Cars that couldn't of been more different from the advert
Discussion
beatngu said:
What's yours? 
Golf MK3 GTI
"5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 121,000 miles, Black. Air conditioning, Head restraints,
Heated seats, Leather seats, Passenger airbag, Pearlescent paint, Sports seats, Sunroof, Towbar,
PART EXCHANGE TO CLEAR, LONG MOT, VERY CLEAN CAR. Insurance Group:14, £950"
Right then, this was on an MK3 Golf from a dealer. I couldn't understand a word the guy was saying, English obviously wasn't his first language & i was getting annoyed just at the fact i was asking him to repeat himself. (i hate coming across as rude)
Which coming from someone with a stutter is quite something.
Anyway, what was different from the ad?
- No heated seats
- No leather seats
- Acid/similar thrown down the side (was extreme peeling either way)
- No Air con
- No headlight lens (smashed)
- Rear window dropped
- No MOT
- No Tax
- No speakers/Radio
- Wasn't at the garage so had to give the dealer a lift to go see it!
- Not a very clean car.
Should have charged him for your time and fuel. 
Golf MK3 GTI
"5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 121,000 miles, Black. Air conditioning, Head restraints,
Heated seats, Leather seats, Passenger airbag, Pearlescent paint, Sports seats, Sunroof, Towbar,
PART EXCHANGE TO CLEAR, LONG MOT, VERY CLEAN CAR. Insurance Group:14, £950"
Right then, this was on an MK3 Golf from a dealer. I couldn't understand a word the guy was saying, English obviously wasn't his first language & i was getting annoyed just at the fact i was asking him to repeat himself. (i hate coming across as rude)
Which coming from someone with a stutter is quite something.

Anyway, what was different from the ad?
- No heated seats
- No leather seats
- Acid/similar thrown down the side (was extreme peeling either way)
- No Air con
- No headlight lens (smashed)
- Rear window dropped
- No MOT
- No Tax
- No speakers/Radio
- Wasn't at the garage so had to give the dealer a lift to go see it!
- Not a very clean car.
Edited by beatngu on Tuesday 6th September 16:54
I haven't come across people lying about spec, not sure what goes through peoples heads when they write the advert.
But cars being classed as mint or dent free when they clearly aren't is very common.
I know condition is often down to an individuals perception, e.g what I call "mint" might be average to someone else.
But saying a car is mint and having a massive dent in the drivers door is taking the mickey....
But cars being classed as mint or dent free when they clearly aren't is very common.
I know condition is often down to an individuals perception, e.g what I call "mint" might be average to someone else.
But saying a car is mint and having a massive dent in the drivers door is taking the mickey....
dvance said:
Should have charged him for your time and fuel.
In hindsight i would of, i've owned a few vehicles since & learned lessons on a lot of thing.pops and bangs said:
I haven't come across people lying about spec, not sure what goes through peoples heads when they write the advert.
But cars being classed as mint or dent free when they clearly aren't is very common.
I know condition is often down to an individuals perception, e.g what I call "mint" might be average to someone else.
But saying a car is mint and having a massive dent in the drivers door is taking the mickey....
Dealers will describe anything as mint it seems, almost like it's a default keyword in the description. If they don't mention it's great condition, there's usually no mentioned of condition at all. Another sBut cars being classed as mint or dent free when they clearly aren't is very common.
I know condition is often down to an individuals perception, e.g what I call "mint" might be average to someone else.
But saying a car is mint and having a massive dent in the drivers door is taking the mickey....
tty tactic if you're a buyer but good for the dealer (same with mileage/tax/MOT etc.I've lost count of the number of Celica GT-Fours I've seen advertised that are just standard GT 2-litres.
Worst one I encountered was a Mercedes 300CE that I checked the condition of over the phone the day before. Seemed OK, maybe a bit tatty around the edges, but passable nonetheless. I even asked if a test drive was possible and they said yes.
When I drove the 37 miles to Nottingham to see it, it was sitting on flat tyres, weeds growing around it, boxed in by cars some of which didn't have engines in them. It was being advertised as a good runner (still advertised in fact - must be costing them a fortune on Auto Trader) in average condition.
