What do to? (Car purchase hassles)

[markjay]

If you do decide to get this car... then ask the selling dealer to request from MB a printout of the STAR Quickest while they have the car for the coding.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Unless you find another car, which is unlikely, what have you got to lose by waiting until it’s fixed? When it’s fixed, give it a really good going over and if you’re happy then buy it. If a problem persists later, they need to fix it, or you fix it and take them to the small claims court.

 

[zipdip]

What a very crazy story about trying to buy a car,I have to admit I would have walked away some time ago,but it would seem you have set your heart on getting this car,so I suppose you have to stick with it,this dealership has to be the pits,but they are from a era where they are not supposed to make a loss,it sometimes happens and if you have what it takes you smile and take it on the nose,they are so used to making money at both ends of the deal that they have lost their sense of humour,they obviously wanted to sell the car that this one was traded in for badly,and gave nearly retail on the trade in,and you walked in knocked £500 and plus the MB repair has then reaching a new low for dealers.

 

[dest]

It’s a bit of a gamble, but turning up unannounced is another good option

 

[grober]

Its possible that some "title" issues have arisen meaning the car is not free and clear for them to sell to you just yet without technically committing an offence. This might arise if the original seller had not "full title" to the car when he traded in to the dealer- e.g. he still owed money on it to a third party.
These issues are a legal minefield and best avoided if at all possible. You might just end up with a car that someone still owes finance on for example which means you don't own it despite paying over the money?
Sale Of Goods By A Non-Owner: The Legal Position

 

[Skd884]

Wagon.
Designo.
THAT engine....
Well worth the wait.

 

[MD5]

Although the service is not up to standard. The issue makes sense.
Those intelligent light control units are a common failure and can only be coded by someone with online star.

@Will, I'd take comfort in Jay's words, of all people. If the car is straight and you have your heart set on it, the clowns you are dealing with will be long forgotten once you've had your keeper for a while. You can carry out your own checks re finance and history, so treat the dealer as a temporary nuisance, worth putting up with if the car is right, one you are getting at a good price. Your statutory rights will protect you once you've taken possession.

 

[ChrisN53]

If it is exactly what you want and you have not been able to find similar on the market, and you're not in a rush, then I'd say wait it out.

Be sure to apply the right amount of pressure to ensure they sort everything properly beforehand.

I'd say wait it out, although I appreciate it can be frustrating at times!

 

[dest]

Its possible that some "title" issues have arisen meaning the car is not free and clear for them to sell to you just yet without technically committing an offence. This might arise if the original seller had not "full title" to the car when he traded in to the dealer- e.g. he still owed money on it to a third party.
These issues are a legal minefield and best avoided if at all possible. You might just end up with a car that someone still owes finance on for example which means you don't own it despite paying over the money?
Sale Of Goods By A Non-Owner: The Legal Position

It’s not a mine field at all, the car either has finance on it or it doesn’t.
A 1 minute HPI check will tell you either way

 

[Will]

Thanks everyone.

I’ve cooled off a bit now but have to admit the BS I’ve been getting from them down the phone coupled with their incompetence has really tested my patience over the last week, it’s frustrating to say the least as I could have had the car by now and got it fixed already. Unfortunately for me, the car is quite unique and only for sale from this garage so I don’t have the choice to buy elsewhere.

To be honest, I don’t feel too worried about the legal side of things - ie money/title/ownership etc, even if stuff needed sorting out in the car post purchase etc. The garage is part of a very large dealer group so I’m fairly sure that side of things wouldn’t be an issue.

What I want at the moment is just to get the car paid for and collected. The more I think about it, I genuinely believe they have either undersold the car or don’t wish to have the hassle of any further issues come back for them especially as they’ve got no profit in this sale.

I’m keeping my sensible head on, despite their incompetence the car itself is a decent example and once this drama is out of the way, it should be worth the wait

 

[PobodY]

You can always tell them that you're under pressure (from your wife perhaps?) to ask for your deposit back and walk away.
You don't want to, you're on their side and know they'll get it sorted for you.
What can they offer you to keep your wife happy? - Can you let her know when you'll get the car? Are they going to show some good will?

 

[219]

While I’m not a fan of social media, does this dealer have a Facebook page ?

