We Buy Any Car or Auto Trader?

Where’s the best place to sell your car online? Here, we compare online marketplaces We Buy Any Car and Auto Trader.

* All data below is accurate as of 02/02/2021

What is We Buy Any Car?

We Buy Any Car was founded by brothers - Darren and Noel McKee. The online car buying service was set-up in 2006. It operates under BCA, its parent company, and in 2019 it was bought by the private equity firm TDR Capital. We Buy Any Car uses an online valuation tool to tell you how much it’s willing to pay for your car followed by an on-site inspection and test drive, after which the final valuation price may change.

How is We Buy Any Car different to Auto Trader?

We Buy Any Car has more than 350 branches that you can visit for in-person inspection and test drive, after which you can give your car in.

With Auto Trader’s Instant Offer, our representative comes to your house or office to check and buy your car, and pay you the final valuation price.

Auto Trader

Auto Trader provide the option to sell your car instantly through Instant Offer for free. You can also buy and sell your car, find leasing, PCP or HP deals, or part-exchange your car.

We Buy Any Car

We Buy Any Car buys cars for cash, to help you sell your car as soon as possible. A transaction fee is applicable. Unlike Auto Trader, We Buy Any Car only allows you to sell your car at the fixed price valued by them.

Finding the best deal

Both We Buy Any Car and Auto Trader provide you with a price valuation for your car you want to sell.

To sell your car with We Buy Any Car, you need to get an instant valuation from their site. This valuation price is fixed and takes the car’s market value, demand and seasonality into consideration.

Choice of stock

We Buy Any Car buys any type of car that you need to sell.

Auto Trader’s stock includes used cars, approved used cars and new cars that are available to buy outright, or with options like car leasing, personal contract purchase (PCP) and hire purchase (HP) deals.

Auto Trader

Vehicles type
Finance available
Trade sellers
Private sellers

Valuing your car

Both We Buy Any Car and Auto Trader provide a free online car valuation to sellers.

For your car’s valuation, We Buy Any Car asks for a specific set of information while Auto Trader allow you to provide as much detail as you like.

Data-backed valuations for fair price

We Buy Any Car asks for information related to model, mileage, and the number of previous owners to determine the value of the car. Auto Trader’s Instant Offer service uses an online appraisal form that gives the seller the freedom to provide as much detail as they can about any interior and exterior damage to get an accurate quote, which is valid for seven days. Our valuations are 100% data-driven – we use data collected from the 800,000 adverts and 3,500+ dealers on our website to provide a fair price.

We provide the valuation; the choice is yours

We Buy Any Car valuations are valid for four days – you can choose within this time period if you want to sell your car. Valuations on Auto Trader are valid for seven days. If you decide not to sell your car at the valued price, you can also privately advertise or part-exchange your car.

Checking vehicle history

An in-person check is done to check your car’s condition and its background information provided by you.

We Buy Any Car inspects the car at one of their car buying centres. With We Buy Any Car, you need to arrange bringing the car down to their inspection centre.

Also, once the sale is done, you need to arrange your return journey home.

Services

We Buy Any Car focuses solely on buying cars and buys thousands of cars through their platform every single week.

Auto Trader aim at offering everyone trust and transparency when buying or selling a car. We are working towards making the automotive industry more accessible and exciting by offering vehicles beyond just cars such as vans, bikes, trucks, caravans, and services beyond just buying and selling like guaranteed part-exchange and car leasing.

Service fee

At Auto Trader, selling your car to us through Instant Offer is absolutely free, with no admin, collection or payment fees applicable at any point of sale. When selling your car to We Buy Any Car, a transaction fee is imposed depending upon the final valuation price. If your car is valued below £99.99, no transaction fee is applicable. For car’s valued between £100- £3,999.99, a transaction fee of £49.99 is applicable; car’s valued between £4,000- £4,999.99 are charged £59.99 and car’s valued at £5000 or more are charged a transaction fee of £74.99 (as recorded on 02/02/2021).

Negotiating a price

Once an in-personal inspection is carried out, a final valuation is quoted which you’re free to accept or reject the offer. If you don’t wish to sell your car through this process, Auto Trader also offer the option to advertise or part-exchange your car. In our recent study, we found that people selling cars via sites such as We Buy Any Car typically lose on average £1,254 compared to selling privately.

Payment

Once the deal is done, We Buy Any Car transfers the money to the seller via standard electronic bank transfer service within four days.

If the seller wants to receive the money by the next working day, We Buy Any Car charges an additional fee of £24.75, or £29.75 for same day payments.

How do we compare?

How do we stack up against other automotive websites?

* Please note this is a non-exhaustive list.

Who are Auto Trader?

Offering used cars from private sellers and trusted UK dealerships, brand new cars and more, Auto Trader have over 40 years of experience as the UK’s largest automotive marketplace.

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