Buy a car in the lockdown: amazing discounts and incentives won't last long

You can still buy a new car during lockdown – and the discounts on offer are so great it might be a great time to do so.

Chances are the thought of buying a new car is pretty low down your lockdown to-do list.

After all, it’s not like most of us are getting much use out of our existing motors currently beyond the occasional trip to the supermarket to get the weekly big shop.

However, there will come a point when lockdown loosens sufficiently that road use will rise once again.

And if you are planning to get a new car at some point this year, waiting until everyone is out on the road may be leaving it too late if you are keen to bag a bargain.

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Discounts? Yes please

A new analysis by the team of ‘target price’ mystery shoppers at WhatCar? has suggested that the big discounts currently on offer for new cars may not be around for much longer.

Unsurprisingly at the moment there aren’t a huge number of sales taking place. You might imagine that all dealers are closed but the Government has given the green light for dealers to sell vehicles remotely.

And those lower sale numbers mean that these firms are more willing than usual to do a deal, to offer eye-catching discounts and incentives in order to tempt buyers in. 

For example, according to the analysts, here are the average savings the mystery shoppers have been able to secure in the first three months of the year with some of the biggest manufacturers around.

Sell your car when the lockdown ends: get a great price with Motorway

Here today, gone tomorrow

The trouble is that the cracking deals you might be able to land today are unlikely to stick around for too long. 

As the lockdown eases, and people start leaving the house more, demand for a new car will inevitably start to rise. But lockdown has meant that manufacturers have shut down their car-making plants, meaning supply is likely to be lower than usual.

As a result, it won’t take too long for demand to match ‒ and potentially even surpass ‒ supply. 

Given that, it’s unlikely that the discounts and incentives currently on offer will be around once lockdown starts to ease. So if you want to snap up your next car relatively cheaply, time is of the essence.

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How can I buy a car during lockdown?

At the moment we are only supposed to be leaving the house to make essential journeys, so you might wonder how it’s possible to buy a car, particularly given most dealerships closed their doors along with the rest of the country back in March.

However, the government has said that firms can continue to sell cars online and even deliver them, so long as certain guidelines are followed.

In practice, this means shopping for the car online in much the same way as you buy anything else, relying on the information and pictures supplied by the dealership.

Once you have agreed a price with the dealership, the next big question is over delivery.

The dealership will be expected to sanitise the car, inside and out, with disinfect spray which will kill any viruses or bacteria without damaging the car itself.

You can then discuss how the car will be delivered to you. This may be by trailer or by someone from the dealership driving it to you. The latter may be preferable given it means less contact with another person before it’s handed over to you.

However, even if it is driven over, the driver is required to wear gloves, and then spray and wipe down the car’s interior, keys and door handles before leaving the keys for you in an agreed safe place.

Essentially you can buy a new car without ever having to come within a couple of metres of another person.

Need finance for your next car? Use the CarFinance247 calculator to see how much it'll cost you

What about my rights?

If you’re buying a car from a dealer, it doesn’t matter whether the whole process is handled without any contact or you give the salesman a hug at the end ‒ you enjoy the same rights thanks to the Consumer Rights Act.

This means that the car must meet three main criteria:

• It should be of a satisfactory quality
• It should be fit for purpose
• It should be as described

If it fails in any of these areas, it is classed as faulty. You are therefore entitled to a full refund within 30 days, while the dealer is still responsible should the car be found not to be of satisfactory quality within the first six months of ownership.

So while buying a car right now might be a somewhat bizarre experience, you do still enjoy the same protection.

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