Could Car Buying Go Fully Online?

The current crisis is unlike anything any of us have ever experienced and it could have a long-term effect on the way we do a lot of things, and car buying isn’t going to be immune. The question is, could car buying go fully online and how would buyers feel about the prospect?

Ahead of the game
Peugeot is one manufacturer that could be way ahead of the game here in the UK as it established its Buy Online virtual showroom as long ago as 2017. This online portal allows customers to purchase any new Peugeot from the comfort of their home using a computer, tablet or smartphone. As we're almost entirely restricted to online shopping at the moment, why should cars be any different?

You could wonder if it's practical or even a good idea to buy a car entirely online and have it delivered without the traditional showroom sales process of test driving, negotiating etc. That's an entirely valid question, but I’ve bought my last three new cars that way so here are the good and the bad things about buying new vehicles entirely online.

The cons
I'm going to be entirely open and try and look at this subject from all angles. Because of my experience in the retail motor trade, I know that there are a lot of buyers who will consider it unthinkable that you would buy something as expensive as a new vehicle without seeing it, touching it and test driving it first.

My point of view on this is that there's no real need for the vast majority of buyers to test drive a new car. There's really no such thing as a bad new car these days, just different levels of good. And like most things in life, you generally get what you pay for.

Do you know what a good chassis feels like? Do you know about under-steer and over-steer? Unless you're a racing driver or some other high-level driving professional, you probably don't even know what you're looking for on a test drive.

However, if you don’t get up close and personal with the vehicle in question you might find its smaller or bigger than you thought, so that's worth considering. Even so, most brochures these days have extremely precise measurements of every dimension, and that's good enough for me.

The pros
Like buying anything online, you have the opportunity to shop your deal around countless different suppliers to get the best possible deal without leaving your chair. Believe it or not, you even have stronger consumer protection when buying online than you have when buying physically from a dealership.

Also, you can choose exactly the trim level and the features you want and need without being persuaded or coerced into going the one the dealership has in stock and is trying to sell you.

Many websites even allow you to directly compare one vehicle against another in a way you would never be able to when going around dealerships.

My experience
I've been driving long enough to remember when I could leave Wembley car park after a concert and get back home up the M1 in 3 hours. That journey now takes at least 6 hours and there's little chance to break the national speed limit even if you wanted to.

My point is that I don’t need to know how a vehicle corners or how it handles on a track. I need to know what features it has and how much I can get for my money. I don’t care if the car I'm looking at under-steers in a bend at 60 mph, but I do want rear parking sensors, DAB radio and a satellite navigation system that accepts UK postcodes.

My last three new cars have been leased entirely online and delivered to my door, and there wasn't an issue with any of them. I must point out they were all brand new vehicles a Peugeot, a Kia and a Mercedes. When it comes to buying used vehicles entirely online, that's an entirely different matter.