CAZOO : anyone bought a car off them?

CAZOO.co.uk have a used car listed that I’m interested in.
Just wondering if anyone has used before?

You buy online and they deliver to your door. No test drive as such, but you have seven days to return if there’s anything that your not happy with.
And 90-day warranty which is normal.
No haggling, the list price is the price. Which tbh is quite competitive on the car I’m looking at.

Also interested if anyone has part-ex’d with them, any valuation or nit-picking issues?

Generally at first sight it looks quite good, but just checking.

Also registering interest for same reasons.

They have pickup points in the big English cities as well FWIW. Not an option for me but may be for you.

Id be wary of buying a used car that’s delivered to your door as it may not be as described or not up to your standards

Then you will have to arrange for it to be collected and then go through the process again for the next one

Dealers dont always describe their cars accurately, honestly or even check them properly

Went to a well known big dealer around 30 miles from me last weekend to look at a car, they offered to have it delivered to me to save me going there but i like to look around cars before i buy

looked around it and noticed bits were missing, bits were broken, different parts fitted than standard, looked underneath and there was corrosion in areas which it shouldn’t of had on a car of its age

Looked at the service history and the book had a missing service stamp, no receipts for the different parts that had been fitted, no receipts for anything that it had done outside of the servicing

This was on 16 plate car up for £15’000

If that had been delivered to me id be very unhappy

Even after i explained all the issues to the sales guy and politely said it wasn’t for me he still tried the old trick of i got someone coming in an hour to look at it, are you sure you dont want it

Car is still there so the other person looking that day was either non existent, didn’t turn up or turned up and saw what i saw and walked away

Its always best to view before you buy with cars!

Partner’s Dad did – around £15k’s worth. Facepalm when I heard, but on seeing it it looks good. No bits missing, broken or obviously corroded. Not an endorsement though, I’d still want to see it. But, I’m no mechanic, and the Cazoo 7-day return option would give you time to get it to a mechanic for a check-up.

There’s a Cazoo in Cardiff that I ride past regularly, it’s a showroom/service centre on Penarth Road where Land Rover used to be for those that know the area. Had a look at the cars and there was the odd decent one but most were tired looking and had been over-prepped. By that I mean the plastics were overly shiny, tyres were wet-looked to death and plenty were hiding poor smart repairs. They most likely have lots of good cars to choose from but there were plenty of duffers to see. Reminded me of Carcraft who had a terrible reputation.

I’d want to see the car first before purchase personally.

Not bought from them but did buy my Z3 sight unseen earlier in the year and had it delivered via Shiply. Was sub £1k for the car though so less risk.
Od also seen lots of photos and a FaceTime walk around it, which was pretty useful.
It was as I expected it to be; bit dirtier from the 400 mile journey on a beaver tail in the rain but no surprises.
I think if I’d have been spending a good bit more I’d have been a bit more cautious but it really depends what the small print is in their guarantee I guess.

Colleague just bought from them, delivered unseen. Was definitely nervous dropping decent money (~£18k iirc) on something he’d not had chance to test drive, but seems pretty happy with it and and the process. Price seemed good for the spec he got.

Check the description thoroughly, a lot are ex hire cars.

Thanks all.
HonestJohn.co.uk has pretty good feedback on Cazoo to be fair.
Though I am pretty disappointed that the price has gone up by £2k since the car I am after appeared on their website yesterday. Making it more-or-less the same as other dealer prices where I can pop along and take a look.

Always try and avoid looking at a car when its wet as it hides all the paint changes where you might be able to spot repaired damage.

If anyone’s interested in this, I can update… I googled Cazoo and this thread was pretty near the top of the results!
I bought a car from Cazoo and decided to send it back after the 7 days (various reasons), so might have some useful info for those thinking of buying from them.

