Buying a used car. Please,please be careful.
Discussion
Info for the inexperienced.
All this is from many years of buying cars, strictly on a personal basis. (If I tried doing it for a living I would fail, I have bought other peoples problems many times, spent loads putting them right and then sold them at a loss usually.)
Do not rush into anything, take your time and get the car checked out properly before hand. Even if means a bit of messing about/losing a small deposit/wasting money on travelling to view.
When you ring up if the seller says 'oh where are you coming from (or whatever) only I have somebody due to set off who is definitely having it'. Don't fall for it, it is usually just bullsh**t. (Had this on Friday,on a second viewing, apparently there was a queue of people fighting over it. The dealer seemed normal at first but turned out to be a liar.)
Go for a proper test drive, let it get up to temperature then let it tick over for a while to make sure everything is ok. If the seller rushes you, it means they are trying to cover something up.If the excuse is there is no fuel in it, offer to put some in, if they don't want to do this, just walk away.
Do not be influenced by anything other than the car you are looking at. Just because they are selling £70k cars does not mean the one you are looking at is any good.
Ring up before setting off if it is a bit of a distance away and ask specific questions. Has it really got full service history in line with the mileage. Are there any bills for recent work done.
If you have any doubts at all, walk away,if you are desperate for a car go on gumtree and buy a cheap snotter for the time being.
Don't be put off by small faults if everything else checks out, but when the faults mount up and the bulls**t starts flowing just smile and walk away and carry on looking.
All this is from many years of buying cars, strictly on a personal basis. (If I tried doing it for a living I would fail, I have bought other peoples problems many times, spent loads putting them right and then sold them at a loss usually.)
Do not rush into anything, take your time and get the car checked out properly before hand. Even if means a bit of messing about/losing a small deposit/wasting money on travelling to view.
When you ring up if the seller says 'oh where are you coming from (or whatever) only I have somebody due to set off who is definitely having it'. Don't fall for it, it is usually just bullsh**t. (Had this on Friday,on a second viewing, apparently there was a queue of people fighting over it. The dealer seemed normal at first but turned out to be a liar.)
Go for a proper test drive, let it get up to temperature then let it tick over for a while to make sure everything is ok. If the seller rushes you, it means they are trying to cover something up.If the excuse is there is no fuel in it, offer to put some in, if they don't want to do this, just walk away.
Do not be influenced by anything other than the car you are looking at. Just because they are selling £70k cars does not mean the one you are looking at is any good.
Ring up before setting off if it is a bit of a distance away and ask specific questions. Has it really got full service history in line with the mileage. Are there any bills for recent work done.
If you have any doubts at all, walk away,if you are desperate for a car go on gumtree and buy a cheap snotter for the time being.
Don't be put off by small faults if everything else checks out, but when the faults mount up and the bulls**t starts flowing just smile and walk away and carry on looking.
Edited by everyeggabird on Monday 1st May 11:40
Bit of info from a car dealer.
When a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bulls
t.
Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
When a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bulls
t.Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
Mexman said:
Bit of info from a car dealer.
When a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bullst.
Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
They may have been rude and aggressive but it must have left you with a wry smile for a while. When a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bulls
t.Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
It is very satisfying, yes, although most times people will be OK, although disappointed, and you can try and cross sell them into something similar, or take contact details and get back to them when something the same comes in.
However, there is always the scenario above which despite you doing nothing wrong and everything possible to help and avoid the conflict, some people just seem to believe that most car dealers are a museum and don't actually sell cars....!
However, there is always the scenario above which despite you doing nothing wrong and everything possible to help and avoid the conflict, some people just seem to believe that most car dealers are a museum and don't actually sell cars....!
Mexman said:
Bit of info from a car dealer.
When a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bullst.
Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
Did you not ring them up after it had been sold to tell them? especially as they were two hours away stillWhen a customer phones up and you inform them that you do have another interested party/appointment on that same vehicle, and ask them if they are local and can get down here quick, then yes, believe it or not, I do have another appointment on that same car.
Only 2 weeks ago I took a phone call from a prospective customer who was very local to us and would be here in an hour.
