Thecarbuyingservice Reviews 

They were friendly and pleasant to deal with. Leah kept me informed as to the procedure and was very pleasant and efficient. Terry who collected the car, rang me before he arrived. He explained the process to me, and was a pleasure to deal with. It took no more than about 15 minutes to sort the details. Thank you. Steve

I have no hesitation to recommend this service to anyone looking for a hassle free way of selling their car. I was given the usual lousy offer by the dealership and decided to refuse their offer and try this route.

I spoke with a very professional customer service advisor by the name of Mark Curry within the car buying group and his level of enthusiasm to beat the oppositions quote was guaranteed by him. I felt faith in his word and went ahead with the appointment.

A gentleman called Reg came on the day having notified me of his eta. He checked the car phoned the office and then I spoke with Mark who explained that he was about to send me an email which I should reply to with my bank details. I did this and within 5 minutes the full agreed amount was paid directly into my account.

A very swift and professional service which I will use again so long as Mark is there because he was great overall and an asset to the company.

Sam at Doncaster. Great sales man very informative.

Online price dropped by £1000 at offer stage, claimed thats all dealers would offer them. It was a car under two years old, with a couple of very minor issues. Wasted half a day, avoid like the plague. Later they rang back to offer an extra £200, still £400 below Evans Halshaw

You may think this is abit of foul play as I'm an ex employee but I couldn't be happier than the day I left. The company is an absolute joke to work for and I'm so embarrassed about the fact I worked there that I chose to leave it off my CV. As many other reviewers state the "guaranteed" price is never guaranteed. They give you a strong online bid in order to get you to one of their "portable offices"...if you can call them that, so they can manipulate you and come up with 101 excuses as to why your car isn't worth the initial value. 9/10 they will pay you below the trade value for your car also. After working in this particular role I can definitely say that if you're thinking of selling or part exchanging your current car then don't be lazy and do it the good old fashioned way. You'll certainly get a good chunk more money, even part exchanging.

I hope this helps.

Booked an appointment via there website and the booking was confirmed the same day via telephone and we were talked through what we needed to bring which was helpful.

Arrived at the site and met by there representative at Aintree, we walked around the car together to see if the condition matched what we had entered on the website.

Our estimate on the condition was slightly different to what Steve the representative highlighted, but overall the price changed less than £50.

Left the appointment and just before 4pm and the money was in the bank 2 hours later.

Very straightforward and hassle free,

Thank you.

We recently sold our Audi Q7 to the car buying service, based on a referral from a friend. Overall experience was very good and felt like you were walked through the whole process via there contact centre.

Online price was significantly higher than our offer from the garage, but reduced slightly after the car was inspected, mainly due to some scuffs on the wheels.

Overall a pleasant experience conducted in a proffesional manner. Only downside was trying to find the office once we arrived at the location, luckily the gentleman was looking out for us.

We used this company to sell our car as we were emigrating. There price was a better than our local online car buyers and there ability to add condition easily was a big plus for us.

There process is similar to most other companies, enter your registration and a few more things about the car, then you will get a value for you car.

The main difference to the other sites, was that we could mark our condition fairly quickly and add on a few options that weren't available across all the other sites.

Overall, the customer service was clear and we got the money we were guaranteed online, but this was more down to us been honest about the condition of our car. Yes, we could have got more selling private, but we didn't feel the extra money we would have achieved, out weighed the hassle.

Would have been 5 stars if they had been nearer to where we lived.

First things first, the Car Buying Service is actually a trading name of 'The Car People'. Had we known this in advance we would perhaps have adjusted our expectations accordingly (and had second thoughts about selling to these people given previous experience of purchasing a used car from them). However, we were initially taken in by their promise to bring 'honesty and transparency to online car buying'. Hmm.

After inspection we were not offered the so-called 'guaranteed' price for our car (a Kia Sportage) - despite accurately declaring the visual condition and completing a full condition assessment on their website.