Firstly the car was mint. Absolutely as they described it. Their photos are good (a bit glossed up), but show everything in good detail – including the “faults” list. They pointed out some marks on the car, that I didn’t even see. So that’s good.
They took a car in PX off me and gave me what they said, a quick look over the car was all it took, long as the paperwork is in order, I’m not sure they’re bothered.
I collected the car, which was nice n easy. Delivery seemed a bit odd for a car, so as I had a px to drive there, collection worked for me.
A young boy was there to greet me, only other folk around were in the workshop, and did all the paperwork. Then showed me the car, which was covered with a Cazoo cloth, so they can do the big reveal. Quite amusing, I’m sure some people enjoy that, the kid said they have some film the moment. Arf. Quick lookover the car and a photo of the happy customer and I drove it away.
Then you check your bloody emails. Email for choosing, email for the px, email for collecting etc etc, so many auto-generated emails, when you actually need to find some useful information it takes a bit of digging! And usually you can’t find it, so you have to email them anyway and get another automated reply, followed by a cust service message, hopefully containing the info you asked for.
Customer service seems to be manned by inexperienced kids – when I phoned to say I wanted to return the car, it seemed to cause utter confusion. Eventually a truck arrived the next day (useful phone call from the driver just before arrival) and the car was photographed and collected. More confusion as he thought he was taking it back for repair.
Another 17 emails later and it’s all over. All I’m left with is a Cazoo branded umbrella and a few other freebees. And a wait for the refund, should be quick, the pickup driver told me 😉

In summary, Cazoo is an ok way to buy a car, needs a few tweaks to actually make it a decent customer experience, but next time I think I’d like to test drive first, rather than go through the 7 day return rigmarole.

I bought my Jag XF from them a few months back – but opted to pickup from the showroom rather than have it delivered. I didn’t like the idea of not seeing it properly before it was suddenly on my drive.

It was very slick tbh – paid online – sorted drive away insurance online. Arrived to pick up up and it had a big sheet over it and they’d opened doors at both ends of the showroom to be Covid compliant.

The girl was really friendly – just checked driving licence and road tax / full insurance were sorted – then did the V5c.

Showed me round the car and features and have me time to give it a good look over. It’s really clean / tidy and low ish mileage (20k on the clock) with a small amount of manufacturers warranty left. It was pretty much the best priced one on autotrader in the colour / spec I was happy with.

Only flaw was it was advertised with 2 keys and the day before pickup they rang to say they’d found they only had 1 key. They’re picking up the bill for a new 2nd key but the global shortage of microchips is proving difficult as Jaguar don’t have a suitable spare key right now so they’re emailing me weekly with an update.

So I’d buy from them again – the communication was excellent and still is.

Ok, I’ve got to ask the obvious question. If everything with the car seemed good – why did you end up having to return it?

Everything was as described by Cazoo, is what I said.
Wasn’t quite what I wanted though, hence “next time I think I’d like to test drive first” actually meaning “I’d definitely like to test drive first”! 🙂

Yes.

It never arrived.

Weeks and weeks of excuses, supposed problems that needed sorting all sorts of lies and bullshit

Eventually I got a full refund and £300 compensation

I would not touch with a barge pole if you want your car on time and as described.

desperatebicycle
Free Member
Wasn’t quite what I wanted though, hence “next time I think I’d like to test drive first” actually meaning “I’d definitely like to test drive first”! 🙂

Fair enough, quite impressive that they didn’t seem to try and wriggle out of it

I bought a 2017 Skoda Fabia from them a few months ago. I usually have high standards for our cars but this one was a “white good” purchase as an urban runabout. What swung it for me was the convenience, history & damage photos being visible online and a reasonable price.

I suspect that Cazoo are backed by equity partners and have an expansionist business plan – profit is less important to them than building revenue. They were launching on the NY stock exchange a few weeks after I bought my humble Skoda, so I sensed that they would go all-out to keep customers sweet.

It wasn’t an entirely hassle-free purchase because the handover was delayed by some additional prep being needed and then some miscommunication about delivery – resulting in it randomly turning up while I was on a Teams call. The minor exterior damage was slightly better than photographed, but there was some un-photographed additional wear inside the car that would have been hard to miss. Their prep included fitting two really nasty new tyres in addition to some mis-matched rears, which I budgeted to replace and were legal I suppose. My standards for 4-year-old budget car might be higher than most though!

