Top Dollar Cars, Rock Bottom Dealers

[LandyBob]

Hi All,

I'm currently looking for a replacement for my daily hack and have a few questions. I have a few theories but wondered if anyone had the facts..

You're looking for a certain car which 'should' be coming from either a main dealer (low milage, couple of years old) or a large dealer with the impression that they could actually honour any warranty claims with no issues. What i keep finding, through curiosity, are cars which look like they are worth more than the showroom they're being sold from. A forecourt full of 10 year old Fords, a portacabin for sales and one £35k Range rover for sale. 20 nondescript Malaysian motors and a £30k jag or two. You get the picture.

So, where do these cars come from and who / why would anyone buy such an expensive car from such a dodgy looking outfit?

I will just say that i would never, ever hand such a large sum of cash to any one of these shady looking garages, this is more to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks

[AmitG]

My local garage is a bit like this. I've bought a few cars off them and every time I've gone in it's been a load of stuff in the 3k - 15k range plus one or two outliers. Bentley Continental, Ferrari 612, fully loaded FFRR, nearly new Jaguar XKR etc.

Seems to come down to

• Car being sold on behalf of a good customer. The Bentley was like this, they took it on because a regular customer was trying to sell it privately and not having much luck. After 6 weeks it went back, the dealer said it was more hassle than it was worth because of all the dreamers it attracted.
• Dealer's own car being listed in case anyone bites. The FFRR was like this. If it sells then great, in the meantime just keep driving it.
• Blind punt. Bought at auction for a steal, seems to all work fine, so put it on the forecourt and see if you get lucky.

I agree, I would not buy such a car from someone unless it came with a full warranty and I had faith in their ability to act upon any problems.