The website offers no opportunity to declare a previous accident repair (which was undertaken by an authorised Kia dealer, preserved the balance of the warranty and effectively restored the car to 'showroom' condition). Indeed, there is no detailed description of their 'evaluation' process anywhere - and this proves crucial in their subsequent negotiations on lowering the price to be offered…

Each body panel was checked with a paint depth micrometer during the inspection and the higher paint thickness identified on replaced panels (which we were entirely up front about) immediately reduced the price offered significantly - by nearly £1,000!. The 'handover executive' eventually agreed to assess the vehicle condition 'more leniently', but only after we pressed him on the fact that there was no explanation of this on their website, or any opportunity for us to factor this into the online condition assessment.

For reference the laminated matrix he used (which again is not available on their website) immediately places a car into what they call Category 3 for condition if they find even one panel which has been replaced - no matter how good the repair / replacement (in our case by a Kia dealership with a full Kia warranty). The ordinary car buyer doesn't stand a chance of establishing this visually.

Despite this so called 'leniency', we then went on to find that the guaranteed price was not actually guaranteed for seven days from the original quote after all! (our appointment was booked six days after the online quote). We did eventually settle for a price of £180 less than they had originally 'guaranteed' - mainly because we didn't want the hassle of going through same process again elsewhere.

In light of our experience, we doubt we will get an invitation from feefo to review their service, but I would certainly encourage everyone to read customer reviews in detail to get a better understanding of the way in which these people operate.

Oh - and one further thing to note - although there are no hidden fees (which is one good thing) - if you have an evening appointment the cash is not transferred the same day (as they claim on their website) - it will be processed the next day.

Overall the experience did nothing to improve our view of these services in general, and we would certainly not use this particular firm again. It is little wonder that the motor industry has such a bad reputation with consumers - you always feel that they have the upper hand when it comes to price negotiations.

One other take away from the whole experience is that I'm now going to buy a digital paint depth gauge from ebay to seek out replaced panels on used cars! Especially useful if buying a car from The Car People, as you can bet they won't declare what they found during the buying process when they're selling these vehicles on their forecourt. And why do I have a sneaky feeling that the accuracy & relevance of these readings will be called into question when buying a used vehicle?…

had a good value on my car on the web site,but was drastically reduced when inspected ,tried to make out that the wing had been resprayed which it had not knocking price down by £600.i think they give good valuations to get you there the reduce the price,perhaps should have known better.

We had looked to sell our car privately but had terrible experiences before with shady people turning up (and not turning up) which left us unsure of how to sell our car this time around.

The Part exchange offer seemed fair, but we decided to shop around knowing at the back of our mind that a private sale might still be our best options if we wanted the most for our car.

After searching on Google, we found the three on car buyers all offers very different amount and some with fees and without fees. The Car Buying Service had the most positive reviews and offered almost £500 more than our part exchange price, the reviews on Feefo and Trustpilot were in the main positive, so we booked an appointment at there Barnsley branch.

The guy we meet was very polite and helpful, we walked around the car with the guy and he talked us around the condition of the car. We were aware of some previous repair work we had completed, which we had taken account of on the online condition report.

The final price was almost in line with our online price, which was a nice bonus as we expected to be haggled down on price.

Certainly easier than selling privately if you don't fancy the haggling and hassle of Autotrader and the price wasn't to bad either!

I visited the Wakefield site today with a guaranteed valuation on my car. I checked very carefully beforehand the detail the website and relating to the guaranteed valuation. In line with the detail I was able to confirm that the car was neither damaged nor scratched and was in fact in very good clean condition.

On arrival the representative undertook a paint test and detected that the car had undergone some previous bodywork. This I was able to confirm and following a bump whilst my car was parked in a public car park. The damage was repaired professionally and via my insurance company.

The representative then proceed to write down the valuation of my car by 23% explaining this was because my car was damaged. When challenged he very quickly increased the figure but it was still 14% less than my gauranteed price.

In all my years of driving and dealing with a variety of dealers I have never known such a test be undertaken or required. It feels to me as if this is used merely as a means of applying a substantial reduction to the guaranteed price.

Even though my vehicle is in a very good clean condition without damaged or scratch I was informed that I should have selected that it was indeed damaged. This would then have given me a number of on line options to detail the previous damage to the bodywork.