5 mins after I put the phone down, sods law, another call on the same car.
Explained that I had an appointment within the next hour, and to leave me their phone number to save them a wasted journey.
'No, no, we are coming down today sometime, we will see you when we get there', basically didnt want to give me his number as he was calling bulls
t.Needless to say, car sold to the first buyer, cue a couple of hours later, the second couple turn up and notice the deliberately parked sold car right outside the sales office door proudly displaying it's sold sign in the window....
Cue this pair of idiots, mouthing off, saying they had first refusal and I should not have sold the car knowing that they were traveling to see it.
Trying to swap them into something else was pointless as they were just so outright rude and aggressive, I quickly lost interest in them.
It does happen and surprisingly quite often.
everyeggabird said:
Info for the inexperienced.
All this is from many years of buying cars, strictly on a personal basis. (If I tried doing it for a living I would fail, I have bought other peoples problems many times, spent loads putting them right and then sold them at a loss usually.)
Do not rush into anything, take your time and get the car checked out properly before hand. Even if means a bit of messing about/losing a small deposit/wasting money on travelling to view.
When you ring up if the seller says 'oh where are you coming from (or whatever) only I have somebody due to set off who is definitely having it'. Don't fall for it, it is usually just bullsh**t. (Had this on Friday,on a second viewing, apparently there was a queue of people fighting over it. The dealer seemed normal at first but turned out to be a liar.)
Go for a proper test drive, let it get up to temperature then let it tick over for a while to make sure everything is ok. If the seller rushes you, it means they are trying to cover something up.If the excuse is there is no fuel in it, offer to put some in, if they don't want to do this, just walk away.
Do not be influenced by anything other than the car you are looking at. Just because they are selling £70k cars does not mean the one you are looking at is any good.
Ring up before setting off if it is a bit of a distance away and ask specific questions. Has it really got full service history in line with the mileage. Are there any bills for recent work done.
If you have any doubts at all, walk away,if you are desperate for a car go on gumtree and buy a cheap snotter for the time being.
Don't be put off by small faults if everything else checks out, but when the faults mount up and the bulls**t starts flowing just smile and walk away and carry on looking.
Best one, is when every dealer says the car has full service history. You get there, and see 3 stamps in the book, and the car has over 100k miles. All this is from many years of buying cars, strictly on a personal basis. (If I tried doing it for a living I would fail, I have bought other peoples problems many times, spent loads putting them right and then sold them at a loss usually.)
Do not rush into anything, take your time and get the car checked out properly before hand. Even if means a bit of messing about/losing a small deposit/wasting money on travelling to view.
When you ring up if the seller says 'oh where are you coming from (or whatever) only I have somebody due to set off who is definitely having it'. Don't fall for it, it is usually just bullsh**t. (Had this on Friday,on a second viewing, apparently there was a queue of people fighting over it. The dealer seemed normal at first but turned out to be a liar.)
Go for a proper test drive, let it get up to temperature then let it tick over for a while to make sure everything is ok. If the seller rushes you, it means they are trying to cover something up.If the excuse is there is no fuel in it, offer to put some in, if they don't want to do this, just walk away.
Do not be influenced by anything other than the car you are looking at. Just because they are selling £70k cars does not mean the one you are looking at is any good.
Ring up before setting off if it is a bit of a distance away and ask specific questions. Has it really got full service history in line with the mileage. Are there any bills for recent work done.
If you have any doubts at all, walk away,if you are desperate for a car go on gumtree and buy a cheap snotter for the time being.
Don't be put off by small faults if everything else checks out, but when the faults mount up and the bulls**t starts flowing just smile and walk away and carry on looking.
Edited by everyeggabird on Monday 1st May 11:40
Its funny when you ring up and ask how many stamps. They seem to suffer from memory loss.
The thing is the dealer isnt bothered if you walk away, as someone will come and buy his car.
Mmmm, I for one would never tell porkies over a service history over the phone..
Why do it? All you are creating is a st storm when the customer turns up.
Its not worth the hassle.
