Used car buyers 'need more support'

[wemorgan]

BBC News - Used car buyers 'need more support'

The AA says 210,000 vehicles are sold each year with a major fault and some 180,000 are "clocked" - with miles taken off the odometer.

It estimates that 750,000 consumers a year face unresolved problems with a used car purchase.

 

[markjay]

Clocking is a criminal offense for a number of years now anyway?

At any rate, this only applies to traders, not private sellers, and even so I am not sure any of this is enforceable when it comes to small or one-man-band independent traders.

Said that, main dealers appear to be just as culpable..

I suppose that like everything else, one should choose the dealer, big or small, by reputation.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I have, in my time, bought more of my fair share of lemons. I do not need more support, I probably need sectioning, but if every car was returned to the supplying dealer for fault rectification there would be no honest secondhand car trade.

 

[automaniaman]

Caveat emptor OP...

 

[krisby]

I can believe those figures, I'm running at 50% lemon rate of the 8 cars I've bought from traders in the past 4 years.
One of the cars I bought and go no satisfaction from the yard, I reported to WAtchdog, seems loads of others did too, as they were soon on TV and then closed down. Unfortunately, I noticed "Sean", the little pakistani man I bought my car from at the previous yard, is now working in another pop up yard in Iver, under a different name. I walked off the yard and the guy I had been dealing with at this new yard emailed and asked why I left suddenly, so I said I suspected the yard to be similar to 5 star cars and I recognized Sean, he of course said they had no one with that name and were in no way related to 5 star cars. Whatever!

The problem is there is no membership scheme (that I am aware of), in NZ we had the MTA, or Motor Trade Association, you didn't have to be a member but it certainly put the customer at ease. Traders in NZ whilst not perfect, are much much better than here. For starters, cars must have an MOT no more than 28 days old, and cars are normally valeted before they go on the yard, so they can attract more money, dents and paint marks, if financially viable are fixed too, but in the UK I find it staggering that cars are filthy, with missing trim, and known problems are not fixed before the customer sees the car, that is just mental.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Ah, I think I know the place in Iver. Cars with no MOT or tax parked blocking junctions etc.

 

[Rory]

I can believe those figures, I'm running at 50% lemon rate of the 8 cars I've bought from traders in the past 4 years.
One of the cars I bought and go no satisfaction from the yard, I reported to WAtchdog, seems loads of others did too, as they were soon on TV and then closed down. Unfortunately, I noticed "Sean", the little pakistani man I bought my car from at the previous yard, is now working in another pop up yard in Iver, under a different name. I walked off the yard and the guy I had been dealing with at this new yard emailed and asked why I left suddenly, so I said I suspected the yard to be similar to 5 star cars and I recognized Sean, he of course said they had no one with that name and were in no way related to 5 star cars. Whatever!

Why buy from such places? They're surely likely to be selling the dregs that can't be sold anywhere else.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

To me, one of the most worrying aspects of buying a used car privately is that it could be subject to a "log book loan". Such loans are not on HPI database , so show up as clear of finance. However, it would appear that if you buy such a vehicle , and the loan has not been paid it can be repossessed by the lender , no matter how spurious they are. Time the law was changed , putting the onus of the debt against the borrower , not an unsuspecting buyer that has parted with their hard earned cash.

 

[markjay]

I bought several cars in the past from Car Giant in London.

Used Cars | Cargiant - Official Website, The world's largest Used Car Dealership

Low-cost cars and no-frills service, but so far (touch wood) never had a bad one.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Anyone bought from "cars with no reserve" at Newbury , Berks ? They advertise on ebay.As long as you pay £100 deposit and turn up to view the car they allow you to spend all day checking it out , then if you decide not to buy it they return your £100. Cars are sold on trade terms , but there have been a few which seem well priced if you are not overly fussy on it being "dealer prepped".