Car Supermarkets, good or bad, any views?
Discussion
It is funny how when you buy a car, the more money you spend on it, the less you look,
the Mrs and I bought a car on Sunday in a hurry right after our first child arrived just under 2 weeks ago. (I am afraid it is a boring Avensis Estate, but just what we needed, as the clubman is in no way a proper family car). Car giant gave us a print out on the car we were looking at stating the last service had been done at 45K, although in the book it actually says it was done at 40K, our salesman said that although the miles were slightly over time wise it was OK, having had a service less than 12 months ago, this is not actually true as that service was carried out in 2009.The mileage is now 57K. bearing these details in mind, along with the fact that with the way car giant operates means we did not see the actual service book until the point we were paying for the car, do we have reasonable grounds to go to Trading Standards/watchdog/Retail Motor Industry Federation.
When the Mrs called them on this subject they did not seem alarmed by the discrepancy and they said that we knew the service would need doing soon anyway (seems a bit different to being well overdue!)
If a car has gone though a 100+ point safety check is it not reasonable to expect the wiper blades to be in one piece, in my days looing after cars I always put a value on seeing where you are going, anyway I digress, and it is Lasagne time
the Mrs and I bought a car on Sunday in a hurry right after our first child arrived just under 2 weeks ago. (I am afraid it is a boring Avensis Estate, but just what we needed, as the clubman is in no way a proper family car). Car giant gave us a print out on the car we were looking at stating the last service had been done at 45K, although in the book it actually says it was done at 40K, our salesman said that although the miles were slightly over time wise it was OK, having had a service less than 12 months ago, this is not actually true as that service was carried out in 2009.The mileage is now 57K. bearing these details in mind, along with the fact that with the way car giant operates means we did not see the actual service book until the point we were paying for the car, do we have reasonable grounds to go to Trading Standards/watchdog/Retail Motor Industry Federation.
When the Mrs called them on this subject they did not seem alarmed by the discrepancy and they said that we knew the service would need doing soon anyway (seems a bit different to being well overdue!)
If a car has gone though a 100+ point safety check is it not reasonable to expect the wiper blades to be in one piece, in my days looing after cars I always put a value on seeing where you are going, anyway I digress, and it is Lasagne time
Stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap.Hopefully you got it for a good price,car supermarkets are notorious for skimping on servicing and PDI,s etc.It's probably not worth the time and effort if the car is basically a good one to take any legal action over what could be seen as a clerical error.
Speaking from personal experience I would never go near one again. A few years ago ( I knew a lot less then!) I bought a 53 plate Astra 1.7 cdti and it turned out to be a total lemon. The gearbox failed after six months and it developed a host of other problems. When you experience something like that it puts you off for life. Not only car supermarkets but Vauxhall as well. I don't even think the prices are particulary competitive at these places. Most of the cars seem to be high mileage fleet cars with patchy service history.
Already bought at this stage, rushed through the process as place was closing down, did not realise the mistake till the morning after when going through the books, as stated in the text we did not see the service book until the payment stage (the book was flashed in front of our eyes as the system pushed us through) and we had discussed service history in detail with the salesman and stupidly did not thin we had to disbelieve everything he told us, (does the printout we were given with the car stating the incorrect mileage at the last service help our case at all?)
Can'r understand why someone would spend good money on a car without looking through the service history first? When buying one car from a car supermarket I noticed it was due a fairly major service and they knocked off a further couple of hundred quid. Overall though they were useless, doubt I'd buy from one again.
I get the feeling that you may miss out on a little on customer service from the one experience I've had with buying a golf tdi in 2005 from a place in cardiff (can't remember the name). I found out that it only had one key after I paid and signed etc. They claimed it definitely had two and then promised to send it on. Guess what? Yep, I ended up having to get one from vw a few months later
There are probably loads of happy customers around though, afterall if you want, say a golf tdi or focus etc and they have a cheap one with SH and in good condition then why not have a closer look. I didn't feel particularly annoyed with my experience, a little disappointed and have just remembered to check that since. Good car though and salesman was excellent.
Everybody has good and bad stories of buying cars. I can reserve my bile for a total nightmare waste of oxygen outfit between wetherby & tadcaster. Anyway, I digress.
There are probably loads of happy customers around though, afterall if you want, say a golf tdi or focus etc and they have a cheap one with SH and in good condition then why not have a closer look. I didn't feel particularly annoyed with my experience, a little disappointed and have just remembered to check that since. Good car though and salesman was excellent.
Everybody has good and bad stories of buying cars. I can reserve my bile for a total nightmare waste of oxygen outfit between wetherby & tadcaster. Anyway, I digress.
I've only had the displeasure of visiting a Car Supermarket once and the experience put me off for life.
It was probably my fault - I went there thinking it was a great opportunity to see lots of different makes side by side to compare, have a test drive and make a decision, rather than have to trawl around all the individual dealers.
But you're on a selling conveyor belt the moment you arrive at the gate and are directed to an allocated parking spot "where our salesman will meet you". No casual browsing around in your own time, no test drive unless you are giving a deposit, it's all high-pressure in-your-face buy-it-now type stuff.
