D
Deleted member 37751
Guest
Irrespective of what tricks many traders try and pull, its six months warranty by law.
There are caveats (reasonable mileage/age etc).
There are caveats (reasonable mileage/age etc).
What do to? (Car purchase hassles)
- Thread starter Will
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
D
Deleted member 11979
Guest
Large dealers can be helpful, when our disco 4 broke down 3 times in three months, and the cause was found to be an incorrectly fitted battery, Matford Land Rover gave us an additional 12 months warranty and £300 of John Lewis vouchers as way of an apology. They do now seem to be taking customer care more seriously than in years gone by, but you have to ask
Vlad
MB Enthusiast
Will, I get your point re it being the car you want etc, but the fact that they have been happy to BS you right from the outset, rather than being upfront, does not bode well if the car subsequently has faults/issues.....that's when their BS levels will ratchet up big time.
Yes you have a warranty, but depending on what type of warranty it is and the level of cover, it may well end up being next to useless.
Yes, you have the option of Consumer Credit Law, but again if you have to resort to this, I hope you have a huge amount of patience and again you will see BS like you've never seen before.
Personally the upfront BS from the start says everything to me. If they had said right from the start "Hey we are having a problem and its taking a bit of time to sort out etc etc", then that would have been a different story.
Yes you have a warranty, but depending on what type of warranty it is and the level of cover, it may well end up being next to useless.
Yes, you have the option of Consumer Credit Law, but again if you have to resort to this, I hope you have a huge amount of patience and again you will see BS like you've never seen before.
Personally the upfront BS from the start says everything to me. If they had said right from the start "Hey we are having a problem and its taking a bit of time to sort out etc etc", then that would have been a different story.
I’ve had to play softly from my end so far as until the balance is paid the car isn’t actually mine and I guess they could renege on the deal if they’d wanted to.
They actually called me this morning confirming the details for next week, and yesterday I briefly spoke to the MB dealership that’s doing the service etc on Monday to confirm (maybe I’m cynical but at least I know that it is booked)
Like I said earlier they’re not great to deal with but I don’t see them as any worse of a risk to buying privately which I’d be doing otherwise. Incompetent perhaps and uninterested with poor communications but other than the lack of mention of the headlight issue which has taken far too long to sort out nothing really else I can say.
I’ve paid the deposit by Visa Credit so that should afford me some protection and the dealer (or the group at least!) won’t be going anywhere anytime soon so I’m not too worried just yet.
The car itself should be fine, no reason for it not to be - it’s been serviced every 1500-2000 miles and has one private owner from new with 11k miles, the headlight issue is electrical not so much wear/tear but could happen to any one of these cars I suspect.
If there’s further issues then I’ll either sort them myself (as I’d have to if I was buying privately) or push for them to step in if necessary - 6 months should be plenty of time to establish if the car is a peach or a lemon!
They actually called me this morning confirming the details for next week, and yesterday I briefly spoke to the MB dealership that’s doing the service etc on Monday to confirm (maybe I’m cynical but at least I know that it is booked)
Like I said earlier they’re not great to deal with but I don’t see them as any worse of a risk to buying privately which I’d be doing otherwise. Incompetent perhaps and uninterested with poor communications but other than the lack of mention of the headlight issue which has taken far too long to sort out nothing really else I can say.
I’ve paid the deposit by Visa Credit so that should afford me some protection and the dealer (or the group at least!) won’t be going anywhere anytime soon so I’m not too worried just yet.
The car itself should be fine, no reason for it not to be - it’s been serviced every 1500-2000 miles and has one private owner from new with 11k miles, the headlight issue is electrical not so much wear/tear but could happen to any one of these cars I suspect.
If there’s further issues then I’ll either sort them myself (as I’d have to if I was buying privately) or push for them to step in if necessary - 6 months should be plenty of time to establish if the car is a peach or a lemon!
BaldGuy
MB Enthusiast
Incredible patience Will.. Hope the car is what you expect.....
Okay - an update and a quandary for me.
The car is not ready. It went into an MB main dealer yesterday. Apparently it’s been serviced but the headlight issue is a new headlight needed and not the control unit as they (the garage or whoever) thought it was.
