Dealer prep of 2nd hand car. Do I need a reality check?
Discussion
Went to an 
to look at a Suzuki Grand Vitara.
To all intents and purposes it seemed like a decent buy at about £6k. 05 plate, one owner, 19k miles, good spec.. all fine and dandy apart from all 4 wheels looking a really grotty and kerbed and a blatently obvious 3 inch scratch near the door lock as if the previous owner had missed the keyhole and gouged their own car. Other than that it seemed as good as I had expected
I made my interest clear to the sales guy and asked how long it would take them to get it preped to go if we went ahead with a purchase... pointing out the condition of the wheels and in-yer-face, through the paintwork, white scratch on the otherwise nice blue door. I did make clear that I thought that it was otherwise fine and what I was looking for.
I was a bit surprised when he said that it was ready to go and that they didn't intend to do anything with the paint or wheels. I was even more surprised when he returned from speaking to his manager and confirmed that it was for sale as is, and it was only a £6000 second hand car and I should accept that things like that should be expected.
So... is it me? Are my expectations skewed? Is that what you get for "only" £6000? Is £6000 suddenly not much when it comes to cheaper cars? Do folk part with their money so readily when faced with such blatent (admittedly small and admittedly cosmetic) things wrong? I have taken a time-out with the salesman re the car and don't really have a problem "haggling" with the price to get them fixed, I just assumed that it wouldn't even have needed mentioned.
I appreciate I can be fairly anal about my cars but am not intending to be that way here. If this wee Suzuki was parked outside your house you would look at it and say "hmmmm, really nice looking car, shame about that door scratch and the alloys are a mess." Then again.. I do need a reality check.
ETA
No names no pack drill.
to look at a Suzuki Grand Vitara. To all intents and purposes it seemed like a decent buy at about £6k. 05 plate, one owner, 19k miles, good spec.. all fine and dandy apart from all 4 wheels looking a really grotty and kerbed and a blatently obvious 3 inch scratch near the door lock as if the previous owner had missed the keyhole and gouged their own car. Other than that it seemed as good as I had expected
I made my interest clear to the sales guy and asked how long it would take them to get it preped to go if we went ahead with a purchase... pointing out the condition of the wheels and in-yer-face, through the paintwork, white scratch on the otherwise nice blue door. I did make clear that I thought that it was otherwise fine and what I was looking for.
I was a bit surprised when he said that it was ready to go and that they didn't intend to do anything with the paint or wheels. I was even more surprised when he returned from speaking to his manager and confirmed that it was for sale as is, and it was only a £6000 second hand car and I should accept that things like that should be expected.
So... is it me? Are my expectations skewed? Is that what you get for "only" £6000? Is £6000 suddenly not much when it comes to cheaper cars? Do folk part with their money so readily when faced with such blatent (admittedly small and admittedly cosmetic) things wrong? I have taken a time-out with the salesman re the car and don't really have a problem "haggling" with the price to get them fixed, I just assumed that it wouldn't even have needed mentioned.
I appreciate I can be fairly anal about my cars but am not intending to be that way here. If this wee Suzuki was parked outside your house you would look at it and say "hmmmm, really nice looking car, shame about that door scratch and the alloys are a mess." Then again.. I do need a reality check.
ETA
No names no pack drill.
Edited by Big Al. on Friday 16th July 13:09
I walked away from buying a Mondeo from due to the state of the car and their refusal to do anything with it - lacquer was peeling away from drivers rear door and the wheels were a state.
It was a lovely car, 2.2 TDCi Ghia X with leather and most of the toys but it just looked shabby from outside.
ETA
Sorry for the edit, but!
due to the state of the car and their refusal to do anything with it - lacquer was peeling away from drivers rear door and the wheels were a state.It was a lovely car, 2.2 TDCi Ghia X with leather and most of the toys but it just looked shabby from outside.
ETA
Sorry for the edit, but!
Edited by Big Al. on Friday 16th July 13:10
Went to view a Volvo s40 at a place near me a while back as a cheap daily, had 120k on the clock and was on for about 4k.
All the interior trim was loose, the offside headlight and indicator were cracked, the grill had a hole in it and there was a rather nasty case of the kerbs on all 4 wheels.
Dealers response when I mentioned the faults was something along the lines of, we would probably fix the headlight, but after all it's only £4000.