Just tell it like it is. 'Its got 3 stamps at such and such mileages'
Why lie, its not like I can change that fact....blame the previous owner for lack of...
Why do it? All you are creating is a s
t storm when the customer turns up.Its not worth the hassle.
Just tell it like it is. 'Its got 3 stamps at such and such mileages'
Why lie, its not like I can change that fact....blame the previous owner for lack of...
Another salesman here, i don't think the OP has had much luck with any sort of dealership. Like the above dealer, there's no point in lying to the customers... do people think we just like sitting in the office waiting for the next argument to turn up? Christ, working at a busy dealer is stressful enough without all the hassle of awkward customers turning up thinking they have rights over a certain car just because they called showing half an interest a week ago, only to be told to ring on the day just incase and they don't bother.
Mexman said:
Mmmm, I for one would never tell porkies over a service history over the phone..
Why do it? All you are creating is a st storm when the customer turns up.
Its not worth the hassle.
Just tell it like it is. 'Its got 3 stamps at such and such mileages'
Why lie, its not like I can change that fact....blame the previous owner for lack of...
Yeah some dealerships are very honest. There a guy where I live, and operates from inside a barn. But he is really honest with cars. Why do it? All you are creating is a s
t storm when the customer turns up.Its not worth the hassle.
Just tell it like it is. 'Its got 3 stamps at such and such mileages'
Why lie, its not like I can change that fact....blame the previous owner for lack of...
Everyone from my whole family and cousins have brought there first car from him. Although he just stocks mostly polos, lupos and fabias. (guessing he must have some sort of deal with the main dealership).
I guess they lie, as if you travel a long way, the likely-hood of you coming back empty handed is very low.
What set me off on posting has happened a few times (NOT EVERY TIME) over the years, but what happened on Fri/Sat was the extreme. The guy was a liar and a bullshi**er of the highest order.
My son asked me to go and have a first look at a car he fancied, I rang up when I was half way there (bluetooth is ace) just to make sure they were open etc
This is how the conversation went with no exaggeration on my behalf at all.
Where are you only somebody has set off from London right now to buy it. (London to Derby on a Friday setting off at lunch time)?
Oh right I wont bother then.
Oh no mate, first come first served, where are you.
I am just coming past J??, sat nav says twenty minutes.
Oh right I will put the other one off.
I arrived and at first the car seemed ok, then the little things started niggling away, it had had a lot of modifications done to it that were not mentioned in the description.
1. Factory strut brace missing. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.No under bonnet pictures.
2. De-cat exhaust. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.
3. Black smoke. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.
4. Said it had been re-mapped. Not mentioned.
5. Really badly stone chipped on bonnet. Not mentioned.
6. EGR delete, with odd screws. There are only three for gods sake.
7. Ad says FSH. Last two services were missing.
Well you are here mate, the other bloke hasn't rung yet so the pressure is off a bit. (Thought he had set off?)
Coolant level was well down and was frothy so straight away I took the oil cap off, there was no white gunge, so the low coolant level sort of matched the point that he said he had timing belt and water pump done. Coolant looked like pond water.
It drove alright and in due course my son left a deposit through the app on his phone. Luckily he didn't pay the full amount.
I waited a while to see if it cleared and in chatting I said we will have to sell his car now.
Oh right, what is it I might be interested.
I said an Audi S3.
Dealer replied is it a diesel?
No,it is an S3. Only ever made a petrol version.
I might have that for my *son*, he wrote his car off and needs something.
He made a call while I was there saying "sorry the car has sold". (I chuckled to myself, with the impression he had rung the speaking clock.)
We went back on the Saturday morning with the intention of taking the car away.We were informed that three other people had rang up about it.
Obviously my son wanted to give it the once over and straight away I knew this wasn't going to go well.He is very clued up on cars and is very mild mannered,but when people start talking to him like he is stupid things go down hill.
I was going to give it to my *daughter-in-law*, she crashed hers but this is way too fast for her. (So a 160 bhp diesel is too fast for her but you were going to buy the 225 bhp S3 for her? or was it your son? can't separate the lies now from the truth.)