They (the garage I am dealing with, not MB) are trying to claim it’s not economic to repair (headlight circa £1k plus fitting/coding @ 3 hours labour or something)
Apparently they are into 6 hours labour for diagnosing the fault and the service on top, circa £1500 already they reckon - before the headlight is fixed. Seems a bit excessive but that’s what they’re saying.
They are asking me for a contribution towards the cost of a new headlight/and or fitting costs. Something between £500/700 was mentioned. Which obviously I haven’t agreed to.
The two people I spoke to this afternoon (Sales Manager and General Manager aka Dealer Principal) both kept on going on about how it’s not economical to fix/beyond economic repair, how much they’re losing on the car already etc. My stand is it’s a £1k headlight needed on a £25k+ car, it needs to be done. What would have happened if it had gone wrong a week after purchase etc? Their line was that they would just buy the car back off me and be done with it then send it to auction etc - which they reckon they’d do if I don’t agree to paying towards the cost of repair and just return my deposit.
Really don’t know where to go from here. The whole situation is absolutely ridiculous!
I’m at a loss as to what to do. I know the head vs heart thing and all that. I don’t want to lose this car.
My options as I see them are:
1) Pay the £500-700 (half towards the cost of the headlight/labour)
2) Dispute it further up the chain with the dealer group, lean on them for their appalling customer service and the way they conduct their business. Could backfire and they just refund me anyway which I don’t want. I want the car.
3) Ask for my deposit back. This is not what I want to do at all.
4) Pay what they want now, to get the car fixed and get it home. Then dispute this and see if either through good will or otherwise I can claim for what they’re trying to make me pay.
How can a garage advertise a car for sale with a faulty headlight, agree a sale/take a deposit then ask a customer for more money towards the cost of repair before they even collect the car?
I know 90% of you will say just get the deposit back and move on, but I really do want this car.
I still think there’s something fishy going on, they think they can get more elsewhere (possibly even have another buyer lined up) or they just want it to go the auction route so they haven’t got to stand by the car once it’s collected by me.
The other possibility I think is that they’re trying to get me to ‘go halves’ on the cost of the headlight and labour but they’re paying much less than that (discounted) so I end up paying more than half to help them cover some of their loss in the car...
Absolutely fed up with them but equally I *want* this car. Kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe I’m too determined but it makes me want to get the car even more. I just don’t know how to play it from here.
Any advice welcomed, even if you say to walk I understand - if you really wanted something you’d probably see it differently though!
The car is not ready. It went into an MB main dealer yesterday. Apparently it’s been serviced but the headlight issue is a new headlight needed and not the control unit as they (the garage or whoever) thought it was.
They (the garage I am dealing with, not MB) are trying to claim it’s not economic to repair (headlight circa £1k plus fitting/coding @ 3 hours labour or something)
Apparently they are into 6 hours labour for diagnosing the fault and the service on top, circa £1500 already they reckon - before the headlight is fixed. Seems a bit excessive but that’s what they’re saying.
They are asking me for a contribution towards the cost of a new headlight/and or fitting costs. Something between £500/700 was mentioned. Which obviously I haven’t agreed to.
The two people I spoke to this afternoon (Sales Manager and General Manager aka Dealer Principal) both kept on going on about how it’s not economical to fix/beyond economic repair, how much they’re losing on the car already etc. My stand is it’s a £1k headlight needed on a £25k+ car, it needs to be done. What would have happened if it had gone wrong a week after purchase etc? Their line was that they would just buy the car back off me and be done with it then send it to auction etc - which they reckon they’d do if I don’t agree to paying towards the cost of repair and just return my deposit.
Really don’t know where to go from here. The whole situation is absolutely ridiculous!
I’m at a loss as to what to do. I know the head vs heart thing and all that. I don’t want to lose this car.
My options as I see them are:
1) Pay the £500-700 (half towards the cost of the headlight/labour)
2) Dispute it further up the chain with the dealer group, lean on them for their appalling customer service and the way they conduct their business. Could backfire and they just refund me anyway which I don’t want. I want the car.
3) Ask for my deposit back. This is not what I want to do at all.
4) Pay what they want now, to get the car fixed and get it home. Then dispute this and see if either through good will or otherwise I can claim for what they’re trying to make me pay.
How can a garage advertise a car for sale with a faulty headlight, agree a sale/take a deposit then ask a customer for more money towards the cost of repair before they even collect the car?
I know 90% of you will say just get the deposit back and move on, but I really do want this car.
