The scams that car dealers try
Discussion
I thought it would be of interest to start a thread detailing well known scams that car dealers try and pull, as well as other dubious attempts to fob off, rip off and lie to customers. I'm sure we've all been to see a car that has been warmed up prior to us getting there, but what other tricks may they try?
I'll start with a one that seems to attract the ire of PH, mainly because we are wont to trawl Ebay, Autotrader and the PH ads looking at cars. I am always irked when I see a trader trying to dodge their obligations as a trader, by saying that they are a private seller. Yet they have a small fleet of cars which they sell from the roadside - you can bet if you bought one and it went bang on the way home they wouldn't be forthcoming with assistance. Similarly, there seem to be more and more cars offered as 'part ex to clear' with no warranty implied. But more often than not, they seem to think this means SOGA does not apply and if it breaks down ten yards from the dealer's door it is not their problem!
Furthermore, you sometimes see garages selling a car, but when you enquire about it turns out it is a 'private sale', belonging to a member of staff or a friend of theirs. Sounds to me more like they are trying to cut their obligations and shift something they know has problems. What is the position on this, are they bound by SOGA even if they say it is a private sale? Knowing some car dealers, they would probably use this as a convenient way to write off a few cars from the tax bills...
And a final gripe of mine, lying about the condition of the car. The most common economy of truth seems to be service history. I've seen so many cars descirbed as 'FSH' but upon checking the actual history it is often patchy or nonexistant. Similarly, I've been lied to about the condition of a car before, which irked me as I travelled at considerable expense to see it. The only issue disclosed to me was a noisy wheel bearing - it was far worse than described and the rest of the car was a wreck too.
I would welcome any more information about the scams they may pull, or your own anecdotes, we could all benefit from pooling our knowledge and experience to stay one step ahead of the dodgy dealers.
I'll start with a one that seems to attract the ire of PH, mainly because we are wont to trawl Ebay, Autotrader and the PH ads looking at cars. I am always irked when I see a trader trying to dodge their obligations as a trader, by saying that they are a private seller. Yet they have a small fleet of cars which they sell from the roadside - you can bet if you bought one and it went bang on the way home they wouldn't be forthcoming with assistance. Similarly, there seem to be more and more cars offered as 'part ex to clear' with no warranty implied. But more often than not, they seem to think this means SOGA does not apply and if it breaks down ten yards from the dealer's door it is not their problem!
Furthermore, you sometimes see garages selling a car, but when you enquire about it turns out it is a 'private sale', belonging to a member of staff or a friend of theirs. Sounds to me more like they are trying to cut their obligations and shift something they know has problems. What is the position on this, are they bound by SOGA even if they say it is a private sale? Knowing some car dealers, they would probably use this as a convenient way to write off a few cars from the tax bills...
And a final gripe of mine, lying about the condition of the car. The most common economy of truth seems to be service history. I've seen so many cars descirbed as 'FSH' but upon checking the actual history it is often patchy or nonexistant. Similarly, I've been lied to about the condition of a car before, which irked me as I travelled at considerable expense to see it. The only issue disclosed to me was a noisy wheel bearing - it was far worse than described and the rest of the car was a wreck too.
I would welcome any more information about the scams they may pull, or your own anecdotes, we could all benefit from pooling our knowledge and experience to stay one step ahead of the dodgy dealers.
Toyota dealer selling us an Aygo lost the potential sale by showing me the Toyota stamp on the exhaust manifold as a reason to buy the Aygo vs the C1 or 107, which are mechanically identical, someone else was told the Aygo was made of thicker steel, pure comedy, sort it out Toyota, you dealers should not be dealing with more Whoppers than Burger King.
It's not a scam, per se, but it really pisses me off when you go and look at a nice car and it's got four brand new Chinese ditchfinders on it. I realise that expecting a full set of Michelin Primacys is perhaps a bit much, but even some Falkens or Kumhos etc would be a welcome sight.