I would never use this company again and would urge anyone to be very careful when considering using them. I foolishly relied on the positive feedback stated on their website. Upon investigation I learn this is provided by a 3rd party: Feefo and one has to be invited by The Car Buying Serveice in order to leave feedback. It therefore gives a very unbalanced view and anyone who has had a poor experience is prevented from leaving feedback on this site.

This was the third car we have sold to an "online car buyer". Previously we have used the most well know one We buy any car, but after quite different experiences on our last visits (the last time not being a great experience), we decided to try something different
We were not interested in selling private, even though we realise that we could probably get more for the car, but the amount hassle involved just didn't seem worth it. Therefore we went and searched on google for alternative companies to sell you car. We can across we want any car and the car buying service. We them looked at the reviews on here and another review centre called Feefo and decided that the we want any car reviews were not quite "favourable".
So we entered our info into there system which is much along the same lines as everybody else with the exception that you can put more options on there site, which was good news for us as our car was highly specified.
The whole process is quite relaxed and friendly, from the original contact from the call centre through to handing the car over at the branch. The price did change by £100ish once the car was looking around, but that felt fair and we more than saved this on the deal we got on our new car. Definitely worth a try.

Like most people these days, we research everything before making a decision. We wanted to sell our car, but had heard numerous horror stories around what might happen when we try to sell out beloved motor.

We had what we felt was a dismal offer from our local dealer, so set about looking for alternative. We didn't fancy selling private as we didn't fancy numerous calls and late night visits from people who we don't know from the next person.

Therefore we set about looking on google for somewhere to sell our car and came across the car buying service who appeared to offering an all round good service.

We put our car number plate into there website and booked our appointment (at there Bolton branch) and then received a phone call later in the day from there head office to confirm what we needed to bring.

We turned up expecting a battle, but we're pleasantly surprised by there honest approach to showing us around the car and explaining the few things we had missed and what impact this "might" have on the car.

The condition of the car roughly matched the online condition we had entered into the website and the quote differed by £50 for a alloy that was probably more damaged than what we had taken into account. On a £30k car, we didn't see this an issue.

The money was as promised in our bank on the same day (about 5pm) and we got around £400 more than our P/X price and got another £500 of our next car as we didn't have a P/X to haggle with.

Overall a good experience and we worth a try if you what to drive yourself a deal on your next car.

We stumbled upon the car buying service after hearing a good review from a friend on Facebook. We got a quote from several companies online and the company was slightly lower than some of the bigger companies, but with no admin fees and same day payment it almost ended up at the same price.

We did however book appointments with two other companies, we buy any car and we want any car and left the car buying service until last.

Both the alternative companies ended up reducing the price upon inspection, which we had already factored into out final price. (Couple of wheel scuffs and scrape on the front bumper). The reductions varied from £400 to £600 for what we thought were minor things and then there was "admin" fees to take of at the end and if you wanted payment the same day, then you had to pay even more!?!.

We then trotted off to the the car buying service and was meet at the office by a polite gentlemen who I can't remember the name (maybe Dave.?)

We walked around our car together and agreed on the damage that we could both see, then went inside to discuss the price. Unlike there competitors, there website allows you add damage fairly easily and we had already graded our car.

The man put in all the details and the price changed slightly by around £100 which we were happy with.

We had our money in account by 6pm the same day and overall the experience was pleasant. The bonus is that we get £50 for recommending a friend.

Told our car had had a respray on all 4 panels. If a ford dealer, prestige car company and professional detailer didn't pick up on it then I'm very dubious about the car buying service staff finding this. Also they will point out every mark no matter the age of car. We were approached through our advert in auto trader .... We didn't go to them..... Unless you are desperate and willing to lose money do not use! No such thing as a guaranteed price. The sales guy also went on to bad mouth the company we bought the car off! Felt shady, dodgy and very unprofessional

After having poor experiences with other buyers of cars, we looked on all the websites and found the car buying service offering a price that was better than our part exchange price. Looking at the reviews on some of the review sites it seemed like a good company. We booked our appointment and received a call confirming the time and place and turned up the expecting some negotiations like the rest of them. Thankfully the man in branch was friendly and approachable, talking us through everything as we went along. We received a price that we were happy with and got the money the same day. Very easy and didn't feel pressured at any point, which we liked.