Walked away and got a tidy 18,000 miles MG ZS in fantastic condition for £5 less.
All the interior trim was loose, the offside headlight and indicator were cracked, the grill had a hole in it and there was a rather nasty case of the kerbs on all 4 wheels.
Dealers response when I mentioned the faults was something along the lines of, we would probably fix the headlight, but after all it's only £4000.
Walked away and got a tidy 18,000 miles MG ZS in fantastic condition for £5 less.
I thought it was just me,i looked at a qashqai at a dealer near me,it needed two front tyres and the inside was covered in crud,leaves etc.Never even spoke to the salesman,there is no way i am handing over 12k to a franchised dealer of this brand who can't be bothered to vacuum a car before putting it on the forecourt.
8400rpm said:
renmure said:
Went to an
That was your first mistake.As for the OP's question, I can be perhaps over-protective with my car too and I wouldn't expect a 2nd-hand car to be immaculate but I would expect it to in a condition reflecting it's age and mileage. Minor stone chips on the bonnet and front bumper I would overlook but all 4 wheels kerbed or broken headlights, torn seats etc I wouldn't expect (unless I was visiting a sales lot run out of a portacabin).
Edited by Big Al. on Friday 16th July 13:12
EDLT said:
The car supermarket I work for does get wheels repaired even if the car is worth £6k, in fact there are cars that a worth less than that and they get the same treatment.
I wish the ape at the car supermarket I bought mine from hadn't botheredI have blue callipers with plenty of silver
renmure said:
Went to an
Nuff said.2001 - Went to collect a white 306 XLDT I had purchased. Quick walk around car before going in to sign the papers showed a fresh scratch on the front wing, which had be touched up.... with tipp-ex that was still wet. Walked away.
2007 - Went to collect a 2600 mile 307 S. Valeter had caved in the sill on a kerb, salesman had parked it with that side against a wall in the hope I wouldnt notice.... Made a complaint directly to the dealer principal on the other side of the site, knew him quite well as my old man had been buying cars though him since he was junior sales staff. Reminded him of the 2001 incident as well. Drove away about 40 mins later in a newer 307, same model, better colour, less miles, with 12 months tax rather than 6 and a full tank of petrol All sorted while I waited and had a cup of coffee, fair play to them that time...
Edited by Big Al. on Friday 16th July 13:14
I think most stealers simply tart the car up a bit for the forecourt and hope that they get a general member of the public numptie and not a PH swirl mark Nazi turning up with a paint thickness meter.
Looking around the car park at work I've seen how most people treat their cars and I don't see a few dings and scrapes when they buy a new one being a big issue. It seems that they factor in remedial work into the deal when one of us awkward buggers shows up.
I looked at a used 730 on sale in a York BMW dealer that my car put to shame despite mine having a much higher mileage and being a year older. Had I been a potential buyer there would have been a loooong list of remedial work I'd want doing before I shook on a deal.
Looking around the car park at work I've seen how most people treat their cars and I don't see a few dings and scrapes when they buy a new one being a big issue. It seems that they factor in remedial work into the deal when one of us awkward buggers shows up.
I looked at a used 730 on sale in a York BMW dealer that my car put to shame despite mine having a much higher mileage and being a year older. Had I been a potential buyer there would have been a loooong list of remedial work I'd want doing before I shook on a deal.
I walked past the pitch of a large well known dealer group in my area the other day and was amazed at how shabby the secondhand stock was-dirty,scuffs and scratches in abundance,bald tyres(a few cars even had flat tyres and looked dreadful).One was resting against a security barrier which had scuffed the nsf bumper in the process.Im not talking about old cars here-the oldest was probably four years old.
Whenever I sell cars,almost without exception I have people who come and examine them with a fine toothcomb,check history and MOT's etc,paintwork(which is what I do as well when I am buying)
How do these dealer groups sell any cars??There cant be that many people who dont care about condition.
Whenever I sell cars,almost without exception I have people who come and examine them with a fine toothcomb,check history and MOT's etc,paintwork(which is what I do as well when I am buying)
How do these dealer groups sell any cars??There cant be that many people who dont care about condition.
visual123 said:
Saw a dirty Focus complete with rusty door bottoms for £3500 I believe. Just generally really shabby condition, don't know how they could expect to get near the asking price.
