Great idea but no shield from the sharks...
I tried to sell my car with Motorway and found the process for constructing the listing and coming up with a value really helpful. At every point, too, the team were helpful and responsive. The problem, for me, lay in the unscrupulous dealer who seemed to be just using motorway as a means to target less experienced sellers.
NB I have already sent a detailed report / feedback to motorway and have followed up again with my precise details relating to this review so I'm surprised they're attempting to have this review taken down. As I mentioned I found the company and the people very helpful this approach to less than glowing feedback might make readers change their minds.
I was happy with the reserve price and in the the auction my car exceeded it. The "winning" dealer took a long time to be in touch and then, when he did call, said that of course he wouldn't be paying the price he'd agreed and that was how it worked. I was a little worried and motorway sent me the informatoin he'd had to to base his bid on.
He arrived and started to try and manboozle me by asking spurious questions about whether various parts, including the timing chain, had been replaced according to the schedule (it had a full main dealer service schedule).
When he realised I had no idea what he was talking about he said that the part was obviously damaged and he offered me less than half of what he'd said he would pay. He clearly thought he was doing some clever haggling but was put out when I didn't want to continue. He reported the car as damaged to motorway and they wouldn't relist it without my paying several hundred pounds to have the engine taken apart to confirm the condition of the part. The garage that services my car said there was no problem and that the part was a lifetime component (as per the manufacturer).
I've no complaints at all about the motoway team or the idea but if you're looking for a shield from the sharks this, sadly, isn't it.
Luckily, after getting a bloke to screen my calls from other online listings I was able to sell my car for the asking price to a non trade buyer. We didn't fleece each other and it was a little bit of bliss...
Antwoord van Motorway
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for your review. It's great to hear that you were happy with the service Motorway provided, but we're sorry that you're unhappy with your experience at the point of collection.
In order to address any issues brought to our attention via negative reviews we always request additional information via Trustpilot whenever the sale records are not immediately identifiable based on the content within the review itself. Trustpilot are an entirely separate autonomous organisation, and only they have the power to remove reviews. If you fail to provide unique identifying information when requested, then Trustpilot may choose to remove your review. Motorway cannot remove reviews from another organisation's website.
Regarding the sale itself, unfortunately if the buyer identifies any issues that weren’t listed on the profile they may look to adjust their offer or even withdraw their interest in the sale, as it is a voluntary transaction for all parties throughout. We wouldn’t obligate you to sell at a price you weren’t happy with, inasmuch as we wouldn’t force a buyer to purchase a vehicle they weren’t happy with.
In this instance the dealer had identified a noisy timing chain. The buyer has advised us that as the issue identified was mechanical in nature and as such could not be proven through photos. Whilst we do of course appreciate that you submitted all of the required photos that were requested by our sales team, there can be often be other issues, either known to you as the seller or otherwise, that may not be easily distinguishable in the photos alone. This is why it's common practice for all buyers to request and carry out a thorough inspection at the point of collection.
This is not to say that their appraisal was definitely correct, but being remote from the inspection we need to take their feedback seriously as buyers won't pay to collect a vehicle only to back out without a valid reason. We welcome seller feedback relating to dealer onsite conduct and we have referred this matter to our Dealership Management team and will reiterate our expectations around conduct and producing evidence for any reductions in no uncertain terms. Please rest assured that where dealers have been found to have acted improperly in the past, Motorway have always been very quick to take any and all necessary actions, including the issuing of lifetime bans, in order to ensure a much better standard of service in the future.
Our Sales Support Team were on hand to assist you and had informed you that in order for us to relist your vehicle again we would require a Vehicle Health Check to be carried out before doing so. This was required to avoid wasting your time and any potential buyers, should the issue arise again at collection further down the line.
We're sorry your experience with Motorway was not more in line with our usual high standards of customer satisfaction, and while you did not ultimately sell through Motorway, we are pleased to hear you were able to sell your car elsewhere.
Kind regards,
Arzumand
Sales Support Escalations Team