Used Car Garage - oh my

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 15:00

So I am looking for a new car, went to view a Honda Civic and all looked good, put deposit down. Did HPI before buying (garage claimed HPI clear but wanted to check), outstanding finance! Now waiting for deposit back (they have said they will but it's been 4 days so hoping not to have to do battle).

So I started searching for more cars, every car I find I do some research on the dealers and seem to find nothing but bad reviews.

I can't afford main dealer so I guess it's a minefield of smaller independent/supermarket type places.

Anyone got any tips on how they judge the dealer or do you just buy based on car condition and ignore any idea of support if anything goes wrong?

Oh and if anyone has any recommendations for garages around Bedfordshire i'm all ears

Rroff · 11 Dec 2015 at 15:05

Pretty much any garage will have some poor reviews - waaay too many people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to buying a used car.

Doing your own research like HPI check is a good step and you probably shouldn't expect much in the way of support after the first few days :S

Mostly I've asked around friends and family to see where they've bought from with good results especially repeated purchases.

agnes · 11 Dec 2015 at 15:47

Was it dealer finance? This often comes up in HPI checks. Did they say it was dealer finance or an unknown finance?

Fuzz · 11 Dec 2015 at 15:58

Buy privately and save yourself the hassle.

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:00

They said it was dealer finance which they cleared, but it still showed a PCP record which they were unaware of (car was advertised HPI clear when they blatantly hadn't HPI'd it). I'm sure it was a simple mistake but just seemed dodgy and one of the salesmen was less than customer focussed so decided to leave it.

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:01

Fuzz said:
Buy privately and save yourself the hassle.

Thing is this means I have no protection at all, plus there seems to be fewer and fewer private cars now.

lordrobs · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:03

Richard_16v said:
and one of the salesmen was less than customer focussed so decided to leave it.

The number of bolshy car salesmen I've met is incredible, to the point where even if the car was perfect I still wouldn't buy it from them!

I've got to agree with Fuzz, go private if you can.

Darryl_1983 · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:08

If you can't afford main dealers cars, private sale is almost always the better option.

Not only should you get a better price for the car, but you'll be able to meet the owner of the car and determine for yourself whether the car has been looked after properly. Maybe even see how they drive the car etc.

jamoor · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:46

How much was the car and what kind of dealer was it?

It's extremely unlikely that a dealer would be selling a Car with outstanding finance.

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 16:56

It was 4k and it was an Independent with about 40 cars in stock. To start with they thought it was just the Stocking finance, but when it showed as having finance once they cleared this it highlighted to me that they hadn't checked.

My main concern was that one of the sales guys was very aggressive, didn't seem like the sort of place I would want to go back to with an issue!

GhostWKD · 11 Dec 2015 at 17:10

Richard_16v said:
didn't seem like the sort of place I would want to go back to with an issue!

Sounds like every used car sales place I've ever been to

Edit: After recent experiences of my own, I'd always look at private cars first. If you don't know too much about cars find a knowledgeable friend to come along

jamoor · 11 Dec 2015 at 17:10

Richard_16v said:
It was 4k and it was an Independent with about 40 cars in stock. To start with they thought it was just the Stocking finance, but when it showed as having finance once they cleared this it highlighted to me that they hadn't checked.

My main concern was that one of the sales guys was very aggressive, didn't seem like the sort of place I would want to go back to with an issue!

Yeah most likely they didn't do it intentionally and its probbably not even outstanding if you call the pcp company they won't have any interest in it.

Rotty · 11 Dec 2015 at 17:23

No reason to pull out as easily sorted, my XKR came up as outstanding finance, dealer contacted Jag finance who issued letter saying they held no interest in car

MrMoonX · 11 Dec 2015 at 17:33

Rotty said:
No reason to pull out as easily sorted, my XKR came up as outstanding finance, dealer contacted Jag finance who issued letter saying they held no interest in car

yeah it can just be a database issue

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 19:35

Rotty said:
No reason to pull out as easily sorted, my XKR came up as outstanding finance, dealer contacted Jag finance who issued letter saying they held no interest in car

And I probably would have carried on with deal if the garage hadn't been some *******, got to the point I wouldn't buy from them regardless.

I think I'll look privately, but there are only a few fs private but loads via dealers

Steve2000 · 11 Dec 2015 at 19:41

I've bought a car before that showed up as outstanding finance, it was as mentioned above simply because the database hadn't updated yet as the finance was only cleared the week before.

Richard_16v · 11 Dec 2015 at 20:19

Steve2000 said:
I've bought a car before that showed up as outstanding finance, it was as mentioned above simply because the database hadn't updated yet as the finance was only cleared the week before.

This had 2 finance records showing, dealer cleared their finance but that still left a PCP that they knew nothing about, I rang finance company and they did have some interest so it wasn't a basic administration error I don't think.

Richie · 11 Dec 2015 at 21:50

wrong thread

MrMoonX · 11 Dec 2015 at 22:54

Richard_16v said:
This had 2 finance records showing, dealer cleared their finance but that still left a PCP that they knew nothing about, I rang finance company and they did have some interest so it wasn't a basic administration error I don't think.

sounds like the dealer got mugged on it, do not buy