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HELP - Motor Trader Advice needed

I kind of feel sorry for the dealer...ie many comments assuming that he was a dodgy trader, but then he comes up trumps and does the decent thing...good on him and good result for Muggy.

Just picking up on some of the comments or advice being made.....just amazes me nowadays how everybody bangs on about sales of goods act...I'm going to sue you....I've been to Citizens Advice....I want compo......

I wouldn't feel too sorry for the dealer. He was never named and as he admitted to me on the phone I was a good customer. I didn't screw them down on price and funny enough MOT'd my trade in before doing the deal.
 
The MOT is due in July.

The issue is now resolved to my satisfaction. :)

I took the car to the Trader for inspection this morning and have just had a call from their Sales Director.

We have agreed that they will get the springs done and I will contribute £75 towards the cost. I didn't pursue the battery issue.

Many thanks to all who have contributed. I am happy that a bill for circa £250 to replace the springs has been reduced to £75 :bannana:

I cant belive someone would pay that much for a car without a years, if not a long MOT!
 
try a week... nightmare... i though jap cars were reliable..


I've never seen any version of the Micra go past 70,000 miles without needing engine work. All the guys I know in the trade steer well clear or charge accordingly, which usually puts people off.
 
I kind of feel sorry for the dealer...ie many comments assuming that he was a dodgy trader, but then he comes up trumps and does the decent thing...good on him and good result for Muggy.

Just picking up on some of the comments or advice being made.....just amazes me nowadays how everybody bangs on about sales of goods act...I'm going to sue you....I've been to Citizens Advice....I want compo......


I agree totally with this. 5k miles in 7 weeks, car bought with short MOT, an expert indi who can say 100% certain that the springs wer broken before purchase yet can't substantiate further.......
OP, you have been a very very fortunate fella IMHO. I have to say, as a normal guy, if you had been my client, I suspect I wouldn't have entertained anything, frankly.

Dealer should be named and praised for his attitude.....
 
Trader

I have to add that anyone purchasing a car from anyone should after pick up, drive to an MOT station and spend £60. some are much cheaper, and have an MOT done. Its a very cheap check compared to an indipendant. All will be revealed and cat checks. Its good because if you are traveling to collect a car from afar, just do a search for neariest MOT testing stations and ring up prior to see if its a turn up or booking system.
I have done this in the past regardless if it already has a ticket, it does not matter.
For me 7 weeks and 5,000 miles, don't bother. well i would not and i have had lots of small claims against gaarages, this one i would not do. to late too many miles between. Best of luck anyway.
Gino
 
jrggino, that is very good advice indeed.

People have AA/RAC checks but these are shocking to be honest and the way they are often written can make a year old 6,000 mile car sound like a total wreck.
 
People have AA/RAC checks but these are shocking to be honest and the way they are often written can make a year old 6,000 mile car sound like a total wreck.

Yep... The RAC recently put one of my customers off a really nice clean car.

They are a pain in the backside. RAC inspector came into my office and told me how nice the car was.. then went and put off the customer... they have to tell the customer every minor little thing, no matter how relevant (to cover their backsides) and they arent allowed to explain the significance of it.

e.g. a dry patch of oil on the under cover.. but they didnt tell the customer that it looked like it was remains of a spillage from dim and distant past.. no they said the car could have a serious oil leak...

arrrgghhh
 
Yep... The RAC recently put one of my customers off a really nice clean car.

They are a pain in the backside. RAC inspector came into my office and told me how nice the car was.. then went and put off the customer... they have to tell the customer every minor little thing, no matter how relevant (to cover their backsides) and they arent allowed to explain the significance of it.

e.g. a dry patch of oil on the under cover.. but they didnt tell the customer that it looked like it was remains of a spillage from dim and distant past.. no they said the car could have a serious oil leak...

arrrgghhh

Totally agree with you. They came to inspect a Porsche I had for sale. It is supposed to take one maybe two hours... three hours later I popped out to see how he was doing and he had only dropped an engine cover clip down in the engine. After five hours and a RAC roadside Engineer helping the inspector called me out from my office by phone, drove across the car park handed me the keys and sped off! I went to check the car only to find that it would no longer lock as one the windows would not completely close (Boxster).

I would not let them near a car of mine ever again, I don't care if it puts a customer off as all the cars I have get a new MOT and Inspection before sale, if thats not good enough then walk away.
 
We had an audi TT a few years ago, was 2 years old with absolutely no miles. The lady walked as the RAC report read that every bush, gaiter and seal was deteriorating, that it had leaks of all sorts, that the tyres were worn, the brakes were worn etc. They do read very badly.
 
