A survey that’s unlikely to encourage many foxy lady drivers to take a financial risk at car auctions confirms that close on a third of buyers regretted buying an unreliable car.
And wouldn’t have if they’d known this of course.
Unreliability and breakdowns soon after purchase are the biggest regrets mentioned in a recent survey by Manheim Auctions.
Nearly a third of all respondents mentioned that their biggest regret was buying an unreliable car and 24% claimed their car broke down soon after they bought it. Nearly 15% of motorists regretted buying a car because they found it to be too expensive to run while 11% admitted that they paid too much for their car.
Only 3% of motorists did not like the colour of the car they had bought ‘proving that colour choice is a key buying decision factor’ [sic]. I’d have thought the opposite; that colour wouldn’t matter to those who were buying for price reasons. And unsurprising for the same reasons and to be expected in a recession, only 2% were concerned that the car they bought was not as environmentally friendly as they had thought at the time. Even though this would cost them more in running costs…
Andy Cullwick at Manheim Auctions explains
“Research is key to buying any car, as is buying from a reputable source whether it is an auction, car supermarket or dealer. The internet is great for information gathering and for researching running costs including insurance, fuel consumption as well as service and repair costs. Don’t necessarily avoid high mileage cars; these tend to be ex fleet cars that have been well maintained and regularly serviced and may still have the remainder the original warranty in place.”
I’m not an expert of course but I seem to remember that it’s largely a male dominated and ‘caveat emptor’ environment where this sort of dissonance can be expected. Perhaps Manheim bucks the trend here by providing more support services for customers than others at their physical and online auctions?
But for the very reason this survey spells out, I’d steer clear of live auctions unless you know what you’re doing. Avoid ‘sold as seen’ cars unless you’re prepared to take a big risk and where in doubt ask for an Engineer’s report (for a fee) if you want a second opinion about the mechanical state of the car in question.
Prior to the bidding process, it also makes sense to check out the car’s value online, its performance in the reliability index, its safety performance at NCAP, the car’s servicing record, VED and insurance ratings before taking the plunge. Because you have little comeback in law if you buy a lemon as the following statistics confirm.
Regrets some 3000 motorists had after buying a car at an auction.
It wasn’t very reliable 30.3%
It broke down soon after I bought it 24.3%
It was expensive to run 14.8%
I paid too much for it 10.7%
I didn’t like the colour 3.3%
It wasn’t as ‘green’ as I thought 2.3%
FOXY
Members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club can count on a handholding and advisory service when they come to buy a new or used car. Heaven forbid they end up with a lemon but if they do we help them sort it out and, if all routes are then exhausted, we can at least tell other ladies inside the Club about their experiences so they don’t have the same problem.