If buying brand new then there should be no down sides. If you have a main dealer nearby, then they will be able to carry out warranty work and servicing, so as long as you are buying the spec that you want and aren't getting a cheaper car for a cheaper price, then go for it.
I bought my last works van online and saved a fair bit, they even delivered it to my door! Something a main dealer is unlikely to do.
If it is brand new the car is presumably ok. It will probably exist if it is from a reputable source. If it is a company you do not know that it could be a scam.
If it is a reputable source fully checked out how secure are they. will you pay money over prior to collection? If so are they likely to go bust?
Too much in savings to ignore but it needs checking very carefully.
Check that it isn't an import, a lot of the online ones are,that in itself isn't a problem, but the trim etc can vary and also the model no, which can make a difference to the resale value.
Saxo1
I have just saved over £5000 using the internet. Used a site called "carquake". this site has a list of normal car garages which list there best deals, all i did was print off these deals and then took the list to several local garages to see if they could match it.
They all reduced their prices to around the same price, one even beat them, I took delivery of the car last week.
I have had no issues at all, this is just one search engine to use, i have not used the internet only based car sales web sites.
Depends what you mean by buying online, there are sites that search out the best deals from dealers & then you deal direct with them, but I certainly wouldn't pay over a large amount of money on a car that was being delivered at a later date.
I lloked at car warehouses and found that prices were very good but only one year warranty where dealers were giving three years. I think it depends on their source - if from Ireland for example I think the warranty was only one year on the car I looked at.
When I buy I get some online quotes and print them off, then work awhat the greatest saving is and what the average saving is. I go to a amin delaer locally and start the buying process then at the appropriate time slip in the amount of discount I would like, usually adding a couple of percent above what I've found on-line. There is then usually some private discussion with the 'boss'........... on the last 4 new cars I've had local deal has matched the best 'net price every time.
Works for me - but be prepared to walk away, not many salesamen like to see a sale walk out of the door.
If you trade in - get the trade-in price before mentioning any discounting.
We used Autotrader to find our car. Clicked that we were interested and then the dealer rang us. All further negotiations were carried out by phone and the car was delivered to us from Inchcape in Newbury (we're in Durham) for £3000 less than our local dealer would offer us. The car was a UK spec car (not an import) and came with all the usual warranties. Would not hesitate to buy that way again.