I have to add that anyone purchasing a car from anyone should after pick up, drive to an MOT station and spend £60. some are much cheaper, and have an MOT done. Its a very cheap check compared to an indipendant. All will be revealed and cat checks. Its good because if you are traveling to collect a car from afar, just do a search for neariest MOT testing stations and ring up prior to see if its a turn up or booking system.
I have done this in the past regardless if it already has a ticket, it does not matter.
For me 7 weeks and 5,000 miles, don't bother. well i would not and i have had lots of small claims against gaarages, this one i would not do. to late too many miles between. Best of luck anyway.
Gino
Similarly I'm not too worried about a car coming with 12 months MOT (mentioned earlier in the thread) as long as the warrantly is a good one and the MOT is due in the warrantly period (hopefully 12 months so it should be). Then get the MOT done at a fussy place and take it back to have the faults fixed under warrantly.
 
This is why the AA stopped offering them, I heard that a MAJOR car dealer took them to court and won thousands in damages.

The RAC started offering them soon after.
 
jaymanek - Dont know if this is true but I heard this when the AA got into lumber, a main agent got a new car, clocked it forward a little, made it look used by driving it a little and then got an inspection done. Apparently the AA found over 20 faults on a new car that had in reality, done about 100 miles.

I heard this through a pal who worked at a branch of the main agent in question.

Basically the view was that the AA were making stuff up to justify the cost.
 
Yep, all the AA/RAC inspectors that ive ever met have told me that over 20% of their work was inspecting brand new cars for certain large companies... They said that only 1 out of 10 passed with no faults.. and on average 5/10 cars would have more than 20 faults.
 
There seems to be a little too much sympathy for the dealer on this thread in my opinion and too lttle for me.

I bought the car from a dealer, paying a not inconsiderable sum of money and I expected the car to be in full working order and to be protected, at least, for the first few months against failures. Otherwise I might just as well save myself a pile of cash and buy privately.

Now some have seen my mileage as being some sort of 'get out of jail free card' for the dealer. Well I don't see it that way.

When I first contacted the dealer he told me the car had been thoroughly inspected prior to my purchase and the springs must have broken since, not that that absolves him in my book. So I said fine show me your Inspection Report and we can then discuss how to move forward. Guess what he has completely dropped any mention of a pre sale Inspection because this wonderful dealer clearly didn't do one. The car was being driven around by a director of the Company and I'm guessing that because it drove okay nothing was checked.

As far as I can tell the car received little pre sale prep. It wasn't properly cleaned inside and the wheels were not tightened correctly. I also had to replace a tyre within a couple of days as it had a slow puncture from day one and was unrepairable.

I do not see this dealer as a hero but as the sort of dealer who gives the motor trade a bad name. Yes he has made a reasonable offer on the springs but only when confronted by a determined customer.

I certainly wouldn't buy another car from this dealer and will be a darn site more careful next time I buy a car.

As a footnote I tried to buy a similar car from Jay pre - Xmas and we agreed a deal in principle by email, unfortunately when I phoned a day later to arrange to come and see the car it had already been promised to a friend of his Dad's I think. If Jay can recall I didn't try to screw him down on price but was happy to pay a fair price for the car. I understand a dealer has to make a return but the flip side of that is the dealer has responsibilities. Now given all the great feedback Jay gets on here I am sure that the Mercland car would have been properly inspected and prepared and thus I would have been more than happy to go through with the deal Jay had proposed. Sadly the dealer that I eventually bought my car from does not appear to have these standards.
 
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As a footnote I tried to buy a similar car from Jay pre - Xmas and we agreed a deal in principle by email, unfortunately when I phoned a day later to arrange to come and see the car it had already been promised to a friend of his Dad's I think. .

Must have been the E320 CDi, 54 Reg? Yep that went to a friend of the family, twas a nice car..

Take care..
 
There seems to be a little too much sympathy for the dealer on this thread in my opinion and too lttle for me..
I think you have given a very fair account of your experience and you have asked for advice.

Note the 'Asked for Advice'

If we see a platoon of soldiers marching and one person is out of step..

Is that one soldier 'In Step' and everyone else wrong?

Soemetimes when we ask for advice we might not like what we hear, but if that advice is polite, constructive and given in good faith, then should we lsiten to what is being said?
 
I think you have given a very fair account of your experience and you have asked for advice.

Note the 'Asked for Advice'

If we see a platoon of soldiers marching and one person is out of step..

Is that one soldier 'In Step' and everyone else wrong?

Soemetimes when we ask for advice we might not like what we hear, but if that advice is polite, constructive and given in good faith, then should we lsiten to what is being said?

I have no problem with the advice given on this thread. Your soldier analogy doesn't work as there has been many differing views. It is all much appreciated. However when I see comments like 'Dealer should be named and praised for his attitude.....' I feel I must redress the balance.

I have learnt not to trust Car Dealers from this episode and will in future have any car independently inspected (probably by my local Indy who I rate very highly). In hindsight it was naive of me to be so trusting.
 
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From my extensive experience spending virually all my working life in the motor trade, I can say honestly that not all dealers are sharks! I've worked for some real jems, who really cared about their cars and customers and sadly, I've also worked for the occasional skunk! But, "buyer beware" is always a good moto, but please remember, we motor traders are not all bad!! :)
 

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