Worst thing was, the tattooed, three-toothed
s selling it were rolling on the floor with laughter, as though persuading someone to drive a not inconsiderable distance to look at an immobile, rusting hulk they'd described as a reasonable runner was somehow hilarious.
I honestly can't understand how they stay in business with an attitude like that.
Worst one I encountered was a Mercedes 300CE that I checked the condition of over the phone the day before. Seemed OK, maybe a bit tatty around the edges, but passable nonetheless. I even asked if a test drive was possible and they said yes.
When I drove the 37 miles to Nottingham to see it, it was sitting on flat tyres, weeds growing around it, boxed in by cars some of which didn't have engines in them. It was being advertised as a good runner (still advertised in fact - must be costing them a fortune on Auto Trader) in average condition.
Worst thing was, the tattooed, three-toothed
s selling it were rolling on the floor with laughter, as though persuading someone to drive a not inconsiderable distance to look at an immobile, rusting hulk they'd described as a reasonable runner was somehow hilarious.I honestly can't understand how they stay in business with an attitude like that.
I drove 50 miles to see a Saab 9000 at a dealer. When I got there, contrary to the advertisment *and* the chat with the dealer himself over the phone, it didn't have A/C and had an extra 20k on the clock.
I guess some unscrupulous sellers may fib about some options just to get you there on the premise that, even though you may be slightly disappointed about the missing equipment, you'll buy the car anyway because you'd made all the effort to travel to see it.
Needless to say, I walked.
I guess some unscrupulous sellers may fib about some options just to get you there on the premise that, even though you may be slightly disappointed about the missing equipment, you'll buy the car anyway because you'd made all the effort to travel to see it.
Needless to say, I walked.
Tried to delete original post to edit hoping i could create another, guess not.
Anyway, original post was;
What's yours?
Golf MK3 GTI
"5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 121,000 miles, Black. Air conditioning, Head restraints,
Heated seats, Leather seats, Passenger airbag, Pearlescent paint, Sports seats, Sunroof, Towbar,
PART EXCHANGE TO CLEAR, LONG MOT, VERY CLEAN CAR. Insurance Group:14, £950"
Right then, this was on an MK3 Golf from a dealer. I couldn't understand a word the guy was saying, English obviously wasn't his first language & i was getting annoyed just at the fact i was asking him to repeat himself. (i hate coming across as rude)
Which coming from someone with a stutter is quite something. biggrin
Anyway, what was different from the ad?
- No heated seats
- No leather seats
- Acid/similar thrown down the side (was extreme peeling either way)
- No Air con
- No headlight lens (smashed)
- Rear window dropped
- No MOT
- No Tax
- No speakers/Radio
- Wasn't at the garage so had to give the dealer a lift to go see it!
- Not a very clean car.
Anyway, original post was;
What's yours?
Golf MK3 GTI
"5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 121,000 miles, Black. Air conditioning, Head restraints,
Heated seats, Leather seats, Passenger airbag, Pearlescent paint, Sports seats, Sunroof, Towbar,
PART EXCHANGE TO CLEAR, LONG MOT, VERY CLEAN CAR. Insurance Group:14, £950"
Right then, this was on an MK3 Golf from a dealer. I couldn't understand a word the guy was saying, English obviously wasn't his first language & i was getting annoyed just at the fact i was asking him to repeat himself. (i hate coming across as rude)
Which coming from someone with a stutter is quite something. biggrin
Anyway, what was different from the ad?
- No heated seats
- No leather seats
- Acid/similar thrown down the side (was extreme peeling either way)
- No Air con
- No headlight lens (smashed)
- Rear window dropped
- No MOT
- No Tax
- No speakers/Radio
- Wasn't at the garage so had to give the dealer a lift to go see it!
- Not a very clean car.
Twincam16 said:
I've lost count of the number of Celica GT-Fours I've seen advertised that are just standard GT 2-litres.
Worst one I encountered was a Mercedes 300CE that I checked the condition of over the phone the day before. Seemed OK, maybe a bit tatty around the edges, but passable nonetheless. I even asked if a test drive was possible and they said yes.
When I drove the 37 miles to Nottingham to see it, it was sitting on flat tyres, weeds growing around it, boxed in by cars some of which didn't have engines in them. It was being advertised as a good runner (still advertised in fact - must be costing them a fortune on Auto Trader) in average condition.