I still think there’s something fishy going on, they think they can get more elsewhere (possibly even have another buyer lined up) or they just want it to go the auction route so they haven’t got to stand by the car once it’s collected by me.
The other possibility I think is that they’re trying to get me to ‘go halves’ on the cost of the headlight and labour but they’re paying much less than that (discounted) so I end up paying more than half to help them cover some of their loss in the car...
Absolutely fed up with them but equally I *want* this car. Kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe I’m too determined but it makes me want to get the car even more. I just don’t know how to play it from here.
Any advice welcomed, even if you say to walk I understand - if you really wanted something you’d probably see it differently though!
D
Deletedmember130310
Guest
Run away.
Fast
After they have repaid your deposit.
Plenty more fish and all that....
Fast
After they have repaid your deposit.
Plenty more fish and all that....
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2008
- Messages
- 45,620
- Location
- London
- Car
- 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 RWD / 2016 Suzuki Vitara AWD
Yes they will make a loss on this car... but it's nothing to do with you.
And if the headlamp died one week after you bought the car they would still have to pay to get it fixed.
You can ask for your deposit back and tell them you cancel the deal, and you may find out that you've called their bluff (it will sell in an auction at well below the dealer's forecourt price....).
Or tell them you have a binding contract and that you insist they fix the car and honor the deal or you'll complain to Trading Standards / take them to SCC (including cost of rental until the issue is settled).
And if the headlamp died one week after you bought the car they would still have to pay to get it fixed.
You can ask for your deposit back and tell them you cancel the deal, and you may find out that you've called their bluff (it will sell in an auction at well below the dealer's forecourt price....).
Or tell them you have a binding contract and that you insist they fix the car and honor the deal or you'll complain to Trading Standards / take them to SCC (including cost of rental until the issue is settled).
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 27,647
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
That really really is bizarre. Unique even. It would be different if it was a cosmetic imperfection (not a fault) and you agreed to share th cost of replacement as part of the deal, but that’s not the case here.
I wouldn’t be making a contribution to the cost of repair. What next, pay for the PDI, chip in towards the workshop electricity bill?
I would ask them to reconsider their position given that you have been patient whilst they have attempted to resolve the issue several times. I would also contact Customer Services and/or someone in the dealer group whether this is common practice in their business.
Bizarre.
I wouldn’t be making a contribution to the cost of repair. What next, pay for the PDI, chip in towards the workshop electricity bill?
I would ask them to reconsider their position given that you have been patient whilst they have attempted to resolve the issue several times. I would also contact Customer Services and/or someone in the dealer group whether this is common practice in their business.
Bizarre.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2010
- Messages
- 5,630
- Location
- Stirling, Scotland
- Car
- E55 AMG W211, E250 Sport W212, (and some Imps)
Astounding, get your cash and run.
If they auction it then go get a better bargain and have it fixed yourself.
Still sounds very fishy and I'm finding the whole story from them a little bit hard to swallow.
If they auction it then go get a better bargain and have it fixed yourself.
Still sounds very fishy and I'm finding the whole story from them a little bit hard to swallow.
D
Deleted member 37751
Guest
To put it bluntly Will - they know you’re absolutely desperate to buy the car and are trying their luck; I wouldn’t put it past them to try some other schtick once this issue has been fixed too.
Doodle
MB Enthusiast
As above, even if they have been caught with their pants down, it's not your problem. No dealership expects to make a profit on every single car, there will always be those unforseens that eat through the margins of that isolated deal.
Their line of forcing a buyback if it had failed after sale is frankly laughable, but no more so than trying on a sob story to eke out things further in their favour. Either way, they've proven themselves to be consistently full of half truths and questionable conduct. Regardless of how special the car is, would one really want to buy from people like that?
Their line of forcing a buyback if it had failed after sale is frankly laughable, but no more so than trying on a sob story to eke out things further in their favour. Either way, they've proven themselves to be consistently full of half truths and questionable conduct. Regardless of how special the car is, would one really want to buy from people like that?
brucemillar
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2010
- Messages
- 8,663
- Car
- C55 AMG Wagon - W124 300te 4matic Wagon - BMW 4.8is X5 E53 - SWB Pajero 3.5 V6 24v
My opinion (not sure you need this)
It does seem that something is not straight in the dealers story to you. Why? I have no idea, but it stinks of dishonesty from start to finish.
