Reverse Car Auctions
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Reverse Car Auctions – Better deal? Perhaps not!
Reverse car auction websites have recently become flavour of the month here in Australia. There are minor variations between them, but here are some pitfalls you should watch out for if you decide to use one of these sites:- Are you required to make a committment to buy the car before you get the final price? There are usually monetary penalties if you do not buy the car. Why pay hundreds of dollars if you end up with a bad price? Look closely at the terms and conditions. If a site requires you to send in a Certificate of Death for a refund, you know they’re keen to hang on to your cash…
- How many dealers will respond to the auction? Can they guarantee a certain number of bids? How many times can each dealer bid?
I know from over 20 years in the business that dealers detest putting in bids if they don’t get a very high sucess rate. Check how long the site has been around for. - Who runs the site? Is it a website marketing company, or someone who knows about the industry? Anyone can set up an automated system to email dealers to ask for bids, but the real strength of a car broker lies in the dealer network. Do they have solid dealer network, or are they just emailing dealerships blindly?
- Ask yourself this: If they can run a “reverse auction”, why can’t you? Virtually all dealers have websites, and emails. Do it yourself and save hundreds – if you really believe the reverse auction system works!
- How can you be sure that it is a genuine auction? I am sure there are people who never believed the real estate industry was (and still is?) plauged with “dummy bidding”. Online reverse car auctions are totally unregulated. That means buyer beware. Ask the questions up front and the answers in writing!
- In talking with dealers, I have found out that some marketing companies run these online “auction sites” and charge “membership fees” to dealers that participate. Up to thousands of dollars per month! Who pays for this undisclosed money changing hands? You do!
Make sure you ask whether the auction website charges any fees whatsoever to any dealers – including “advertising” or “membership” fees. - Can dealers “work the system”? Of course they can. The hands-off approach taken by website operators (i.e. take your cash and hope for the best) means dealers are free to cooperate between themselves to limit your discount. Many have also experienced “auction sniping”at ebay – which is one of the main drawbacks of these types of auctions. The dealer would submit his price only seconds before closing, thereby not allowing anyone else enough time to respond with a counter bid.
Testimonials
All went well with the sale - your dealer was helpful, friendly and arranged the tray with no fuss or fanfare. The whole process has been totally painless and I will (and have been) recommend your service to everyone.
R.H., Mitcham
Being a single woman, the thing I appreciated most was not being ripped off by sleazy car salesmen. I actually paid much less than a guy working in my office who bought (almost) the same car!
L.R., Sydney
Thankyou very much Carbroker.com.au for helping us to buy our new car. We are very happy with the process of buying a car through Carbroker.com.au. We usually have big arguments over haggling so it was a great relief to get CarBroker to do all the hard work to relieve the stress on us and our marriage. And we still got a great price!
N&M, Sydney
This is by far the best money I have EVER spent. An outlay of just a few dollars saved me thousands - even on a limited edition vehicle! In fact, I saved so much I added a few optional accessories and still bought the vehicle at less than the retail price for the car alone (not to mention dealer delivery fees and charges). The savings didn't end there. I saved another bundle with the insurance you recommended (approx 33% less than another quote I already had). The savings here will continue for years to come! Not only will I be recommending your services to everyone I know, I will be using your services again myself. This is the ultimate car purchasing experience! Thank you again for your excellent service and attention to detail.
M.K., Brisbane
This is the very first time that I have ever bought anything via the internet, or ever done any business over this means, and so I want to specially thank you for honouring my trust. Yet you also did much more than that, you got me a far bigger saving, (over twice that which I imagined possible), with a good and reputable dealer, delivered at our nominated timing, and you displayed great patience with myself through the process. This is my wife's very first new car and she is absolutely delighted with it. So much so, that she has not even allowed me to have a drive of it yet. And so I guess we have all been winners, haven't we? And what could be better than that?
K.S., Brisbane
It is a sorely needed service as we have had nothing but stress and grief with the dealers we have approached ourselves.
J.F., Melbourne
Thank you again. I could not have asked for better service. Having been faced with unhelpful dealers it was just so easy to place a Internet request on Thursday and to be in a new car Monday afternoon, it was more than I could have asked for. I would definitely recommend the services that you provide, without hesitation.
P.H., Canberra
I drove around in my old car most of today and decided that I really had enough of it. Your quoted price of $18,200 is at least $1,000 cheaper than any of the others; I have been to three different dealers and haggled all day long.
S.L., Brisbane
I am impressed by your professional approach with your customers. Therefore, I have already recommended your service to my collegues, friends. I would again use your service in the future when I buy the next car for my wife. I will continue support you and your dealers in the future as you all are doing wonderful jobs!
L.I.I., Brisbane
We saved around $1500 which was absolutely fantastic given that it resulted from only one web enquiry and five minutes of our time! Thankyou so much. And, yes, we will tell others of your service.
J.T., Canberra