No - that's the whole point of the reverse auction. You don't actually bid so there's no stress involved.

Autoebid contacts the dealers on your behalf and invites them to offer the vehicle you have specified at the lowest price so effectively they compete with each other to offer what you want . So if no one comes up with what you want, or at a price you're willing to pay you simply walk away & pay absolutely nothing.

When I did this for my Dad about 2 years ago, by process of elimination and knowlegde of the trade I guessed which dealer had come up with the best price. I told Dad to go to the dealership which was quite local to where he lives and suggested he go & chat up the salesman & tell him the price he'd been quoted for the vehicle online - without mentioning the auction, to see if they'd match the price. They wouldn't, so even having paid the £350-ish auction fee, he still made a considerable saving off the list price and because the dealer was local he was able to collect the car and also saved the delivery fee.

Of course things were different 2 years ago and dealerships are much more desperate for a sale now, so this tactic might prove even more fruitful - particularly if you leave it until the end of the month when they're desperate to meet their sales targets.

I got excited for a moment and went onto auto-ebid to do a search, sadly it's only new cars that you can do this with. I know the question was about buying a new car from Motorpoint, but there's sooooo many new car deals around, and dealers are indeed not selling new cars at the moment, because used cars have taken such a tumble in price, that people are flocking to get a used car bargain rather than new. Do you think one day autoebid might start doing the same thing for used cars?

No idea, but we only started doing this because we discovered that we could import a new car ourselves from the continent for less than the price of a used car, so no contest really.

A friend of mine recently got a good deal on a very low mileage 8 month old Astra from Trade Sales in Slough - it was half the price listed in Parker's Guide. They seem to be mainly ex-fleet vehicles and by the condition & mileage would appear to be 2nd cars - i.e. leased by company execs for their wives. The only thing that would concern me about that is that she bought the car without driving it. Apparently it's like a car park and they're so tightly packed in that she couldn't even open the door properly. She wasn't worried as she'd had a number of Astras previously anyway, but even though it was still under warranty I wouldn't buy a used car without driving it.

hi

i had a disappointing experience with motorpoint a couple of months ago.......

my girlfriend bought a nearly new car a few months ago from another dealership after this experience and got a better deal. we were looking at a ford fiesta and a vauxhall corsa at motorpoint in glasgow and test drove both. the salesman accompanied us on the test drives, which was fine. when we got back he was trying to push us into a deal, putting words in our mouths etc. i explained to him that we liked the fiesta but would not be making a purchase that day and wanted to think about it and shop around.....surely this is our right as a customer???

the salesmans attitude then turned to very abrasive. he then walked off leaving us standing at the car. when i returned the keys and asked him to talk to us about trade in values etc he totally dismissed us. i feel this level of customer service is entirely unacceptable.

i would agree that the deal on some of there vehicles looks attractive at first.......i would however advise that they charge for valeting the vehicle before you collect (approx £90), dont offer any warranty etc.

i just feel that this company is only interested in a fast sale on the day and employs poorly trained staff (pushy salesmen) to try and achieve this. if you express some desire to take your time you are dismissed. surely this is no way to conduct business and leaves me with a lasting distaste for this company - no matter what the apparant price of the car - and i would be reluctant to return. treating people this way will not encourage repeat business!

anyway, that was my experience.....i hope you are treated better if you decide to buy from them.

best of luck

L

Yes - I bought a car in 2001 (and I've still got it on 2009).

My Brother-in-Law bought one same year (s

Then my Father in law bought a new car in 2006.

My only gripe is that the car is not road taxed when you pick it up so there is a possible legality issue as you drive to the post office to buy the road tax.Motorpoint ought to offer this service rather than letting the customer drive out of their site

But would I buy again -yes.