely that. I doubt you would have any comeback, as nobody can predict what might happen in the future. The inspection is only valid for the vehicle at that time.

But it may help in buying an RAC warranty for the vehicle if the inspection was good. I'd think most inspectors would err on the side of caution with their report too, so a car would need to be up to scratch.

Does their report cover accident, finance etc like HPI offer ?

There isnt any come back with the inspection etc as you said.

Yeah they HPI the car for you when you book the inspection.

On the day of the inspection the RAC guy who does it gives you a call and gives you a brief verbal report then emails you the full written one the next day.

They tell you if any panels etc have been replaced as that car i had done had one of the front wings replaced again badly

 

[Daviddunlop83]

240 seems like a bargain for that david, money well spent. Do the RAC then cover the car if it ****s itself ?

I dont think they cover it like that as anything could happen 100 miles up the road lol

Tho he did say i would be suprised if this car made it back to ireland with the rattle from the tensioner haha

 

[Daviddunlop83]

The owner said when i rang him he knew very little about the cars and when i sent him the report i think he was genuinely gutted as he didnt own the car for very long or know of any of the issues with it.

 

[tomah]

How much do you need to spend before this becomes worthwhile? £5k? £10k?

I haven't bought anything over £5k as yet, and wouldn't think of getting an RAC check, but I'll certainly be keeping it in mind for future purchases, especially if it saves a wasted trip to the mainland.

Excellent tip!

 

[mickyl87]

Three cars from across the water here, all from dealers, never a problem!

 

[Simon998]

Picked up a few cars myself, all off owners forums though - the drive back is nearly worth the trip alone if the car's something mildly exciting.

 

[JB_VXR]

I'm looking to pick a car up from a dealer in England, but I'll be trading in my Astra. Real pain in the arse cause he'll have me over a barrel if I land with the car and he values it lower than what he said in the photos

 

[Coog]

As long you were honest and he's not a coont you should be grand JB