I’d be tempted to post a carefully worded account of this purchase , sticking to facts , and expressing your disappointment that this has taken so long , especially when they have MB dealers within their group to which it could have been sent .

With any luck this will be picked up on by head office as they usually have someone monitoring PR , good and bad , and they don’t like bad PR .

 

[Will]

Okay so update after a week - still not got the car yet, but things are looking a bit more promising...

I waited until Tuesday PM (around 4.30) as I’d heard nothing since before the weekend. And I was originally told the car was expected to have gone into Mercedes for repair on Mon/Tue so an update seemed fair. Guy was ‘in a meeting’ and a call back was promised - nothing.

Weds comes and I call again as I’d still not heard anything. The original guy who I’d been dealing with answered the phone - gotcha. Oh the part has arrived we just need to book it in now when Mercedes can fit us in. I stressed my concern and frustration that the car was now 44+ days overdue a service already and that by the time they’ve fixed it I’ll still need to book it in again (after having to cancel the booking I had for Monday this week, as the car was still not ready) which is going to take me another 2/3 weeks for a slot - not ideal especially as this is a prestige/main dealer chain (who retails a £25k+ car 2 months overdue a service and makes a customer wait a month for a car give or take?)

I explained that aside from the above, I’d like to have some confidence that there’s nothing else wrong with the car anyway, and I thought it was a reasonable ask of them all things considered (wasted time/money etc) if nothing else but as a gesture of good will on their part.

Was promised a call back with regards this, again nothing.

I think that what hasn’t helped the situation is that the people I’ve been dealing with probably haven’t taken a great deal of interest in getting this sorted (to put it mildly), and after several people having not sorted anything out or phone calls being returned I thought I’d try another approach. I managed to find contact details for the main company on their Facebook page (they run eight dealers under this marque alone, not including the dozens of others for other brands)

Sent a very simple and polite message asking for their assistance in resolving an issue that seems to be taking far longer than it should.

Was messaged back asking some details promptly and within minutes I’d had a voicemail whilst I was busy at work from the General Manager/Dealer Principal who’d been made aware of the issue and gave me his personal contact number and assured me he’d get it sorted out. I mentioned the growing issue with the overdue service and this morning I was called back by the garage (!) and informed that they’d get it serviced for me as well as this headlight issue when it goes into Mercedes.

I won’t count my chickens just yet but I’m a little more positive now.

I don’t enjoy complaining but after nearly 3 weeks I really did think I had to try another approach as I wasn’t getting anywhere with the regular guys that worked there.

Fingers crossed now, there has to be light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[AMGeed]

You have more patience than me Will.
Being messed around would test me very quickly.
I hope the wait is worthwhile. It does appear going higher up the chain is getting results.

 

[PobodY]

I also don't like to complain, but recognise that sometimes you have to make a fuss to get someone to do the right thing.

 

[tbourner]

Who are these people? Maybe others on here have had similar or conflicting cases with them? At the very least what do the Google reviews say about them?

If you've now gone over their heads you need to make sure the service is done by another company, not part of their network.

 

[Will]

It’s a large retail group who run dozens of main dealers for several different marques. The nearest group owned MB dealer is probably a couple of hundred miles round trip from them though so I don’t think they’ll be using them for the work.

I’ll post up the outcome once everything is sorted out but I’d probably never want to use their services again.

Their google review is something like 3.4 our of 5 but as with most things how many people search out to leave reviews unless stuff has gone wrong?

As soon as the car is ready I’ll try and get it into a local dealer for a full health check and Olly’s for a good going over as well as obviously myself checking as much as I can - there’s no real reason for any concern other than this headlight issue that they couldn’t sort out themselves.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Stratman]

Going public and them getting a caning from the headmaster will have upset them. Just hope they don't put an untraceable rattle or unfindable creak in it before handover

 

[Will]

Going public and them getting a caning from the headmaster will have upset them. Just hope they don't put an untraceable rattle or unfindable creak in it before handover

I didn’t go public, just sent them a direct message to the main company contact.

At least the person in charge of the dealer in question is now aware of the situation and is keen to get it sorted out.

MB will be doing the service and the repair, not this garage although I do understand your point

 

[MD5]

Just a thought, Will, can't they just reduce the price of the car by the cost of repairs and let you get it sorted yourself?