Customer experience with Carvago: Sabine, Austria

I live near Linz and work as a physiotherapist. I use my car almost every day. For a long time we had an estate car, which we'd bought back when the children still came on holiday with us. Now they live on their own and I didn't want such a big car any more. I needed something smaller, ideally an automatic.

I looked at the Kia Ceed and the Hyundai i30. Both were the right size for me. I didn't want the basic trim, but I didn't need every option you can order either. Parking sensors and heated seats were important to me. I'd put aside at most twenty-five thousand euros for the next car.

I started with dealers in the area. Then I searched online and noted down the offers that were worth considering. Some had a good price, but the cars were older than I wanted. Others had quite high mileage. I liked a few, but I still couldn't make up my mind.

On Carvago I found a Kia Ceed that suited me in both price and equipment. I'd already shown it to my husband and thought we might have found our car. But then Carvago got in touch to say it was no longer available. It had been sold in the meantime; only the listing was still online.

That was disappointing. I'd finally found something that suited me, and I had to start searching again.

So I went back to the other cars I'd saved. In the end I chose another Ceed, this time from the Czech Republic. It had an automatic gearbox, heated seats and parking sensors. Compared with one of the cars I'd looked at here, it also had lower mileage. It wasn't exactly the same as the first Kia, but it had everything I needed.

The price of the car alone wasn't enough for me to decide, though. I had them explain what the whole purchase would cost, including delivery and the costs of getting the car on the road in Austria. I wanted to know what was already included and what I might have to pay separately. Only then did I compare the offers again. The Kia still made sense to me.

I didn't want to drive to the Czech Republic to collect it myself. Nor did I have anyone who could come with me and assess the car. Carvago explained that I would first order an inspection and then decide, based on the result, whether to buy the car. That suited me. I didn't want to send the full amount based on the listing alone.

The inspection turned out well. I received the report and photos and went through them at home. I didn't understand some of the technical terms, so I called. Mainly I wanted to know whether anything needed doing straight away and whether the condition matched the listing. Then I decided to buy the Kia.

Then came the documents and payment. I put all the emails about the purchase in one folder so I could go back to them. I do the same with other larger purchases. I didn't have to arrange anything with the original Czech dealer; I dealt with Carvago on the paperwork and the handover.

While everything was being processed, I kept my old car. That was a good thing, because I still needed to get to work. I only sold it once I had the Kia at home.

At the handover I looked over the car and checked the documents. I'd driven automatics before, so I got used to it quickly. I set up some of the functions later at home, at my own pace.

The Ceed suits me. It's easy to park and there's enough room for everyday driving. If a similar car on similar terms had been at the dealer next door, I'd probably have bought it there. But among the offers I'd picked out, this one came out better, and I didn't have to organise the import myself.