After about 15 years without needing a car, suddenly I do. I’m looking toi buy something like a Polo (previous good experiences with VW) for about £12K. I have a horror of car showrooms and even more of meeting car owners in pub carparks so I’m tempted by services like cazoo, where the car magically appears on my driveway.

Has anyone used them and got advice and/or experiences to share?

I bought a 17 plate Seat Leon FR from Here last January – less than 4 years old 41k miles with full service history for £10k

No part exchange.

Very painless experience, they sent an invoice, I paid it & they gave me a choice of delivery slots – car turned up on my chosen day an hour early (from 200 miles away)

I work for Cazoo, at one of their repair and refurbishment centres, so I see the cars that come in and go out. The rejected ones get taken away on BCA and Cinch transporters…

Cazoo do have some actual showrooms, there’s one in Brislington, Bristol, but as you say, having the car delivered to your house, at a time of your choosing, it’s a huge advantage. Plus, and this is something I feel very strongly about, you get seven days to drive the car around, and it often takes a few miles and hours for any niggles to appear.

Not directly what you asked, but I bought a car from this fella recently and I have to say his service was brilliant, both during and after the sale.

https://www.encorecars.co.uk/stock/used-vehicles-in-christchurch-dorset?make=&model=&pricerange=0%2C18000&VehicleType=car&version=&odometerrange=&enginesizerange=&fueltype=&Transmission=&bodytype=&seats=&color=

Just bought our second from Motorpoint. I was shitting myself when we bought the big car in 2020 from them, raking through the Ts and Cs to find the catch… there really isn’t.

high quality cars, great service and communications, and within 2 weeks if you find anything you don’t like – colour, door handle position, whatever – jsut had it back for a full refund.

In almost every way the complete opposite to buying from a dealer, who are, as yet without exception in my experience, pigging awful in every way

I’ve just bought a 69 plate car from Cazoo.
Purchase was effortless. Car arrived on time in the back of one of their trucks. Car was exactly as described on the website (the high def photos were really good too).

Customer service has also been brilliant – the car has unfortunately broken down (it’s a manufacturer warranty issue, nothing to do with Cazoo) but they were great in helping to arrange a courtesy car, following up with the repairs at a main dealer, etc.

Even though my car is off the road for now, I’d definitely buy from Cazoo again.

I just bought from Cazoo. Can’t fault them. Will definitely use again.

All I would say is I’m not sure a Polo is a good choice, I know people who have had very bad experiences. I’d go Japanese Personally.

Daughter recently bought a German show pony from one of those places. It came on a transporter from Aberdeen to, er, Hampshire! She seems happy.

My son recently used one of these online providers. There was some confusion as the description didn’t match the picture (which had more extras visible) but the car delivered was the one in the picture. I have to say it’s stunning the only problem being that having payed £25 for fuel it was delivered empty but that has since been refunded.

I bought a Megane 300 from Cazoo. Took quite a leap of faith to buy that kind of car online but all was well (apart from the flat battery on collection, a known issue with these as they have a lightweight lithium battery that hold about as much charge as the battery in a 5yr old iPhone). It was well presented, the lad that did the handover hand done his research, and no hard sell of paint protect crap, GAP, warranties etc and I got a good price for my p/ex.

I think outfits like this are going above and beyond at the moment to try and grab market share, I fear once they’ve got their foothold established they’ll go the way of just about every other large motor group.

I bought a mustang through the Cazoo Bristol branch about 4 weeks ago and they were excellent. Car was better than described and the service was spot on – a few small hiccups with organisation were well dealt with. I thought the 7 day return with free insurance was a glorified test drive; OK it is limited to 250 miles but you get a reasonable sense of the car in that time.

I’d certainly look at using the then again if I was looking for a car.

Just watched a Cazoo advert on TV. It said their cars are reconditioned. To me, reconditioned means a faulty product returned for a refund, repaired, then sold on. Is that right?

I don’t think they’re reconditioned in the faulty sense – more like “detailed”. My car has a full, clean, history and has been prepared / detailed and it looks brand new. They really had done a good job. When I got it home I checked all the fluids and pressures etc and everything was exactly where it should have been.

I bought a Leon from Cazoo, as above, properly detailed and like a new car.

I sent it back after the 7 days (various reasons) and that was pretty painless too. (Apart from the fact that it was worth 2 grand more a week or so later!)

Damn, there’s some nice cars on that Cazoo site.

I’d love this thing- https://www.cazoo.co.uk/car-details/b212d829-4544-5b96-9837-e760ff578b47/

I never thought I’d see the day that a Toyota Yaris was my dream car. But we’ve got a kid now so I’d settle for this- https://www.cazoo.co.uk/car-details/1bb3582d-144b-5d76-9ce5-174e39cf3ff9/

With my sensible head on I’d have this. Spent ages looking for one last year but they were all hammered by horsey types who have to cross ploughed fields and gravel tracks to reach their mansions- https://www.cazoo.co.uk/car-details/f739caa0-e91e-53c0-be5a-3a151324461c/

I work for Cazoo, at one of their repair and refurbishment centres, so I see the cars that come in and go out.

Any chance of mates rates? STW group buy? Secret staff discount code? That 8.9 APR is the killer for me.

I’d love this thing- https://www.cazoo.co.uk/car-details/b212d829-4544-5b96-9837-e760ff578b47/

I could probably get you mates rates on one of those 😀

Off Cazoo, you can buy one, rag it for a week and give it back. Just say it was too small, or you’re not 19 or something.

I’ve just contacted them, they did say that 8.9% is their lowest APR.

I could probably get you mates rates on one of those 😀

I don’t want a stolen one. But, depends how hot it is.

To the OP – previous good experiences of VW don’t mean a good one nowadays! I’ve just had a Golf recently as a temporary car for a few months and it was the worst built car I’ve ever driven, and it was only 2 years old.
Their quality is dropping like a stone by all accounts and other brands have surpassed them and they certainly aren’t that reliable.

I’ve considered it, but how can you tell if a car smells of dogs/fags etc. Plus it’s difficult to spot resprayed panels even on high def pics.

Also isn’t cazoo owned by the daily mail?

mudmuncher

I’ve considered it, but how can you tell if a car smells of dogs/fags etc. Plus it’s difficult to spot resprayed panels even on high def pics.

But that’s not how their business works. So those things aren’t even a consideration.