Trade Sales
Author
Discussion

FMOB

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

39 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
Seen an advert for a car with trade sale plastered all over it, no warranty, guarantee or any responsibility for the cars condition.

As the car is being offered by a trader at pretty much retail price on the basis it was a trade-in what are the pro's, cons, risks of buying such a car?

Muzzer79

12,857 posts

214 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
Pretty sure a trader can only complete a ‘trade sale’ to another trader.

If they sell it to a member of the public, they cannot absolve themselves of the consumer’s rights under the SOGA.

anonymous-user

81 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
Regardless of the law - the trader knows its terminally fooked

Avoid

Sheepshanks

40,362 posts

146 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
FMOB said:
....what are the pro's, cons, risks of buying such a car?
Why would you even contemplate doing such a thing?

FMOB

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

39 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
FMOB said:
....what are the pro's, cons, risks of buying such a car?
Why would you even contemplate doing such a thing?
I was just curious, quite a rare car but definitely red flags all over it.

dunc69

908 posts

274 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
Avoid.

anonymous-user

81 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
FMOB said:
Sheepshanks said:
FMOB said:
....what are the pro's, cons, risks of buying such a car?
Why would you even contemplate doing such a thing?
I was just curious, quite a rare car but definitely red flags all over it.
Well cmon,the suspense is killing us...

What are the details/post up a link smile

Ian Geary

5,524 posts

219 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
I bought a car "sold as seen" / no warranty from a garage.

Bear with me. It was 15% ish below the market price, under 10 years old and in good condition, and I don't mind a bit of light motoring DIY.

They'd taken it in PX, as they sold £50K + mercs, SUVs and sports cars.

It rang true that they just wanted it gone with no strings attached, as their business model wasn't fixing niggles on £3k family cars.

Legally I know I could have insisted it was a trade sale etc, though they would just have not sold it to me.


As it turns out, nothing went wrong with it for well over a year (so beyond any period I would have had a claim on the garage) and when it did, it was wear and tear like any other similarly aged car.

Ultimately, buy based on condition, and your assessment of the trader. But there might be a reason they want a trade sale other than the car is shagged.

Note though: if it's not decently below the market rate, I would avoid this example .

Hth

FMOB

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

39 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
lord trumpton said:
FMOB said:
Sheepshanks said:
FMOB said:
....what are the pro's, cons, risks of buying such a car?
Why would you even contemplate doing such a thing?
I was just curious, quite a rare car but definitely red flags all over it.
Well cmon,the suspense is killing us...

What are the details/post up a link smile
Fill your boots.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310052...

charltjr

471 posts

36 months

Monday 30th October 2023
quotequote all
If they weren’t prepared to stand behind the car then they shouldn’t have taken it in part exchange.

Those RS4s are well known for hideous chassis rust issues and this one has an acknowledged mileage discrepancy. Who knows what happened to it while it was abroad too.

Technically you could still enforce your consumer rights in court as legally them saying trade sale means nothing, but the fact they’re even trying it screams shysters. The age and mileage of the car gives them a lot of wriggle room in terms of the wear and tear side of things too.

If it was very cheap then maybe. Otherwise, just… no.

Trevor555

5,340 posts

111 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
FMOB said:
You'd have to have bigger balls than King Kong to buy that car advertised like that.

A dealer who thinks they can "trade sale" cars to a consumer isnt going to play ball when you present them with the CRA

You could have a long, tedious, legal fight with them whilst not being able to use your car.

Sheepshanks

40,362 posts

146 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
Trevor555 said:
A dealer who thinks they can "trade sale" cars to a consumer isnt going to play ball when you present them with the CRA
Ignoring the illegality of it it for a moment, someone would have to be beyond dense to buy that car and then try and take action against the trader if it developed faults.

And the mileage story doesn’t stack up vs the MOT history either - maybe it did go abroad, but, what, it was taken there and not used?

fridaypassion

11,457 posts

255 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
They are perfectly within their rights to offer a car with no warranty but they could shoot themselves in the foot by using the term trade sale and then selling to a private punter though. They will need to choose their customer carefully.

Hugo Stiglitz

41,191 posts

238 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
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Wow. No. On many levels.

Pablo16v

2,843 posts

224 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
There’s a couple of ‘07 RS4 Avants for sale near me for a good bit less than that, with lower miles and decent history too, so they haven’t exactly priced it to sell. I was expecting at least £2-3K less than that, and even then it’s going to be a bit of a gamble so I would be passing if I was in the market for one.

yeager2004

278 posts

118 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
Interestingly, Binca appears to work around the CRA obligations by selling older and broken cars to the public under trade terms – so no guarantees or refunds.

I’m surprised this loophole stands, but they’ve been doing it for a long time.

ChocolateFrog

34,954 posts

200 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
Needs to be obviously cheaper than similar retail cars and you need to know what you're looking for or bring someone along who does.

Even then I don't think the dealer can fully absolve themselves of their responsibilities.

FMOB

Original Poster:

1,994 posts

39 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
Pablo16v said:
There’s a couple of ‘07 RS4 Avants for sale near me for a good bit less than that, with lower miles and decent history too, so they haven’t exactly priced it to sell. I was expecting at least £2-3K less than that, and even then it’s going to be a bit of a gamble so I would be passing if I was in the market for one.
Can you share the ads?

OverSteery

3,794 posts

258 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
quotequote all
fridaypassion said:
They are perfectly within their rights to offer a car with no warranty but they could shoot themselves in the foot by using the term trade sale and then selling to a private punter though. They will need to choose their customer carefully.
IANAL, but as I understand it, they wouldn't "shoot themselves in the foot" selling to a private punter; the words in the advert just become irrelevant. It would be B2C sale, so the customers protection in law would be in place.

As ever, legal protection may require legal action to enforce.

Also, why would anyone want to deal with a company with such values?

cootuk

918 posts

150 months

Tuesday 31st October 2023
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At least putting it on AT does get it seen by lots of traders rather than just putting it to auction.
They aren't trying to scam anyone as they are basically saying it's a trade sale. If you're silly enough to pretend to be a trader, then caveat emptor.