Selling my wife's car, a Mini Cooper convertible on a 56 plate with very low miles for the year. I went into a lot of well known vehicle buying sites and The Car Buying Service offered the most for my car.
I then added more about the condition and the offer dropped by £300. This was still a highly competitive offer. I then booked an appointment to get the car looked over and hopefully obtain the "guaranteed " price.
In the meantime, I took the car to Mini to look at selling it back to them under the mini cherished scheme. They were also competitive but were £150 less than the car buying service, they are however completely honest about the condition of the car.
So, the following day I took the car to The Car Buying Service. The young member of staff looked over the car in great detail and was clearly trying to reduce the so called "guaranteed " price as much as possible. He even tried to claim that the boot and bonnet were not aligned correctly! (I can't believe mini themselves would not have spotted this the day before!). Mini had also told me it would cost about £240 to sort any imperfections to the bodywork. Anyway, I finally received an offer via email of OVER £1000 less than the "guaranteed" price!
Needless to say, I sold the car back to Mini for a darn sight more.
Having used The Car Buying Service I feel as though they are designed for desperate people who don't do there homework prior to attending appointments......and it was an hour of my life that I can't get back!

The Car Buying Service is one of a host of firms who simply buy cars.

They depend pretty much on a market where sellers aren't trading-in against a new/newer car, or can't be bothered with the hassle of selling privately.

So, just the same as a particularly well-established rival (who buy any car) The Car Buying Service will perform an online quote, based on the details you provide (mileage, condition, MOT renewal date etc). If you want to go further, you meet up at one of their offices, with the car and all the relevant documentation.

It's that 'gurantee' that you need to be aware of. With the Car Buying Service it is stated in your quote that it is 'guaranteed'. Of course there is a catch, but not one that is particularly underhand; without seeing the car first, The Car Buying Service couldn't possibly hope to turn a profit. That 'guarantee' is more likely a commitment to buy at that price...if your car is in showroom condition.

And you know darn well that no car, other than a brand new one, is ever going to be in showroom condition. Mine had some minor scratches down the sides, some scuff marks on the wheels. Apparently two rear panels had different paint thicknesses to the rest; possibly indicative of a shunt/repair in the vehicles early life. All told, actually getting to see the vehicle meant that 'guaranteed' figure was eaten into a little. So rather than being a 'guarantee', it's perhaps best to be referred to as 'our starting position'.

Get that idea in your head and dealing with The Car Buying Service is actually quite enjoyable. The price paid for my motor dropped by over £300 after all those little blemishes were accounted-for, but, if perhaps I'd taken the time to polish-out the scratches with T-Cut and smoothed-out the scuffs in my alloys (if that can be done) then I'd have only had the different thicknesses of the painted panels to lower my quote. In the end I walked (literally) away with a price I thought was reasonable and a good explanation as to why I didn't get my 'guaranteed' price. There's no pressure on you; you can simply drive your car back home if you don't fancy the price being offered and decide to try another route. There's no scam, not even an effort at one, but it is a hugely efficient and rapid way to sell a car in as short a time as possible.

Mike, my assessor in the Hazel Grove office, was friendly and efficient, though his office, halfway down a corridor with no lighting and on the first floor of a managed office building seemingly far from a populated area, is an experience in itself!

The firm seeks reviews on 'Feefo', which isn't a free reviewing web site (you just get a 'trial offer'). I prefer TrustPilot as an independent reviewing source, and the use of Feefo is a bit corny. The Car Buying Service has no reason to be afraid of the risk of duff reviews and should be encouraging the use of sites like Trustpilot, not least because of the higher number of visitors; it runs perfectly legitimately and is open and upfront. Just be clear in your own head that 'guaranteed' is just the start position with the car as-yet-unseen by them.