I did complain about a missing spec item (keyless drive, which I was 99% wasn’t there anyway) and the confused delivery. This resulted in an offer of a free service, MoT and £100 refund. Can’t complain really.

Like I say, this was an emotion-free purchase of a basic car from what amounts to a digital car supermarket with a publicity machine supporting its max-growth plan. None of the up- or downsides surprised me.

Someone likes this unicorn as it has a $2.5bn valuation – as do the other used car delivery suppliers.

Fair enough, quite impressive that they didn’t seem to try and wriggle out of it

Indeed, that’s why I mentioned it. Was slightly worried that there would be quibbles with their no quibble guarantee, but there wasn’t really. Apart from “as you picked it up, can you bring it back?”
Er, no, I won’t be able to get home! Took 3 phone calls and an email to get the return truck sorted.

Best car buying experience I’ve had, simple as that.

Had an issue with the tyre pressure valve and they booked it into BMW to have a new one fitted foc.

Took my PX hassle free and best price.

Can’t fault the service on the day. Drop of new car, give you time to make sure you are happy and then load the px onto same wagon and gone.

Never will I drag myself round car dealerships ever again.

planning on selling them my yeti next week so we’ll see what its like going the other way.
one not far from me so ill drop it off.

Yep, bought an 18 month old Golf GTI off them about a month ago. As described / photos on the website apart from no mention of a missing owners manual but no big deal. The photos of ‘damage’ ie stone chips were actually more exaggerated than you would notice when car is in front of you. The delivery driver told me that their standard way of checking for damage is to stand 2 meters away and if anything can be seen then they will note it as such. A tip is to save any photos from website and then enlarge so you can check things like tyre makes etc. Mine had different makes of tyres front to back which I was aware of due to doing the above but they did not mention in ad. Given the car was @£4k cheaper than equivalent from Arnold Shark I was not that bothered tho!
Delivery experience was good, on time and plenty of updates, would probably use again.

You would have to be clinically insane to buy a used car without driving it, or even seeing it, in my opinion.

But then, thats exactly what my Sister just did. Golf. Grey. Miserly Spec. No options. About as dull as you can get. Put a similar amount of effort into choosing it, and buying it, as she would purchasing a replacement washing machine from AO.

I asked her how she knew whether she liked the way it handles, or whether the control weight was nice or the seating position was OK, did the engine feel punchy or run out of puff at higher RPM.
She looked at me like I had two heads.

“Its got apple carplay?”

Not for me I’m afraid.

“Its got apple carplay?”

For some people that is what is important and there is nothing wrong with that.

Put a similar amount of effort into choosing it, and buying it, as she would purchasing a replacement washing machine from AO.

Is how we will choose our next car because we couldn’t give a gnat’s about…

the way it handles, or whether the control weight was nice or the seating position was OK, did the engine feel punchy or run out of puff at higher RPM.

For many people, and we’re two of them, a car is just another household appliance.

FWIW I like cars and am reasonably knowledgable about them but if someone asked me whether the control weight was nice I would look at them like they had two heads too.

“Its got apple carplay?”

Ha! One of top reasons I sent the car back was because I didn’t like the sound of the music system. WTF is control weight? Driving heroes are not compatible with Cazoo. WGAF.

@snotrag

You would have to be clinically insane to buy a used car without driving it, or even seeing it, in my opinion.

I felt exactly the same way. But in June last year, we urgently needed a vehicle, and with all dealers basically still shut, online car supermarket was the only way I could get what we need. Motorpoint.

It was a BIG cash purchase, and I poured over the T&Cs to find an issue, but it really is just standard distance selling. It’s like buying a pair of trousers. You don’t like it, it gets sent back. At the dealers expense. I had days to drive it around and check it all out. any questions were dealt with immediately and accurately. It was a superb experience.