I can beat that, a chaved up ESCORT with 99K miles on the clock, 96N, wait for it........£3495!! £3.5K for a fking Escort?! Sure it was clean looking but that was probably due to a respray, it was still rusting where the rear spoiler bolts to the car. Anyone want a spotless Mk1 Mondeo? I'll let it got for £3k.......I f
king wish.Mixed views on this.
When I bought the RS4 I expected it to be perfect in terms of condition - I was paying a lot for the vehicle
When I bought the L200 I was less fussed. It will only be a matter of time before it gets a few more dents and scratches, so I wasn't that concerned about the body work being immaculate. One of the back light lenses has obviously been involved in a fight with something - it was broken. I got a grand of list + 12 months warranty (over the original 3 months). The upshot was that I could have the cosmetics sorted, but this would mean less haggling room. I took the view that I'd rather save money on the purchase price of the vehicle than lose out on the basis of a few nicks being sorted.
When I bought the RS4 I expected it to be perfect in terms of condition - I was paying a lot for the vehicle
When I bought the L200 I was less fussed. It will only be a matter of time before it gets a few more dents and scratches, so I wasn't that concerned about the body work being immaculate. One of the back light lenses has obviously been involved in a fight with something - it was broken. I got a grand of list + 12 months warranty (over the original 3 months). The upshot was that I could have the cosmetics sorted, but this would mean less haggling room. I took the view that I'd rather save money on the purchase price of the vehicle than lose out on the basis of a few nicks being sorted.
Went with one of our contractors to get his M3 (04 54 SMG e46) from a bmw dealer i norfolk..
The car had (according to the salestt) "prep'd" inc alloy wheels being 'acid dipped', paintwork professionally touched up (it was silver) and the interior cleaned out ready for collection.
Turned up, two wheels were heavily corroded and were NOT the wheels that were on the car originally, the bonnet looked like it had been sprayed by a 10yr old blind monkey with no limbs and there was now a gash in the dashboard from where, what looked like a bracelet had scraped across it..
The salesberk said well we didnt have any money left in the deal after you got us down to £16.5k so we couldnt afford to do anything..
A word with the DP and we had a 335i coupe for the weekend whilst they arranged the work to be done.
fkers.
The car had (according to the salest
t) "prep'd" inc alloy wheels being 'acid dipped', paintwork professionally touched up (it was silver) and the interior cleaned out ready for collection.Turned up, two wheels were heavily corroded and were NOT the wheels that were on the car originally, the bonnet looked like it had been sprayed by a 10yr old blind monkey with no limbs and there was now a gash in the dashboard from where, what looked like a bracelet had scraped across it..
The salesberk said well we didnt have any money left in the deal after you got us down to £16.5k so we couldnt afford to do anything..
A word with the DP and we had a 335i coupe for the weekend whilst they arranged the work to be done.
f
kers.Edited by iggletiggle on Friday 16th July 12:26
Yes. For a 6000 pound car, kerbed alloys, and a scratch are par for the course. Such small amounts of damage are inevitable even with the most careful of owners.
I take absurd care of cars, parking them miles away from other people et etc etc , and I still pick of scratches.
They are minor cosmetic issues, can be relatively cheaply fixed and should be quite far down the list of things to care about - like impact damage, re-sprays, poorly done jobs, re-engined cars, cut and shuts. Cars where the warning lights have been disconnected, cars without a service history, etcc etc etc.
I actually prefer cars that have not been "tarted up" by a dealer. Generally dealer tarting up is of a st quality ( see tippex examples and overspray on calipers above ) and will fail after 6 months leaving you to do the job again properly.
I do know of dealers that will valets cars, repair any damage and refurb the wheels. However, I have noted that often these examples are cars that have failed to sell for some time, usually for a good reason.
I take absurd care of cars, parking them miles away from other people et etc etc , and I still pick of scratches.
They are minor cosmetic issues, can be relatively cheaply fixed and should be quite far down the list of things to care about - like impact damage, re-sprays, poorly done jobs, re-engined cars, cut and shuts. Cars where the warning lights have been disconnected, cars without a service history, etcc etc etc.
I actually prefer cars that have not been "tarted up" by a dealer. Generally dealer tarting up is of a s
t quality ( see tippex examples and overspray on calipers above ) and will fail after 6 months leaving you to do the job again properly. I do know of dealers that will valets cars, repair any damage and refurb the wheels. However, I have noted that often these examples are cars that have failed to sell for some time, usually for a good reason.
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