Trading a car in with existing faults

Yeah I'd probably do that. Presumably it's an intermittent fault or hasn't quite broken? Otherwise they might pick up on it during inspection.
 
Depends where you trade it. To a main dealer they'll likely punt it straight to auction if it's not something they can sell themselves or through their dealer group. If that's the case you'll likely get a 'don't really care mate' or similar.
 
Who hasn't experienced the rush of trading in their car hoping they won't find the faults you are getting rid of the car for in the first place? :D
 
Jag XF with a basically written off front end
Fiesta with a cracked front bumper
Mercedes with break pad warning light

Buyer beware?

God has been on my side big time - when I took the XF in I was bricking I'd get a bit knock down on trade-in. Luckily a huge storm started so they couldn't be bothered to inspect properly.
 
Maybe to a main dealer, I wouldn't do it to a private buyer.

I wouldn't do it full stop if it was something dangerous.

Mrs had a Vauxhall Mariva once (don't ask) was an absolute lemon, the electrics would intermittently completely fail, but yet the car would still run, off, anyway she traded that to a main dealer and never heard back.

But to be fair, she bought it from an authorized Vauxhall dealer that used to have a good reputation but they didn't want to know, they have subsequently closed down now.
 
I think it's fine, they can generally offload a car pretty quickly if they don't want it. I've gotten rid of several bad cars like this which I would never sell privately. Worst car I've traded in needed refilling with oil on a daily basis, had crash damage front and rear and an underside held together with rust.

Second worst one actually conked out on the way into the car park on the collection day, luckily nobody was outside at the time and I just rolled it into a space on the clutch:D
 
What would cost you loads to fix wouldn't for a dealer with their own mechanics. But old/cheap stuff they usually just send to auction if its a main dealer, they dont want old cars taking up forecourt space or have to deal with warranty claims etc. for other brands of cars.
 
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Clearcut said:
As title really, has anyone traded their car in with significant faults and not declared/been asked about them?
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I traded in my old car 5 years ago - gearbox was starting to struggle massively to the extent it felt like the car was going to stall in 5th and 6th gear, and would routinely kick me out of 3rd gear. Went to collect my new car and my old one wouldn't even start about half an hour before picking my GTI up! :D

Chances are they'll just punt it to an auction and be done with it.
 
Traded in a Peugeot years ago with an electrical problem. About half the time it wouldn’t idle properly and you’d have to keep the accelerator pressed to keep the engine from stalling. Thankfully the salesman looked all over the car but never bothered to actually start it up
 
ivrytwr3 said:
Who hasn't experienced the rush of trading in their car hoping they won't find the faults you are getting rid of the car for in the first place? :D
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Our old Merc had some huge electrical issues where depending on the time of day it either went into full limp mode with the dash looking like a fairground or worked perfectly fine.

Made for some wry smiles between the wife and i whenever the salesman looked around it :D
 
My A6 had a rattle from the exhaust somewhere and one of the rear doors started playing games a few weeks before I traded it in.
As stated above, they often go straight to auction or the trade, where they'll get the things fixed before sale. There's a reason why the trade-in price is usually a lot less than a private sale..
 
Thermostat on my old Fiesta was stuck open so would take ages to warm up, and would sometimes drop out of the ideal temp while on the motorway if it was freezing cold.

I did have the car booked in to get the thermostat and rear brakes changed but found my new car and did the trade the same week, trade in was about £1000-1500 less than a private sale so I'm sure there's some margin in there to get it fixed.
 
ivrytwr3 said:
Who hasn't experienced the rush of trading in their car hoping they won't find the faults you are getting rid of the car for in the first place? :D
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I traded one in, got a call from the dealer about 10 days later ... "Have you got the radio/cd player that belongs with the car you traded in?"
"It has the original unit in it."
"You didn't remove it?"
"No, why would I? Can't use it in anything else, and you just sold me a brand new car with one in it!"
"OK, we'll call you back".
"Why? It's not my problem. The car was complete when I signed it over to you, even left the fitted floor mats in it."

I hadn't removed it. Someone must have stolen it while in their care. Phoning the customer up was a bit cheeky. :cry:

Back on the OP, if the dealer knows that they're getting a Ford with the godawful Powershift in trade, they'd never stick it on the forecourt as they're nothing but trouble. It'll get punted straight to auction if they've got any sense.
 
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