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Used Car Dealers, Is There A Lower Form of Life?

I wouldn't buy a used car from a main dealer, and I work for one! Smarmy bullshitting salesmen the lot of 'em.

My current car was bought from an Arab dealer, I dropped that I was in the trade into the conversation & we struck a deal for a tidy Mk3 Mondeo Ghia.

The wifes' Seat lIbiza failed the mot just before Christmas. I put the word about that I was looking and a customer sold me a Kalos for £600 trade. His mechanic is a mate, so wouldn't point me towards a shed. It's not a bad little motor.

My next vehicle is to be bought next March. A minibus from special school coming off contract, that has already been plated at 3.5t, is inspected every 6 weeks, will have a full mot. I've already done the deal with the operator who has an excellent reputation

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I wouldn't buy a used car from a main dealer, and I work for one! Smarmy bullshitting salesmen the lot of 'em.
...
Well neither would I, however, we do have the benefit of being 'in the trade'. I was trying to give the best advice for the 'innocent bystanders'. If the OP was 'in the trade' then we wouldn't be having the conversation. The benefit of buying from a franchise dealer is purely one of the prep standard and the chain of recourse should something go wrong, there is no escape from the sales slime.
 
Is there a lower form of life? Yes, estate agents. Flame throwers were invented for dealing with scum like this.

Can I throw solicitors into the mix?
Hate to derail the topic at hand, but had to do a survey for a solicitor recently.
He cam back with a load of queries , one of them was -

"Have you got any evidence, that this is a semi detached house?"

Eh??
 
I hate buying cars. It's a right royal pain in the backside. OK, if you can buy new, but circumstances have now lead me to need to replace one of our cars.

I have a partially disabled Mother in Law and FiL is now dying of cancer. That means that, when he goes (month, maybe two) I will need to be able to move her and her bits and bobs around.

I have a Range Rover and a little I10 for a run around. She cannot get in the RR, too high, end of. The i10 can't take all her bits, so I've been looking for something in the middle.

Feck me, dealers really are scum! I know that I shouldn't tar them all with the same brush, but all the ones I've seen so far misadvertise the cars to such a degree that it's just ridiculous.

Went to see one yesterday, advertised at top dollar for what it is, a shade under £5k, I travelled nearly 80 miles to see it (socially distanced, of course). Superficially, it looked ok(ish). Bit more wear than the 30k miles would suggest, but it's when you start to look closely you see the details. The roof that has been very poorly repainted and has gone orange peely, the poorly masked and painted side panels all done the near side, the panel gaps that are all over the place, the bonnet was so tight on the near side you could hardly get a piece of paper down it, but the off side you could get fingers through the side. A little more looking and it was obvious that the panels from the front, didn't meet up with the area around the bulkhead/A pillar. They all over rode by around 5 -7mm.

It was really, really clear that this car had been in a bang. A big one at the front that meant that it all had to have been jigged out, but not properly. The front end was obviously very slightly shorter than it started off at, and that was why the panels didn't quite fit. The paintwork was very poor and it had been stuck together really badly.

Anway, whilst I started to walk away (He was in his office, with about 12 other people), he came out to ask if I was interested. I explained that I was disappointed, that I'd clearly asked about the condition of the car before I drove out, about its condition and history. I told him that I didn't appreciate having my plonker pulled like that. He then said that I'd obliviously spotted the major repairs and that he wasn't worried "I'll sell it to someone who won't spot that".

I'm horrified. I'm not saying that the car is dangerous, but it's shorter at the front than it should be, that cannot be good can it?

Not the only bad story over the last few weeks, cars that have different cars shown in the ad (not kidding), dealers that lie and are clearly not going to deal with you fairly once you have bought, you know the sort, the ones that will dissolve the company and re-register it in a slightly different name so even if you go to court you end up having your pants pulled down and cannot get a penny no matter how much they lied and cheated in the first place.

W**kers, one and all! I think I've found a form of life lower than politicians.

Morning@ Infiltrator,
How much for one of these? Convert to 'Popemobile'. Ram all her shit in. wheel her up(front or rear facing options), and Bob's your aunties sister's brother's cat!
Other trailers available.
Screenshot_20200531-174229_DuckDuckGo.jpg


Good luck in your quest finding an 'Honest Dave' car salesman.
What about, 'What's her name? Cars'? On this site somewhere.

E2a: 'Ling Car's, I think.
 
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Brought a bubble shaped Corsa from a dealer in Germany in 2014, when I lived there.

The VW Polo I was driving at the time was making unhealthy noises. Overshot my intended turn-off on the autobahn, so drove through a village to my intended destination. Saw said Corsa sat out front of a dealers and thought hmmm, went back a bit later and had a better look. They wanted 650 Euro for it.

Went back the following day with a German friend, had a better look, and got them down to 500 Euro and paid the (Russian) dealer off.

My brother in the UK runs a small garage repairing motors, so the next visit to the UK, went in to see him. The car didn't even need a service, as my brother said, it has recently been done, and the timing belt changed.

Went on to do about 95,000 miles before the by then dying Corsa was written-off. Best car I ever had. And the next best was another Corsa of the same shape.
 
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I wouldn't buy a used car from a main dealer, and I work for one! Smarmy bullshitting salesmen the lot of 'em.

My current car was bought from an Arab dealer, I dropped that I was in the trade into the conversation & we struck a deal for a tidy Mk3 Mondeo Ghia.

The wifes' Seat lIbiza failed the mot just before Christmas. I put the word about that I was looking and a customer sold me a Kalos for £600 trade. His mechanic is a mate, so wouldn't point me towards a shed. It's not a bad little motor.

My next vehicle is to be bought next March. A minibus from special school coming off contract, that has already been plated at 3.5t, is inspected every 6 weeks, will have a full mot. I've already done the deal with the operator who has an excellent reputation

Sent from my neocore_E1R1 using Tapatalk

Or get one serviced by one.
 
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Brought a bubble shaped Corsa from a dealer in Germany in 2014, when I lived there.

The VW Polo I was driving at the time was making unhealthy noises. Overshot my intended turn-off on the autobahn, so drove through a village to my intended destination. Saw said Corsa sat out front of a dealers and thought hmmm, went back a bit later and had a better look. They wanted 650 Euro for it.

Went back the following day with a German friend, had a better look, and got them down to 500 Euro and paid the (Russian) dealer off.

My brother in the UK runs a small garage repairing motors, so the next visit to the UK, went in to see him. The car didn't even need a service, as my brother said, it has recently been done, and the timing belt changed.

Went on to do about 95;000 miles before the by then dying Corsa was written-off. Best car I ever had. And the next best was another Corsa of the same shape.

You’re a Vauxhall driver, hahahahaha, hahahahaha, hehehehehehehe, hahahahaha haha. Mong.
 
Buying a brand new car is a complete waste of money imho cos it loses value as soon as it rolls out sale yard. Then it's considered second hand rather than new.

I had a similar problem when I was trying to buy a car, I needed an estate for practicality but had no clue what I was doing as I probably know more about DIY than cars (I recently fkd up trying to hang a heavy mirror and drilled the holes too far out).

Fortunately, I found a diesel estate that was ex Hampshire council. It's done around 170k but is fairly indestructible and as it's ex council it had regular service and maintenance.

I would recommend trying to get an ex government or council vehicle if you can, at least that way it'll have a more honest history than buying from some complete randomer or a spiv in a shiny polyester suit.
 
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