Is this now the norm for car dealers?

flibbage0

flibbage0

flibbage0

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I have been car shopping recently and I've been disappointed at the lack of decent used cars available, so many poor examples. Stains, missing buttons, steering wheels that have been rubbed more than a genie's lamp

I've also seen approved used dealers selling cars with dents, missed services and missing trim.

What on earth is going on, the last time I bought a car was at the beginning of lockdown and that was an emergency stop gap but even then I found something decent.

Anyone else experiencing similar?
 
Yep, it's pretty bad. I found a car that the dealer had got through the MOT, with no advisories with an obviously splitting front subframe due to rust. So watch out for MOT fraud as well (they can go to prison for this).

Used car dealers were always sketchy, but times are hard so now they are especially sketchy. As with anyone working a commission based job assume they are lying to make a sale.
 
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I think it's down to 99% of buyers don't notice or care so the dealers will try and sell them first and only if a buyer highlights something will they sort it.

I had a really poor experience buying a car from photos, it was under a year old so from a mechanical side I wasn't concerned as full warranty.

Drove 300 odd miles to pick it up to find the interior was covered in small marks even the sat nav screen had marks on it. I'd guess a small dog was allowed to run about. Dealer were honest and said it would cost them too much to replace all the marked parts and someone else would buy it. They covered my fuel costs so I wasn't out of pocket only minor issue for me was I had already sold my old car. They were not wrong on it selling as it was sold again within a week no doubt at the same price without them having to fork out on repairs.
 
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The second hand barrel is low at the minute so they're just throwing out whatever **** they can get and people will buy it because it's that or wait 6 months for something brand new if you can afford it.
 
tom_e said:
The second hand barrel is low at the minute so they're just throwing out whatever **** they can get and people will buy it because it's that or wait 6 months for something brand new if you can afford it.
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But where have the good used cars gone, are people just holding onto them?

Surely the price difference between new cars and used is huge (not talking about 2018+ cars), if I am in the market for a 2011-2015 car there is no way I could afford a 2023 car
 
tom_e said:
The second hand barrel is low at the minute so they're just throwing out whatever **** they can get and people will buy it because it's that or wait 6 months for something brand new if you can afford it.
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Don't forget a lot of folk are 2 years or more behind on their average mileage. A huge cost to replace a car on 20k miles? No thanks.
 
flibbage0 said:
But where have the good used cars gone, are people just holding onto them?

Surely the price difference between new cars and used is huge (not talking about 2018+ cars), if I am in the market for a 2011-2015 car there is no way I could afford a 2023 car
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I'd say folk are holding onto them for reasons below.

dLockers said:
Don't forget a lot of folk are 2 years or more behind on their average mileage. A huge cost to replace a car on 20k miles? No thanks.
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I certainly would have been swapping cars soon enough but I've done a fraction of anticipated miles.
 
NasherUK said:
Yep, it's pretty bad. I found a car that the dealer had got through the MOT, with no advisories with an obviously splitting front subframe due to rust. So watch out for MOT fraud as well (they can go to prison for this).

Used car dealers were always sketchy, but times are hard so now they are especially sketchy. As with anyone working a commission based job assume they are lying to make a sale.
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Please report this if you can, I'm hot having it with times are hard nonsense. These dealers have had quite a cushy 2 and a bit years.
 
flibbage0 said:
But where have the good used cars gone, are people just holding onto them?
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Yep because in a lot of cases you'd get no sort of upgrade if you sold now and wanted to buy another one.
Take mine for example 66 plate bought in October 19 with 13k miles for £8.5k WBAC will give me basically £7.5k for it now on 55k miles.

If I wanted to replace it with the same car at a similar milage I bought this one at I'm looking at £10k+ so little point in me selling it while it's still in good nick.
 
flibbage0 said:
But where have the good used cars gone, are people just holding onto them?
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Quite often yes - if you have a decent car and there's nothing wrong with it, unless you're very keen to change many are thinking why not just keep it?

flibbage0 said:
Surely the price difference between new cars and used is huge (not talking about 2018+ cars), if I am in the market for a 2011-2015 car there is no way I could afford a 2023 car
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It's all a knock on.