Vehicle was great, had extras that were not in the advert worth a fair old whack, and the price paid was massively less than the same vehicle advertised from main dealers, whom I couldn’t buy from anyway.

where’s the catch?

I asked her how she knew whether she liked the way it handles, or whether the control weight was nice or the seating position was OK, did the engine feel punchy or run out of puff at higher RPM.
She looked at me like I had two heads.

If its not 90% of people then its easily a majority that care not a jot for “steering feel” or “handling”. Personally i’d never buy a car without test driving it, but i’m probably in the minority.

Price, Body type, Make and colour are pretty much what most people care about. If that wasn’t the case then Cazoo’s business model would be dead.

When you buy a car from a dealer you get maybe an hour to look around it, test drive about 10 minutes, then you’re expected to pay a £500 deposit to pick it up in a week or 2 when you settle in full, often with last minute hiccups or delays at pick-up, and some issues that need sorting after purchase (e.g. missing keys / incorrect Nav SD cards etc.). All of this after looking through Auto-trader for hours and then spending hours driving round all the different dealerships to find out that 60% are nothing like advertised.

Contrast this with looking on one website, finding a car you like, having it delivered to your door and then having 7 days to check it out / unlimited test drive, with an apparent ‘no hassle returns policy’ (which I very much doubt you get with a dealership), I think I’d be hard-pressed not to.

If its not 90% of people then its easily a majority that care not a jot for “steering feel” or “handling”.

BMW 1-series is a great example. BMW realised that customers couldn’t muster up a single shit about it being a rear wheel drive “Ultimate Driving Machine”

Contrast this with looking on one website, finding a car you like, having it delivered to your door and then having 7 days to check it out / unlimited test drive, with an apparent ‘no hassle returns policy’ (which I very much doubt you get with a dealership), I think I’d be hard-pressed not to.

You are absolutely right, a 7 day no quibble return is definitely better. But, I think their business model would fall to pieces of more than a tiny percentage ever returned the cars.

Indeed, that’s why I mentioned it. Was slightly worried that there would be quibbles with their no quibble guarantee, but there wasn’t really. Apart from “as you picked it up, can you bring it back?”
Er, no, I won’t be able to get home! Took 3 phone calls and an email to get the return truck sorted

What happened with your PX ?

unlimited test drive

7 days and 250miles are the limits actually.

What happened with your PX ?

Interesting question! You don’t get that back and they use a bank trans system to give you the cash they paid. (Not come through yet, so don’t know how smooth this is)
I didn’t want the car back – handily… it was my son’s car. He’s just started uni, and left it for me to sell 🙂 – oh yes, one of the good things about Cazoo is you don’t have to have owned the px for a min period (most, eg. webuyanycar, do have a minimum)… Cazoo’s terms say they require 6 months ownership, but insider information told me this wasn’t the case.

Personally i’d never buy a car without test driving it, but i’m probably in the minority.

I’m the same but…

I haven’t a ****ring clue so wouldn’t notice anything anyway unless it shat a piston out of the exhaust

I knew the car I was buying was generally reviewed in the press as being one of the best drivers cars in its class (admittedly of big / heavy estate cars), plus kit a bigger version of what I had. So I just went for it and all good.

way it handles….control weight was nice…..engine feel punchy or run out of puff at higher RPM

Smurfmatt is that you?