Where they get that asking for a contribution in a fault they cannot diagnose, describe, pinpoint or repair is a new one in me.
Tell them you wish to take a look at the tea leafs in the bottom of your cup first while you consider it. That may get you closer to the truth than the dealer can.
I hope you can resolve this and get your car.
Good luck.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It does seem that something is not straight in the dealers story to you. Why? I have no idea, but it stinks of dishonesty from start to finish.
Where they get that asking for a contribution in a fault they cannot diagnose, describe, pinpoint or repair is a new one in me.
Tell them you wish to take a look at the tea leafs in the bottom of your cup first while you consider it. That may get you closer to the truth than the dealer can.
I hope you can resolve this and get your car.
Good luck.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2008
- Messages
- 45,620
- Location
- London
- Car
- 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 RWD / 2016 Suzuki Vitara AWD
This is what I would do.
But - my post above relates to options available to the OP given that he said that 'take the money and run' was not his preferred option.
If it’s any help, the cost of a Xenon headlamp unit and ballast for a W212 is about £1k so their going halves offer seems about right. Not that I agree with it for a nanosecond.
Walk away, there’ll be another one for sale in the end. (Maybe this particular one, shortly to be on sale at auction...)
Walk away, there’ll be another one for sale in the end. (Maybe this particular one, shortly to be on sale at auction...
)
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
- Messages
- 13,285
- Location
- Near Salisbury
- Car
- MX5 1.8 Sport, Range Rover 5.0 SC, BMW X1
Okay - an update and a quandary for me.
They (the garage I am dealing with, not MB) are trying to claim it’s not economic to repair (headlight circa £1k plus fitting/coding @ 3 hours labour or something)
Apparently they are into 6 hours labour for diagnosing the fault and the service on top, circa £1500 already they reckon - before the headlight is fixed. Seems a bit excessive but that’s what they’re saying.
They are asking me for a contribution towards the cost of a new headlight/and or fitting costs. Something between £500/700 was mentioned. Which obviously I haven’t agreed to.
The two people I spoke to this afternoon (Sales Manager and General Manager aka Dealer Principal) both kept on going on about how it’s not economical to fix/beyond economic repair, how much they’re losing on the car already etc. My stand is it’s a £1k headlight needed on a £25k+ car, it needs to be done. What would have happened if it had gone wrong a week after purchase etc? Their line was that they would just buy the car back off me and be done with it then send it to auction etc - which they reckon they’d do if I don’t agree to paying towards the cost of repair and just return my deposit.
Really don’t know where to go from here. The whole situation is absolutely ridiculous!
I’m at a loss as to what to do. I know the head vs heart thing and all that. I don’t want to lose this car.
My options as I see them are:
1) Pay the £500-700 (half towards the cost of the headlight/labour)
2) Dispute it further up the chain with the dealer group, lean on them for their appalling customer service and the way they conduct their business. Could backfire and they just refund me anyway which I don’t want. I want the car.
3) Ask for my deposit back. This is not what I want to do at all.
4) Pay what they want now, to get the car fixed and get it home. Then dispute this and see if either through good will or otherwise I can claim for what they’re trying to make me pay.
How can a garage advertise a car for sale with a faulty headlight, agree a sale/take a deposit then ask a customer for more money towards the cost of repair before they even collect the car?
I know 90% of you will say just get the deposit back and move on, but I really do want this car.
I still think there’s something fishy going on, they think they can get more elsewhere (possibly even have another buyer lined up) or they just want it to go the auction route so they haven’t got to stand by the car once it’s collected by me.
The other possibility I think is that they’re trying to get me to ‘go halves’ on the cost of the headlight and labour but they’re paying much less than that (discounted) so I end up paying more than half to help them cover some of their loss in the car...
Absolutely fed up with them but equally I *want* this car. Kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe I’m too determined but it makes me want to get the car even more. I just don’t know how to play it from here.
Any advice welcomed, even if you say to walk I understand - if you really wanted something you’d probably see it differently though!
Read your own words.
This business is behaving appallingly in many ways but to now attempt to have you pay towards the cost of repair to their stock is just laughable and to suggest they could make you sell it back to them after purchase is another low life tactic.