The people struggling to buy new are buying 1 or 2 years old. This market is depleted as it is due to lack of new cars for several years now. Combined this demand vs lack of supply inflates nearly new used prices. As a result the people who would have been buying nearly new are now shopping in the 3 to 5 year old budget range, people who would have bought 3 to 5 year old cars are now shopping in the 5-8 year old bracket etc. etc. all the way through to £500 crap boxes now being £1500-£2000 crap boxes.
 
I often find buying private ends up just better all round. You can generally get a feel of the type of owner they've been with the car. Often the car is in better condition despite being cheaper than dealers, and has not had dodgey cover up work done. You can ask them direct questions and gauge reaction.
 
Went to see a 2011 S-Max this weekend and while it was a clean & honest looking high mileage example with decent mechanicals (new brakes all round etc) there was clear evidence of an off the books knock on the front. Bumper looked as old as the rest of the car but was mis-aligned and so was one headlight, something you couldn't really see up close. It's 1k less than the equivalents but still 5.5k for a 12 year old 140k S-Max... I just can't do it. Plus it's the petrol Powershift, which could fail at any moment, just not worth the worry when I'm trying to maximise my money whilst fighting the issues with finding a house too.

There's so few cars out there this is the only one I've bothered to go to in person. I'm not going to entertain going any big distance for a car because you feel more obliged when they might just be a bit naff in the metal.

I'm having to come to terms with either opting for a diesel manual instead and hope I find a more honest at a similar price or go for a 2016 onwards petrol model at a good 10k more. I really don't want another diesel, I don't do enough to warrant it, plus 200+bhp would be nice. I may end up just taking a punt on something though, which is likely a position other people are in and just accept a sub-standard condition due to availability.
 
flibbage0 said:
People swap cars based on the mileage they have done?

I thought it would have been on age of the car or when they get bored?
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It's a mix of both imo. I generally used to keep an eye on mileage as the PCP deals are tied to a mileage limit.

The used car market is offset dictated by the number of PCPs finishing (i.e. those swapping for another 3 or 4 year deal), which are generally 3 or 4 years. This was the first period where a lot of folk were presented with a (for example) 30k bill to keep what they've got or a 20k net top-up for something arguably worse (chip shortage) with just as few miles...

I reckon a few folk are eyeing EVs as well, which means sweating what they've got just a bit longer.
 
Dup said:
Went to see a 2011 S-Max this weekend and while it was a clean & honest looking high mileage example with decent mechanicals (new brakes all round etc) there was clear evidence of an off the books knock on the front. Bumper looked as old as the rest of the car but was mis-aligned and so was one headlight, something you couldn't really see up close. It's 1k less than the equivalents but still 5.5k for a 12 year old 140k S-Max... I just can't do it. Plus it's the petrol Powershift, which could fail at any moment, just not worth the worry when I'm trying to maximise my money whilst fighting the issues with finding a house too.

There's so few cars out there this is the only one I've bothered to go to in person. I'm not going to entertain going any big distance for a car because you feel more obliged when they might just be a bit naff in the metal.

I'm having to come to terms with either opting for a diesel manual instead and hope I find a more honest at a similar price or go for a 2016 onwards petrol model at a good 10k more. I really don't want another diesel, I don't do enough to warrant it, plus 200+bhp would be nice. I may end up just taking a punt on something though, which is likely a position other people are in and just accept a sub-standard condition due to availability.
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The S-Max powershifts are known for their flawed gearbox design. Not if but when it goes. I would literally pick any other engine over that.
 
jaybee said:
The S-Max powershifts are known for their flawed gearbox design. Not if but when it goes. I would literally pick any other engine over that.
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We were looking for an auto Galaxy/S-Max for the mrs as she's only got a auto licence (medical grounds). After about 20 ads we gave up. In fairness most were straight up and mentioned G/B issues but some just mentioned "light on dash, runs fine"
 
jaybee said:
The S-Max powershifts are known for their flawed gearbox design. Not if but when it goes. I would literally pick any other engine over that.
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There is a reason those are known as power****. Don't buy any Ford with that gearbox.
 
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