Online car sales have seen a dramatic increase over the past few years. Although traditionally people wanted to touch, feel and test drive their potential new four-wheeled friends, the good deals to be found on the internet are simply too good to ignore, and with a few simple precautions buying a car online can be a secure and hassle-free experience. Auction sites such as Ebay are extremely popular. Often, the potential buyer will live close to the seller and will have the chance to test drive the car beforehand. But increasingly, people are willing to take the risk of buying a car unseen because of the knock-down pricing to be had. Other people, especially those buying new or nearly new cars, prefer to buy through an established dealership with an on-line presence. You can still expect to receive considerable discounts, but will also have the ever-reassuring guarantee, and some sites will check and certify their cars rather than just listing the sale. Other sites will allow you to search by county as well as by price, mileage and make, so again, you can choose only those cars within reasonable driving distance, and eliminate the risk of buying the car unseen. For the real risk-takers, there are those who choose to buy their cars abroad online, and import them back into the U.K. This is probably the riskiest strategy, but can cut the cost of a nearly new machine considerably.
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