We Buy Any Car….a question

TZ-UK Forums TZ-UK Forums walkerwek1958

I`m sure plenty of folks on here have experience dealing with We Buy Any Car. Took my 2010 plate Jag XF along this morning to get a firm offer, the on-line price they gave was £3310 which seemed reasonable, I’m under no illusions about its value despite the condition being very good and the mileage low, it’s a big car that’s 14 years old. Nice lady looked at the documents, checked the mileage reading, walked around the car, didn’t seem inspect it in detail, noted a few stonechips and marks on the alloy wheels. She actually missed the tiny dent at the base of the C post (I didn’t bother pointing it out) but she saw the tiny chips of missing paint on the rear bumper where I`d parked it too close to a brick wall (twice) where I used to live.

Back in the office, typed a few things into a tablet then hit me with an offer of £2894. The paint/body is being rated as grade 3 which is crazy, and £400 is being knocked off the offer accordingly. Wheels could do with some refinishing (no chips or cracks) but only £12 is being knocked off for this!

I suspect the process is set up to always knock significant amounts off for stone chips and very minor paint imperfections, I believe the lady simply went through the motions, checking there were no dents or proper scratches, then rated it grade 3 as I suspect all cars will be rated. The car’s 14+ years old, minor imperfections are inevitable and that should be reflected in the trade value.

I`ve had a text asking for feedback and reasons for not selling to them. I gave a brief reply stating I disagreed with the basis for reducing the valuation.

Here’s my question: are they likely to come back to me with an increased offer? I could wait to find out but I`d appreciate comments based on first-hand experience. I know they’re renowned for lowballing, when I questioned the offer with the young lady her answer was ‘but it’s got scratches’………I didn’t debate it but I felt she was reading off script! As a polite mature gentleman (honestly!) I thanked her for the offer, stated it wasn`t enough, and bid her good-day.

I used to enjoy the experience of swapping cars, nowadays I`d get as much pleasure from replacing a fridge-freezer or dishwasher, it’s almost a distress purchase and the process is a pain in the arse.

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