Id be wary of buying a used car that’s delivered to your door as it may not be as described or not up to your standards

Then you will have to arrange for it to be collected and then go through the process again for the next one

Dealers dont always describe their cars accurately, honestly or even check them properly

Speaking as someone who, for two years, picked up and drove literally hundreds of cars, vans, etc, I discovered pretty quickly that the average test drive didn’t begin to reveal all the niggles that reveal themselves once you’ve covered significant distances, things like seating comfort, unreliable infotainment systems, poor ergonomics, awkward to use gearboxes, and poor ride quality, among other things. I quickly grew to loathe Berlingos and Partners, I found that seats in some Mercedes seem to follow the idea that a hard, barely padded seat is good enough for a racing driver, so it’s quite good enough for everyone else. I hate BMW manual ‘boxes, and 4-Series with Sports suspension and low-profile run-flats are to be avoided at all costs.
As far as Cazoo are concerned, they’re incredibly fussy about the cars they choose to sell – someone above said something about ex-hire cars – most are ex-fleet cars and hire cars, but so what? Where do you imagine the second-hand cars that dealers sell come from? Certainly not the ones they take as trade in, because many of those will be rather past their best, and will go off to auction. I can say that the quality of cars sold by Cazoo is very high, in fact excellent, I know because I see them every day at work; I work for Cazoo, the company I joined nearly four years ago was bought by Cazoo earlier this year, because we are a large repair and refurbishment business. Among the cars we have on site, apart from the run-of-the-mill ones, we’ve got a bunch of Teslas, a soft-top Mustang, a Porsche Macan, various top-end Range Rovers, Mazda MX-5’s, we had a beautiful Abart 500 656 Riva, in lovely two-tone dark blue and silver paint, Acropovic exhaust and lovely wood trim, I didn’t know they even existed! What else, a Maserati Ghibli, BMW M3 Competition, a Z4 M4…
I get to see what Cazoo accepts and what they reject, I’m doing despatch checks every day, making sure that everything the car came in with is what it goes out with – number of keys, books, tools, spare or inflation kit, etc; anything missing I flag, pull the car and send it back to QC to get the items replaced. I also do maintenance checks, taking photos of any significant windscreen damage that might have happened since the car arrived, which can happen, and any other issues like flat batteries that need to be sorted.
We’ve also recently had installed a machine for refinishing diamond-cut alloys, we’re getting an MOT centre built, plus much improved facilities for us. What gets rejected goes off to auction. Where it will likely get bought by dealers to tart up before selling on.
But honestly, the number of posts I’ve read on here about the miserable experience people have had trying to buy a car from a dealer, being met with indifference and/or long waiting times, one would imagine that a system where you can search for a car that fulfills most, if not all criteria, have it delivered in a proper transporter to your door, then have a week to properly get a feel for the vehicle, and then be able to return it with no questions would be met with, if not outpourings of unconfined joy, at least a fair measure of relief at not having to deal with sales people who think they’re doing you a favour just talking to you!
If my experience dealing with some dealers when I’ve taken cars in for service or recall work is anything to go by, I truly pity anyone who’s actually tried to buy a car from them. One in particular, in Salisbury; I took a car down, parked it, went in and told the reception person where I was from, and I’d brought this particular car in, and gave her the keys. She wandered off, came back, after I’d sat down nearby, and a bloke with a clipboard went off outside. After about ten minutes, he came back in and spoke to the receptionist, then wandered off again, at which point, she looked across at me, said something to the bloke, who turned around and came over to me. I’m wearing hi-viz, so blended into the background. He asked me where I’d parked the car, as he’d searched everywhere for it. I went to the door, and pointed to the car, parked all on its own in a separate parking area about twenty feet to my right! After him checking it over, I left.
A week or two later, we phoned them, asking about the car. They denied having it, or knowing anything about it. A couple of staff drove down to see what was going on, and when I heard about this, I radio’d them, and described exactly where I’d left the car.
Which was where they saw it the moment they drove into the dealership! Who still argued that they didn’t have the car – until it was pointed out to them. This is a high-end German car they’re selling, but the level of incompetence displayed by them, and others I’ve dealt with, beggars belief.
This is why Cazoo are proving popular, because there isn’t that involvement with idiots who don’t give a shit about the customer.

For many people, and we’re two of them, a car is just another household appliance.

Couldn’t agree more, and I’ll drive my 2006 Ford Focus ’til it dies, it’s perfect for what I need.
But horses for courses, most people not on this forum would think me mad if they realised I had bikes worth 10x my car value in the shed 🙂