Morning guys,
I thought I would share my experience with WeeLee...
1. Registered a profile on WeeLee on 1 August 2018, and uploaded the required pics, and filled in the required info requested regarding my vehicle. I submitted this after 5 minutes of going through a hassle-free wizard on their site.
2. About 30 minutes after submitting my vehicle for a bid, I received a call from a WeeLee representative, who confirmed my car info, and advised that my vehicle would be posted for auction on 2 August from 8am to 4pm. He advised that the busiest bid time would likely occur between 3pm and 4pm as dealerships fight over the vehicle
3. Sure enough, at 8am the vehicle was posted to auction, and I received an email with the login URL and password, so that I could view the bids live. You do not see any dealership info, however you see a corresponding dealership number and the amount they have bid. It starts at R0, and as each dealership bids an amount, it increments, and always shows the top offer.
4. By 4pm the bids were finalised and the highest offer made was sent via email. This was also followed up by a courtesy call from WeeLee. At this point, you have 24hrs to accept the highest offer. Obviously I was mulling over what to do, and the offer I received was by far the best received. It was much more than:
- 15k more than the dealership where I originally purchased the vehicle
- Almost 30K more than the highest offer from HiCarByeCar
- 3k more than WeBuyCars - but still subject to inspection and possible deductions on the offer
5. So Friday comes, I have mulled over it and considered all avenues, and decided that I was not up for a private sale in terms of risking theft etc etc, so I executed on the WeeLee offer and accepted the offer made. Within 10 minutes of doing so, I received an SMS from the dealership whose offer I accepted, and it clearly stated all documents that I needed to supply in the event that the vehicle was financed or not. At this point I arranged to meet the dealer the following day (Saturday morning, 4 August).
6. I was asked to send through a copy of the NATIS doc (as my car had already been settled), a copy of my ID as well as my bank details - this was to streamline the process on the dealership side to have the docs ready when I arrived the following day. All was sent through, and I proceeded to the dealership on the Saturday.
7. Arrived, was greeted by the owner, and was taken straight to the office to confirm all details on the sale. I was then asked to show them the vehicle, and they inspected it and confirmed that all I had disclosed in the WeeLee wizard was true and accurate. At this point, the owner was extremely happy that I had not duped him in any way, and invited me into his office to finalise the agreement. He signed the slae agreement, as did I, asked me to sign a tax form for his business to prove the sale for tax purposes, and supplied me a copy of this as well as a receipt. He then proceeded to log into his business account and paid me there on the spot. With it being different banks and a weekend, my money only cleared today (7 August), but I recieved the proof of payment and all receipts.
8. I handed the original NATIS doc over, the keys and the spare, and left on my way to drown my sorrows at the pub.
Was I dubious at first - yes
Would I go through this process again - yes
My car was sold in less than a week, and I got more than I bargained for at the end.
G