(I speak from recent personal experience - bought a nice Volvo V70 for the OH a couple of months ago fitted with horrid plastic tyres - brand new but jiggly ride, funny steering and much understeer. Took them straight off and fitted some lovely Kleber Quadraxers (that's winter sorted then
) and what a difference! Sold the "old" ones on Ebay - bloke came round to collect them last night and was ecstatic because of the amount of tread on them. He won't be quite so happy when he's upside down in a hedge crying for his mum.)
(I speak from recent personal experience - bought a nice Volvo V70 for the OH a couple of months ago fitted with horrid plastic tyres - brand new but jiggly ride, funny steering and much understeer. Took them straight off and fitted some lovely Kleber Quadraxers (that's winter sorted then
) and what a difference! Sold the "old" ones on Ebay - bloke came round to collect them last night and was ecstatic because of the amount of tread on them. He won't be quite so happy when he's upside down in a hedge crying for his mum.)My personal favourite is the "going to see the Sales Manager" routine. The one that sticks in my mind was at a large Ford dealer with glass fronted offices. The salesman went in and started making it look like he was doing the best deal for me. This included arm waving, pointing, use of a calculator and multiple visits. Didn't buy the car from them in the end partly due to that.
J4CKO said:
Toyota dealer selling us an Aygo lost the potential sale by showing me the Toyota stamp on the exhaust manifold as a reason to buy the Aygo vs the C1 or 107, which are mechanically identical
Indeed! The same "Toyota" stamp that will be on the manifold of the 107 and C1 (I know - I've got one!).I wonder what said salesman says about the Aygo diesel lump: made by PSA).
I found a car I was interested in on the 'approved used' section of the Toyota UK website. I went to view the car and everything looked perfect, it was exactly what I was looking for, that is until I went to hand over the deposit and they told me it was not being sold under the approved used scheme and had no warranty.
This was a large, well known dealership breaking the rules by falsely advertising cars on the Toyota website. I asked them why they had done it and they told me "sometimes we have cars that are so good we know they will not have problems, so we sell them without a warranty". I struggled to keep my sniggers in.
This was a large, well known dealership breaking the rules by falsely advertising cars on the Toyota website. I asked them why they had done it and they told me "sometimes we have cars that are so good we know they will not have problems, so we sell them without a warranty". I struggled to keep my sniggers in.
I've got someone coming to buy it later today.
I've got someone after it on EBay and I'm tempted to let them have it for xxx.
Inevitably the car will be there long after.
Oh and also the classic FSH which turns out to be one or two stamps, no invoices but also unable to tell you which dealer did the work.
I've got someone after it on EBay and I'm tempted to let them have it for xxx.
Inevitably the car will be there long after.
Oh and also the classic FSH which turns out to be one or two stamps, no invoices but also unable to tell you which dealer did the work.
Arlen said:
My personal favourite is the "going to see the Sales Manager" routine. The one that sticks in my mind was at a large Ford dealer with glass fronted offices. The salesman went in and started making it look like he was doing the best deal for me. This included arm waving, pointing, use of a calculator and multiple visits. Didn't buy the car from them in the end partly due to that.
This is a right old load of b
ks, is it not? Not me personally, but a friend of mine bought a car from a car supermarket place. Granted, their stock has improved vastly recently, but their salesmen are the same old shysters. This lad was a shopping for an Astra GSi, at a time they were much more common than they are now, just a couple of years later.After test driving it, he sits down with the salesman to discuss finance. However, he is not interested in finance, as he just wants to pay for the car outright as he has the cash. After finally convincing the salesman he doesn't want finance, the salesman goes to speak to the manager to try and negotiate a best price for him.
Sadly, the office is a cardboard portacabin and he can hear every word being said, namely the salesman saying "He's gonna take this car, no doubt he is leaving with it". The manager says "give him £50 off what you've agreed and send him on his way".
Hearing this, he left before the salesman returned and bought one elsewhere.
It also raises the finance question. Dealers love throwing that at you. The first thing they do after a test drive is sit down and start talking finance options, even if you mentioned that you would buy outright. Then come the lame reasons as to why finance would be a good thing for you. The majority of larger places, especially selling used cars, seem more concerned about getting you some finance than getting you a car.