Worst thing was, the tattooed, three-toothed
s selling it were rolling on the floor with laughter, as though persuading someone to drive a not inconsiderable distance to look at an immobile, rusting hulk they'd described as a reasonable runner was somehow hilarious.
I honestly can't understand how they stay in business with an attitude like that.
Goes beyond taking the piss, a practical joke. The joys of buying vehicles! Worst one I encountered was a Mercedes 300CE that I checked the condition of over the phone the day before. Seemed OK, maybe a bit tatty around the edges, but passable nonetheless. I even asked if a test drive was possible and they said yes.
When I drove the 37 miles to Nottingham to see it, it was sitting on flat tyres, weeds growing around it, boxed in by cars some of which didn't have engines in them. It was being advertised as a good runner (still advertised in fact - must be costing them a fortune on Auto Trader) in average condition.
Worst thing was, the tattooed, three-toothed
s selling it were rolling on the floor with laughter, as though persuading someone to drive a not inconsiderable distance to look at an immobile, rusting hulk they'd described as a reasonable runner was somehow hilarious.I honestly can't understand how they stay in business with an attitude like that.
bababa said:
I drove 50 miles to see a Saab 9000 at a dealer. When I got there, contrary to the advertisment *and* the chat with the dealer himself over the phone, it didn't have A/C and had an extra 20k on the clock.
I guess some unscrupulous sellers may fib about some options just to get you there on the premise that, even though you may be slightly disappointed about the missing equipment, you'll buy the car anyway because you'd made all the effort to travel to see it.
Needless to say, I walked.
Wouldn't be surprised if this worked a majority of the time. I honestly couldn't face someone after telling a pack of lies, i guess i wouldn't be a very good salesman..I guess some unscrupulous sellers may fib about some options just to get you there on the premise that, even though you may be slightly disappointed about the missing equipment, you'll buy the car anyway because you'd made all the effort to travel to see it.
Needless to say, I walked.
Was this an independent?
Edited by beatngu on Tuesday 6th September 17:31
I went to see a 200SX that was advertised as good condition, mechanically perfect, 80K miles.
Turned up and it was 110k miles and it had a dent in the bonnet that looked like it had had a brick dropped on it from height. I drove it anyway (because I had my wife with me and wanted to make sure she would get on with one) at which point a really horrific top end rattle became apparent. When I got back the dealer enquired if I was interested. I listed the major faults with it as I saw them, and politely declined his offer to take ownership.
He turned to his oppo and said "See, I told you, that car's f
kED".
I'm also reminded of the original 80's Volvo 340 Ad, where they compare it to both a BMW (RWD) and a Maserati (transaxle) to laud it's handling credentials. Chose to forget about the horrific steering and cart sprung live axle though, didn't you volvo?!
Turned up and it was 110k miles and it had a dent in the bonnet that looked like it had had a brick dropped on it from height. I drove it anyway (because I had my wife with me and wanted to make sure she would get on with one) at which point a really horrific top end rattle became apparent. When I got back the dealer enquired if I was interested. I listed the major faults with it as I saw them, and politely declined his offer to take ownership.
He turned to his oppo and said "See, I told you, that car's f
kED".I'm also reminded of the original 80's Volvo 340 Ad, where they compare it to both a BMW (RWD) and a Maserati (transaxle) to laud it's handling credentials. Chose to forget about the horrific steering and cart sprung live axle though, didn't you volvo?!
I went to Leeds (from SE London) to see a car that was one (registration) year older than it appeared from the picture in the advert. It seemed that the seller had been driving it around with the registration plates from her other car and had photographed it with them still on.
Also, contrary to the ad, it had no service history at all. Also, it was not in "excellent condition" since it had a scratch the full length of one side and the entire underside was caked in mud.
I still test drove it ...... so I could end up back at Leeds Station and go home.
Also, contrary to the ad, it had no service history at all. Also, it was not in "excellent condition" since it had a scratch the full length of one side and the entire underside was caked in mud.
I still test drove it ...... so I could end up back at Leeds Station and go home.
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I can imagine the dealer telling some poor sod about the limited edition Toyota MR2 Non-turbo turbo


you're trying at least. The word "of" should say "have"