The guy started the car up and there was a puff of white smoke from the exhaust, we took the oil cap off and there was a small film of white gunge (he must have forgotten to wipe it this time, it wasn't there yesterday.)
My son noticed the front wheels were comically pointing in the opposite direction.
When this was pointed out it was just shrugged off and blamed on the MOT man?
The sale didn't happen anyway, just too much suspicion about the head gasket.
When the seller realised the sale was failing he started being a cock.
I asked if there was a warranty on it. The seller said 'Yes there is but I am not selling the car to you now, how do I know you won't put a bag of sugar in the fuel tank tomorrow'.?????
'You are not getting your deposit back. It says on the slip, non-refundable deposit.' (I pointed out that I never got a slip so that killed that argument.)
'It will cost me to re-advertise it now.' We said just to ring up the guy from London from yesterday. 'I don't have his number now'.
Well what about the three this morning? Silence.
The bloke started out ok but ended up acting like a sulky five year old when he realised he had said too much . I strongly suspect the car was either his sons or one of his sons mates and they were just trying it on.
My son asked me to go and have a first look at a car he fancied, I rang up when I was half way there (bluetooth is ace) just to make sure they were open etc
This is how the conversation went with no exaggeration on my behalf at all.
Where are you only somebody has set off from London right now to buy it. (London to Derby on a Friday setting off at lunch time)?
Oh right I wont bother then.
Oh no mate, first come first served, where are you.
I am just coming past J??, sat nav says twenty minutes.
Oh right I will put the other one off.
I arrived and at first the car seemed ok, then the little things started niggling away, it had had a lot of modifications done to it that were not mentioned in the description.
1. Factory strut brace missing. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.No under bonnet pictures.
2. De-cat exhaust. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.
3. Black smoke. Possible (not 100%) MOT fail.
4. Said it had been re-mapped. Not mentioned.
5. Really badly stone chipped on bonnet. Not mentioned.
6. EGR delete, with odd screws. There are only three for gods sake.
7. Ad says FSH. Last two services were missing.
Well you are here mate, the other bloke hasn't rung yet so the pressure is off a bit. (Thought he had set off?)
Coolant level was well down and was frothy so straight away I took the oil cap off, there was no white gunge, so the low coolant level sort of matched the point that he said he had timing belt and water pump done. Coolant looked like pond water.
It drove alright and in due course my son left a deposit through the app on his phone. Luckily he didn't pay the full amount.
I waited a while to see if it cleared and in chatting I said we will have to sell his car now.
Oh right, what is it I might be interested.
I said an Audi S3.
Dealer replied is it a diesel?
No,it is an S3. Only ever made a petrol version.
I might have that for my *son*, he wrote his car off and needs something.
He made a call while I was there saying "sorry the car has sold". (I chuckled to myself, with the impression he had rung the speaking clock.)
We went back on the Saturday morning with the intention of taking the car away.We were informed that three other people had rang up about it.
Obviously my son wanted to give it the once over and straight away I knew this wasn't going to go well.He is very clued up on cars and is very mild mannered,but when people start talking to him like he is stupid things go down hill.
I was going to give it to my *daughter-in-law*, she crashed hers but this is way too fast for her. (So a 160 bhp diesel is too fast for her but you were going to buy the 225 bhp S3 for her? or was it your son? can't separate the lies now from the truth.)
The guy started the car up and there was a puff of white smoke from the exhaust, we took the oil cap off and there was a small film of white gunge (he must have forgotten to wipe it this time, it wasn't there yesterday.)
My son noticed the front wheels were comically pointing in the opposite direction.
When this was pointed out it was just shrugged off and blamed on the MOT man?
The sale didn't happen anyway, just too much suspicion about the head gasket.
When the seller realised the sale was failing he started being a cock.
I asked if there was a warranty on it. The seller said 'Yes there is but I am not selling the car to you now, how do I know you won't put a bag of sugar in the fuel tank tomorrow'.?????
'You are not getting your deposit back. It says on the slip, non-refundable deposit.' (I pointed out that I never got a slip so that killed that argument.)
'It will cost me to re-advertise it now.' We said just to ring up the guy from London from yesterday. 'I don't have his number now'.