It does not matter how good this car is in other respects, just walk away and forget about it after securing your deposit.
fabes
MB Enthusiast
Flip side is, principles to one side, would you buy this car (north of £25k you say) for £700 if it was perfect. (3% more...)
It's had hours of diagnosis from MB who will have flagged any faults, MB will have serviced according to schedule and not just dropped in some cheapo oil and from what you say, there isn't another one out there....?
It's 3% of purchase value
If you buy it get it down to Olly and Jack who can give it a further once over for peace of mind
Or run away and do away with all the stress
It is only a car......
It's had hours of diagnosis from MB who will have flagged any faults, MB will have serviced according to schedule and not just dropped in some cheapo oil and from what you say, there isn't another one out there....?
It's 3% of purchase value
If you buy it get it down to Olly and Jack who can give it a further once over for peace of mind
Or run away and do away with all the stress
It is only a car......
I could just about understand your patience and tolerance if what you are buying was a totally unique, one-off car. Have you stopped to think how the garage people must regard you? Don't walk, run (with your deposit plus interest).
Cheers guys.
To be honest I was surprised at the cost of the headlight - I genuinely thought it was cheap for what it is, the Xenons on my 2003 911 are over £2k each side - the 212 ones seem far more complex too (ILS) so £1k didn’t seem excessive for what they are.
I know full well what I think of this garage presently, but I am also very suspicious of their tactics - I can’t honestly see how they can run a business like this. Which means there has to be more to what is going on..
I’m presently torn between options 2 and 4. I want the car but realistically they should be fixing the issue, it’s not my fault if they have bought in a car with a fault or which has developed a fault before sale - how can I be expected to cover/contribute towards the repair costs to their stock?
But if I don’t pay up I’m without a car and a month of time wasted too, back to square one (minus costs incurred, time wasted etc)
Do I pay £500 or offer a third as a show of good faith, get the car collected and then see how I can proceed. Can you make a payment to a garage with conditions - ie disputed or under duress?
It’s a ridiculous situation presently with no clear option for me. I’ll sleep on it
To be honest I was surprised at the cost of the headlight - I genuinely thought it was cheap for what it is, the Xenons on my 2003 911 are over £2k each side - the 212 ones seem far more complex too (ILS) so £1k didn’t seem excessive for what they are.
I know full well what I think of this garage presently, but I am also very suspicious of their tactics - I can’t honestly see how they can run a business like this. Which means there has to be more to what is going on..
I’m presently torn between options 2 and 4. I want the car but realistically they should be fixing the issue, it’s not my fault if they have bought in a car with a fault or which has developed a fault before sale - how can I be expected to cover/contribute towards the repair costs to their stock?
But if I don’t pay up I’m without a car and a month of time wasted too, back to square one (minus costs incurred, time wasted etc)
Do I pay £500 or offer a third as a show of good faith, get the car collected and then see how I can proceed. Can you make a payment to a garage with conditions - ie disputed or under duress?
It’s a ridiculous situation presently with no clear option for me. I’ll sleep on it
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
- Messages
- 13,285
- Location
- Near Salisbury
- Car
- MX5 1.8 Sport, Range Rover 5.0 SC, BMW X1
Cheers guys.
To be honest I was surprised at the cost of the headlight - I genuinely thought it was cheap for what it is, the Xenons on my 2003 911 are over £2k each side - the 212 ones seem far more complex too (ILS) so £1k didn’t seem excessive for what they are.
I know full well what I think of this garage presently, but I am also very suspicious of their tactics - I can’t honestly see how they can run a business like this. Which means there has to be more to what is going on..
I’m presently torn between options 2 and 4. I want the car but realistically they should be fixing the issue, it’s not my fault if they have bought in a car with a fault or which has developed a fault before sale - how can I be expected to cover/contribute towards the repair costs to their stock?
But if I don’t pay up I’m without a car and a month of time wasted too, back to square one (minus costs incurred, time wasted etc)
Do I pay £500 or offer a third as a show of good faith, get the car collected and then see how I can proceed. Can you make a payment to a garage with conditions - ie disputed or under duress?
It’s a ridiculous situation presently with no clear option for me. I’ll sleep on it
It seems very clear, park the time you have spent, that is gone.You do not have the car anyway.
You do not pay to repair something belonging to someone else.
If there are other problems after purchase just how do you see this business dealing with it?
