This is a bit of a saga; If I could give a 0 I would for Carwow. The experience was stressful, in efficient and downright dishonest (from the purchasing garage's angle). I live and breathe cars having been in the car tour business for many years. I have changed my cars more times than my socks too over the years. I have predominantly used the Motorway App in the past as, quite simply, I can't abide dealing with tyre kickers when it comes to a private sale. I decided to give Carwow a go as I often watch Matt Watson's videos on YouTube and I indeed met him at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. That and the fact that the valuation of my car at £9095.00 was absolutely spot on. Initially things were going well, the process from Carwow very similar to that of motorway in terms of providing images of your car to set templates and a host of information. I had a number of email exchanges and phone calls, all of which initially bode well for the process. I made them aware that I was not going to remove my private plate until the car sold. That was clearly understood. I set my reserve at a very reasonable price as I was avoiding all of the hassle of dealing with time wasters and tyre kickers so I was prepared to take a bit of a hit. The car failed to meet its reserve not once but twice. It was at that point that it was clear that the £9095 valuation was pure fiction. Incredibly the more detail I provided about the car, the less it was worth, so it would appear!
Now let me be clear, this car was in superb condition for its age, paint work was very good, it had a service in the last few months, 4 new tyres, freshly painted alloys, long MOT and was fully loaded with all of the extras from the Mercedes catalogue. It was a 2014 car so I must admit it was not perfect but it was as close as it could be for its age. I had personally invested many hours in preparing the car for sale as I am a fully certified petrol head and have very high standards. My car was prepared to the point where I would have bought it! The car eventually sold well below what I was quoted and what I had asked for through my reserve prices. However, I reluctantly accepted the offer as I was already in the process of buying another car. I diligently did all of the post sale documentary process and sent off my V5 to get the private plate changed. Annoyingly I kept getting system generated emails bugging me to complete the process as the people behind the system knew that the new V5 had been applied for. When the new V5 applied for I immediately changed plates and reported as such. I expected my car to be collected in 24-48 hours. Days stretched into over a week with my constantly emailing then phoning Carwow to close the loop and complete the purchase. They said they had reached out to the dealer on each occasion. Eventually I took matters into my own hands as this seemed to be causing Carwow a bit of difficulty. I in fact got the dealership moving and eventually arranged a date for them to come and see the car.
When the rep from Nexa Motor Group turned up the car was glistening in the sunshine and I happily opened all the doors, boot and declared that he would find the same situation under the bonnet. The car had a very full service history from new, an original Mercedes document wallet and all of the original handbooks. I was delighted to show him my vehicle. He took the car for a test drive then rang the boss. It was then that the wheels began falling off the bus; because it was so clean, he started by stating, he pointed out a small stone chip on the rear bumper and a mark on the rhs of the bumper. Had I spotted them I would have fixed it and the mark would have machine polished out. It was at that point that Nexa Motor Group started to indulge in what I can only say was daylight robbery. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I asked him to go and said that I regretted ever having dealt with Carwow. He eventually came back with a slightly higher offer and we bartered until I was only completely unhappy instead of feeling robbed. At that point I just wanted the situation to be over so I still gave the car away. I have never been so badly served and I do feel robbed. I never had anything like this treatment from the Motorway, who were equally as thorough but hugely more efficient and completely transparent. Regretfully, I would not recommend Carwow to anyone and the next time I see Matt I will tell him so.
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