Well what about the three this morning? Silence.
The bloke started out ok but ended up acting like a sulky five year old when he realised he had said too much . I strongly suspect the car was either his sons or one of his sons mates and they were just trying it on.
So, right from the very start of this 'deal' you recognised the seller sounded like a bit of a cock?
But despite these alarm bells going off, you still proceeded on that day and indeed the next?
If that story is the truth and not a typical customers one sided view, then I agree with you 100%,
Unfortunately there are dealers like this who don't deserve to be in business, but we are not all like that.
I refer back to my previous statement, I would much rather NOT sell a car, than have to lie to get someone in front of me, cos it is just a ststorm waiting to blow up in your face.
Why would you want to do that to yourself??
But despite these alarm bells going off, you still proceeded on that day and indeed the next?
If that story is the truth and not a typical customers one sided view, then I agree with you 100%,
Unfortunately there are dealers like this who don't deserve to be in business, but we are not all like that.
I refer back to my previous statement, I would much rather NOT sell a car, than have to lie to get someone in front of me, cos it is just a s
tstorm waiting to blow up in your face.Why would you want to do that to yourself??
Mexman said:
So, right from the very start of this 'deal' you recognised the seller sounded like a bit of a cock?
But despite these alarm bells going off, you still proceeded on that day and indeed the next?
If that story is the truth and not a typical customers one sided view, then I agree with you 100%,
Unfortunately there are dealers like this who don't deserve to be in business, but we are not all like that.
I refer back to my previous statement, I would much rather NOT sell a car, than have to lie to get someone in front of me, cos it is just a ststorm waiting to blow up in your face.
Why would you want to do that to yourself??
No, I would not say right at the start of it all I thought he was a cock, more like, giving him the benefit of the doubt eventually turned into a non sale for him.But despite these alarm bells going off, you still proceeded on that day and indeed the next?
If that story is the truth and not a typical customers one sided view, then I agree with you 100%,
Unfortunately there are dealers like this who don't deserve to be in business, but we are not all like that.
I refer back to my previous statement, I would much rather NOT sell a car, than have to lie to get someone in front of me, cos it is just a s
tstorm waiting to blow up in your face.Why would you want to do that to yourself??
On the Friday I was half way there then thought I had better ring up just in case, so carried on anyway.
'If that story is the truth'? Why would I lie, just why would I lie about it, the car in question is what my son was after, he had the money there waiting, we wanted it to be right.
I have been too negative in the past on lots of things in life so I try and be positive,if it said part service history I would have not batted an eyelid, if it had said this that and the other had been done I probably would not have gone in the first place as it is the type of car to be modified and abused, we took it at face value and the lies just built up.
It is a desirable car (not by me but hey-ho) still for sale after a sunny bank holiday weekend so he was talking s
t when he said about all these people chomping at the bit.rb5201 said:
Loads of warning bells/wrong description but you still put deposit down?
When I saw the coolant was low I straight away took the oil cap off, it was not showing any signs of white gunge.He said the timing belt and water pump had been done so the coolant needed topping up which was fair enough.I drove it and let it tick over, temperature gauge read fine, heater worked fine, cooling fans worked.
Only on the second viewing was the white smoke spotted form the exhaust on start up and there was white 'mayo' in the oil cap. Like I said he must have not bothered to wipe it when he though the sale was in the bag.
Up to that point we were being too picky over a twelve year old car with 125k on the clock. The last bits killed the deal.
Edited by everyeggabird on Monday 1st May 17:57
You are still going to get some white mayo on the oil cap if a car is doing short trips or being constantly started.
I locked up at 4.45 today as I decided that the 11.30 viewing wasn't going to show. I much prefer the customers that bring 3 family friends with them or try knocking 3k off a used car then don't believe your only making £500. The last time that happened we showed them the bca invoice.
I locked up at 4.45 today as I decided that the 11.30 viewing wasn't going to show. I much prefer the customers that bring 3 family friends with them or try knocking 3k off a used car then don't believe your only making £500. The last time that happened we showed them the bca invoice.
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