The Car Hub

Today is the last day of the government car scrappage scheme and in comes a new era for cheaper new cars which hopefully should reactivate the whole market.
New European legislation called the EU Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations (MVBER) which covers the agreements concerning the distribution and servicing of motor vehicles and  provides an exemption from competition for the distribution of new cars and their servicing, comes into force on April 1st
For example you should be able to buy a new Ford car, which you would previously have had to buy through a Ford franchise, but will now be able to be bought from any outlet, say even from a Vauxhall showroom.
Online car brokers such as www.drivethedeal.com and www.broadspeed.com have been selling cars online since the 90s and both are reporting an ever increasing number of customers, one says by 35% year on year.
Their operation, as is the case with other online car brokers,is to buy large numbers of new cars from dealers then pass on the discounts to the buyers. A Broadspeed spokesman is quoted as stating they had been working with several car manufacturers over the last 12 months and estimates this new legislation could result in the buying price of a new car being reduced by 25%.
Under this new legislation as from April 1st,buying a new car online or from any outlet other than the manufacturer will have no detrimental effect on the warranty or the servicing of the vehicle, the manufacturers warranty remains fully in force and providing the servicing is carried out as per the makers recommendations this can be done at any garage no matter whether it is an authorized or independent dealership.
The right to have servicing carried out as above was recommended by the Office of Fair Trading in 2004, it is they who will also ensure that the MVBER scheme will be implemented correctly.
With the internet now playing a much larger selling role it also provides more rights to the buyer, buying online actually provides the purchaser with an extra benefit under the distance-selling regulations.These regulations apply when someone buyson the internet and not in person and gives the buyer a 7 day cooling-off period in which time the product can be returned and a complete refund made. If a deal is done face to face in a showroom a buyer would not have the right to later change their mind.
To show the power of the internet there are now reverse-auctions taking place where the dealers will bid for the opportunity to sell the buyer the goods they want.
Further proof of this power is illustrated in Which,?Car part of the Which? independent consumer group who recently researched the market for 14 popular models and found that 85% could be purchased cheaper online.
Bill Williams