I can imagine if you know exactly the make, model and spec you want, and they have one in stock, they are no worse to deal with than any other second hand vendor. But if you are genuinely not sure and want to compare a few models, they are not the place to go.
It was probably my fault - I went there thinking it was a great opportunity to see lots of different makes side by side to compare, have a test drive and make a decision, rather than have to trawl around all the individual dealers.
But you're on a selling conveyor belt the moment you arrive at the gate and are directed to an allocated parking spot "where our salesman will meet you". No casual browsing around in your own time, no test drive unless you are giving a deposit, it's all high-pressure in-your-face buy-it-now type stuff.
I can imagine if you know exactly the make, model and spec you want, and they have one in stock, they are no worse to deal with than any other second hand vendor. But if you are genuinely not sure and want to compare a few models, they are not the place to go.
Edited by mattdaniels on Monday 22 August 21:01
The wife and I went to a Car Supermarket quite a few years ago. I was looking for a 328i/330i Coupe IIRC and just thought I'd go in for a look around.
Got ambushed on the way in so they can fill in their forms and asked me to stay seated whilst they check their stock for the above cars up to £10k (as per the form they completed).
Salesman arrived back after quite a lengthy wait to tell me they had the perfect car. A 318i saloon for £12k.
Never again.
Got ambushed on the way in so they can fill in their forms and asked me to stay seated whilst they check their stock for the above cars up to £10k (as per the form they completed).
Salesman arrived back after quite a lengthy wait to tell me they had the perfect car. A 318i saloon for £12k.
Never again.
Awful experience for me at one in Wakey. Bought a Clio 182 from them for cash at a price around 500 quid less than the equivalent at a Renault dealer. Supposedly with a full service history, and I specifically checked the service book for completeness. Car itself was fine, but a few days later I realised that the car had the wrong service book and the one I'd inspected was an old revision of the book. NB: Initially 182s were said to be fine to have the aux and cam bets done together at about 50k, but then Renault revised this down to 30k for the aux belts as they had a nasty habit of going early and taking out the cam belt with them. Therefore, new service books were issued and I had the old revision.
So I realise the error, and call up to explain. At first they were fine and say oh yeah no problem it's been missed and we'll call back and arrange for it to be done for you. After no phone calls back, I call them again. 'yep sure we'll get it booked in'. After they'd failed to call me back once again I called up slightly annoyed. The sales manager basically told me to **** off and the car "was been sold as seen"! I think they'd realised even the aux belt on a 182 is relatively expensive to get done and decided they weren't interested. I was really amazed that a big trader went with the sold as seen argument - what a scumbag.
I bit the bullet and paid for it to be done myself (got it cheap at about 100 from the local Renault place). It was cheaper and less hassle than going through small claims.
Moral of the story is : never again!!!
So I realise the error, and call up to explain. At first they were fine and say oh yeah no problem it's been missed and we'll call back and arrange for it to be done for you. After no phone calls back, I call them again. 'yep sure we'll get it booked in'. After they'd failed to call me back once again I called up slightly annoyed. The sales manager basically told me to **** off and the car "was been sold as seen"! I think they'd realised even the aux belt on a 182 is relatively expensive to get done and decided they weren't interested. I was really amazed that a big trader went with the sold as seen argument - what a scumbag.
I bit the bullet and paid for it to be done myself (got it cheap at about 100 from the local Renault place). It was cheaper and less hassle than going through small claims.
Moral of the story is : never again!!!
Carcraft is always a fun experience - when i first moved to Sheffield i made the mistake of visiting there when looking for a Automatic 4x4
They showed me three suitable cars, all Vectra estates
They practically lock the doors to stop you escaping - your freedom can only be bought with one of their finance packages which come with a free car.
Local forums here in Sheffield suggest the practice is still going strong today.
Other than that, i find car supermarkets good places to choose my next car (don't speak to sales people, so no ones time wasted) - which i then buy from somewhere decent.
They showed me three suitable cars, all Vectra estates
They practically lock the doors to stop you escaping - your freedom can only be bought with one of their finance packages which come with a free car.
Local forums here in Sheffield suggest the practice is still going strong today.
Other than that, i find car supermarkets good places to choose my next car (don't speak to sales people, so no ones time wasted) - which i then buy from somewhere decent.
I once went to a car supermarket after a motor, wasn`t sure what I was after but spotted a nice 330i, 12 months old and not to bad a price,had a good look around it then came the crunch,`sorry sir we don`t do test drives`. Hold on your expecting me to part with 15k and won`t give me a test drive. `Company policy sir, no test drives`, my policy no buy without test drive, goodbye.
markmullen said:
A side effect of buying high value items purely on price.
Spot on. You tend to always get what you pay for - or don't as the case may be. "Buy in haste, repent at leisure" etc. Car supermarkets - lowest common denominator marketing/business model. So it's not surprising corners are cut in consumer choice/product standards and/or customer care and aftercare.
It may not always be the case, just as paying a premium isn't necessarily a guarantor of the reverse situation, but in the vast majority of cases the logic holds true.
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