My days of driving a gorgeous Alfa Romeo, all expenses paid thanks to big Pharma, are long gone. Nowadays I prefer my driving costs lower, positively frugal in fact.
Last year I managed to pick up an old Ford Escort on eBay, with a full year’s MOT for £400. No, it wasn’t in perfect condition but it was perfectly usable and served me well. It didn’t need to be serviced and I had no intention of trying to get it through another MOT.
So this year, once I had picked up a bargain replacement, I needed to dispose of the old Escort. I’d been offered £100 trade-in but that wasn’t convenient, but I didn’t fancy trekking around scrap yards either, so we got Googling.
I’ve tried to use webuyanycar before, and was disappointed by the ‘hidden’ costs and downward haggling you get after the valuation. Besides, this car wasn’t for sale, it was for scrap. So it was while looking for this we found Cartakeback.com – which promised to make the process easy. And sure enough, it did. I was offered quotes from four local yards but even better was the highest quote, which included collection.
It’s things like this that make using the internet to do business so good. They take a, lets be honest, nasty task of scrapping a car and make it a simple process. I entered my details on Wednesday, they called me to confirm on Thursday, on Saturday the lorry arrived to collect – the driver had a nice fresh cheque in his hand – and on Monday I received the DVLA Certificate of Destruction by email.
That’s exactly how this online life should be.
P.S. they gave me £170, so that car cost me £230 plus petrol and tax for a year – I think that’s pretty good!
A Microsoft Certified Professional with many years of large corporate experience and training, he now focuses on helping small businesses make the most of their IT.
- Font Test - March 30, 2022
- An open letter of apology to Anna Firth - November 8, 2019
- My story – being a mum to a colour deficient son - September 9, 2019
