42 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
ntil a few weeks ago,
buying a car online
appeared to offer one
major advantage over
physically buying it
from a dealer: convenience. Now you
can add one more: safeguarding your
health. If you must buy a car at this
time, doing so remotely has much to
commend it.
Bu y i n g on l i ne h a s b e e n a r ou nd for
years but is given extra prominence
when, from time to time, a car maker
or new player in the market launches
its own platform, as Hyundai did in
2 017 w it h C l ic k t o Bu y. Joh n Fr e e l ,
one of its first customers, is full of
praise for the new service. “I can’t be
bothered going into showrooms and I
don’t like being pressurised,” he says.
“I d id it at w ork w he n t h i n gs w e r e
quieter and then thought: ‘Fine,
I’m just going to go for it and click.’”
Convenience and lack of sales
pressure: Freel put his finger on why
buying a car online, directly from the
manufacturers or via services such
our sister brand What Car?’s New Car
Buying, is popular. We could name a
third reason: fixed, no-haggle prices.
Apparently, most people don’t like
negotiating. I personally enjoy it and,
in any case, you owe it to yourself to
get the price best possible. As you chip
away, you test the seller’s confidence
in their prices and you may find all
sorts of extras are thrown in. That
said, it would take a pretty ruthless
haggler to achieve some of the
online savings we quote in our price
comparison box on the opposite page.
All the same, as you would with a
dealer, do shop around when buying
online. Compare prices, including
any additional fees and charges,
before clicking. You wouldn’t be
the first person to pay more for that
fixed-price car than someone else.
THE TEST DRIVE
Freel also talked about convenience.
It ’s t r ue t h at bu y i n g a c a r at w ork i n
U
Dealerships are closed and he’s stuck at home, so John Evans goes car shopping online
How to buy a car during a pandemic