First time buying from a dealer.

[Jaykaye]

Afternoon all,

I just had a small query regarding buying from a dealer, as I've always bought private.

I seen a nice small Honda civic for sale at a dealer who has some great reviews on a big car buying website. The car is priced lower than I've seen for equivalant from private sellers, it had also dropped in price 200 pounds over night, it's not an expensive car, so a decent drop.

I phoned up yesterday asking the usual questions aboyt buying a car and was told that the car had some knocking coming from the steering. The dealer said the car was in storage, but once I'd put down a deposit the dealeship would then order the part and have it fixed, but this could possibly take a week, maybe even two. As you can imagine with only buying private I've never come across something like this before, is this unusual or something that can ocur when buying from a car dealer?

I have previously owned a civic sixth gen that had a problem with the eps and it was going to be very expensive to fix. I would hate to be facing a problem like this again when the car is up for MOT again in seven months time and have no comeback. I would probably have more peace of mind if i could test drive after the work is done, but understandably the dealer said it's a no no due to covid. I have to say the dealer does have great reviews on a certain website, normally I'd walk away from something like this, but maybe this isn't unusual when buying from a dealer with a big turnover of cars?

Thanks for reading.

[Roboticarm]

Personally I would avoid it.
Waiting for you to place a deposit for fixing the car seems very odd,surely they should just fix it now and prepare the car for sale.
I believe test drives are not allowed under the covid regulations but you could ask the dealer to confirm how it drives,and they will have to drive it to test the fix for the knocking.

I'd would either avoid, or tell the dealer I would be interested if they can fix it, confirm in writing that it now drives with no knocks or bangs etc

[MorganP104]

The dealer is basically saying "I have no motivation to fix the fault unless someone is serious about buying the car".

Check if any deposit you pay is fully refundable in the event you change your mind (for example, you drive the car after the steering's been fixed, and it doesn't feel right, or the condition of the vehicle is not as advertised).

If your deposit isn't at risk, you have nothing to lose by walking away if everything's not quite as it seems.

[Jaykaye]

Thanks for both of these replies. I had to come to prety much similar conclusions. I hadn't bought from a dealer before though.

The dealer said to me yesterday he wouldn't sell it with the knocking steering, but then why still have it advertised and have a drop in price? He also said it's worth three and a half fixed easy (it probably will be) I said it's not really worth anything if you can't sell it and it's stuck in storage (i was polite of course) and why wouldn't you just fix it if it's worth so much more, he was a bit vauge. I wouldn't have even considered it and walked away if it wasn't for the dealer having such good reviews, even buyers leaving reviews saying problems noticed afterwards were fixed by the dealer, even months after. I thought I'll join pistonheads and ask if this is normal, I do all my research on cars from pistonheads, a great mine of information.

I'll maybe ask for something in writing tomorrow, particularly regards deposit. I'll have another think about it. Thank you both for the replies. I'll update the thread tomorrow and let you know what comes of it

[griffter]

As I understand it, some dealers don’t “prep” cars before sale because if they need to move it on after 90 days or whatever, they’ll just sell it to another trader or give it to the auctions. They don’t want to have to recoup their investment as well as the original cost.

I agree with you, as a buyer it seems backwards to me, but it’s all about stocking/finance costs and risk. From their point of view it makes sense.

I imagine when a dealer turns that corner and is able to bring their cars up to scratch before retailing them it becomes a different kind of business. Probably a much more enjoyable one.

[steveo3002]

if you can view it and conform its suitable other than that fault , and he will put it in writing that knocking steering will be fixed before sale then go ahead if you wish....do not send a deposit over the phone

me...id keep looking for a private one that works as it should

[drgoatboy]

steveo3002 said:

if you can view it and conform its suitable other than that fault , and he will put it in writing that knocking steering will be fixed before sale then go ahead if you wish....do not send a deposit over the phone

me...id keep looking for a private one that works as it should

You can't view it in lockdown. Distance sales only.

[steveo3002]

drgoatboy said:

You can't view it in lockdown. Distance sales only.

screw that then...id not buy it blind

[andrewcliffe]

Can't view or test drive at the moment.
On the other hand you've got more options to reject the car if its not suitable.

[Jaykaye]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies!

I phoned today but told that a colleague had sold the car. I was told previously the car couldn't be sold till the steering was fixed, but maybe someone took the deal I didn't. I was very cagey about buying anyway, it's why I joined and made the thread.

I'm in Dundee civics and jazz's are quite thin on the ground here, or are out of my budget (about 2000 cash, I'm poor ) Or are actually advertised as mechanicaly sound, whilst a quick check on MOT history normally tells a different story. I know I'm limiting myself with my choices but the size of boots, small cheap petrols, reliability, they're hard to beat.

One thing I have noticed (maybe due to Covid?) is that they are keeping their value very well. So well I'm seeing cars I bought three years ago, valued more than I paid then. I'm even seeing 17 year old jazz's with rust advertised for over £2000. It is what it is I suppose and it's obviously what the market will pay. I'll keep looking.

Thanks again to all that replied, very informative and helpful.