"First to see will buy". OK why has it been on your website for 3 weeks?
From a Ford dealer to my Dad many Years ago, selling a run of the mill model. "We won't be getting any more in until (insert month. 3 months away.) its a very rare car. If you don't buy it you'll regret it for the rest of your life".
A quick look at the dealer stockyard revealed a lot of said model.
Odd that whie on his way out in hospital 2 decades later, my old man didn't mention how his life had been ruined by not buying a gold Granada 2.9 GL.
From a Ford dealer to my Dad many Years ago, selling a run of the mill model. "We won't be getting any more in until (insert month. 3 months away.) its a very rare car. If you don't buy it you'll regret it for the rest of your life".
A quick look at the dealer stockyard revealed a lot of said model.
Odd that whie on his way out in hospital 2 decades later, my old man didn't mention how his life had been ruined by not buying a gold Granada 2.9 GL.
The FSH one is a real annoyance. It has nothing like it and is lucky if it has 2 stamps on a 90,000 car. Trade-in to clear......we aren't going to Mot it or service it though as we just want rid of it. Fair enough I say but it is more like they wont Mot it as it wont pass. Great condition for age....Is it fk. High miles but will do it again even though it has no service history for last 50,000 miles. I could keep going. I've had all these lately looking for a couple of motors.
k. High miles but will do it again even though it has no service history for last 50,000 miles. I could keep going. I've had all these lately looking for a couple of motors.Baryonyx said:
It also raises the finance question. Dealers love throwing that at you. The first thing they do after a test drive is sit down and start talking finance options, even if you mentioned that you would buy outright. Then come the lame reasons as to why finance would be a good thing for you. The majority of larger places, especially selling used cars, seem more concerned about getting you some finance than getting you a car.
So I had the test drive, the salesman had looked over the car I was trading in and came back into the office. Sucking air through his teeth he said "What a stunning car, sadly though nobody wants large cars nowadays"...So I ask, "What will you give me for it"?
To which he replied "How much can you afford each month"?
I still never managed to get a price for my car (Vauxhall Senator) and left feeling rather let down.
A friend once bought a used car from a London dealer. Before it was collected, a day or two after the deal was done, all four matching tyres had been changed for a mis-matched well worn set.
The tax disc on a used car I once bought was for a totally different vehicle; I didnt notice it until months later.
The tax disc on a used car I once bought was for a totally different vehicle; I didnt notice it until months later.
When looking to get a new civic type r in 2004 one dealer gave me a price but not as good as one i was given by my bank. However I had to return to the first dealer as the bank then one couldnt source me a car quick enough.
When i went back to dealer 1 he realised i was desperate to get hold of a car and all of a sudden the £500 deposit was added on to the deal we had agreed instead of being taken off the full price as a deposit normally is.
Toold that dealer where to go and bought from somewhere else that very same day. Hiss loss for trying to pull a fast one.
When i went back to dealer 1 he realised i was desperate to get hold of a car and all of a sudden the £500 deposit was added on to the deal we had agreed instead of being taken off the full price as a deposit normally is.
Toold that dealer where to go and bought from somewhere else that very same day. Hiss loss for trying to pull a fast one.
When I changed my last car the dealer gave me a part ex price which was a complete mickey take (25% lower than what car etc suggested and 50% lower than similar cars were on Autotrader for) when I asked why he said something, I can't remember what now, then stopped himself.
He stopped himself because he was about to tell me that big turbo charged petrol engined cars are not in demand and realised that saying such a thing would be incredible stupid when said customer is looking at a big turbo charged petrol engine car that said dealer has already admitted has been chipped!
Tool.
He stopped himself because he was about to tell me that big turbo charged petrol engined cars are not in demand and realised that saying such a thing would be incredible stupid when said customer is looking at a big turbo charged petrol engine car that said dealer has already admitted has been chipped!
Tool.
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