Big red flag regarding service history, buying main dealer.
Discussion
I’m looking at buying an used car from a franchised main dealer, the franchise is a particularly big car group – one of the biggest, in fact.
The sales process has been shocking so far but providing everything is sorted, I am happy to proceed as I do want the car.
The car was moved from the franchised main dealer up north, down to another dealership down south for me to view, the south dealer was still park of the big network, but a franchise for a different manufacturer.
The car was clearly rushed down south with no proper prep done and being a completely different marque the southern dealership didn’t really know much about the car – which is not a good start but it is understandable if it’s not a model that their place even sells. The salesman was actually on annual leave and I wasn’t meant to view the car until next week but I was being impatient – the salesman came in on his day off for me which was nice and I’d done my research so didn’t need his knowledge. All was looking good until it came to service history.
I was under the impression it had full main dealer history but there was no service book to confirm and they told me that the service history was all digital and there was no book, however they checked the system and said it had no service history at all (car is 18 months old and was due its first service in March 19). I queried this as it seemed wrong to me and they went away to call the northern dealership where it came from and returned saying it was overdue a service but did have it’s sales prep service done (which doesn’t really count). Irritating but not a deal breaker – until I realised than being 6 months overdue its service might give me issues regarding warranty. They assured me it wouldn’t but I made some calls myself to other main dealers for the manufacturer of the car and they all said it may very well impact my warranty depending on what I had to claim for on warranty. This changed things a bit as I was really looking for a car with a bit of manufactures warranty intact.
I walked away but kept my deposit down as they were going to investigate. I got a call on Monday saying that the dealer up north where the car has moved from has found the service book and the car was service on time after it’s first year at 7,000 miles and that they would send the book down to the south dealership for me to look at and go from there which sounded positive to me until I thought about it some more.
They told me it didn’t have a service book and that it was digital but now a service book has materialised?
They told me that they checked with the northern dealership and the car hadn’t been serviced and was due one, but now it turns out it was serviced all along?
All very suspicious but I appreciate mistakes can happen so did some research myself.
I called 6 main dealers for the marque I am looking at, 3 of which were part of the same group I am dealing with. None of those dealerships had the record of the car being serviced at all but all of those dealerships also advised that there is no centralised database and I’d need to speak directly with the dealership that serviced the car to see confirm it was done. So all of the group dealers I contacted all confirmed they couldn’t see each other dealers history even though they’re all part of the same group (yet they could all see the pre-sales oil change and filter it had before being moved down south?).
One of the dealers I spoke to was the northern dealer who sent the car south who also had no record of a service (so at this point I don’t know what dealer the service was with, assuming it was even main dealer!).
I spoke to the manufacturer directly, who themselves said they don’t have a centralised system and I would need to speak to the dealer that serviced the car to have it confirmed. At this point I was a bit worried that this supposed history is going to be fraudulent so I queried this with the manufacture who said that if the dealer in question has fraudulently stamped the book then it would be investigated and I wouldn’t be left in the lurch if all of this was discovered during a warranty claim etc and confirmed that the dealer that sent it down south is a proper authorised dealer despite it being a franchise.
So the reason for my post is to just get different opinions really as even though I know it all seems very suspicious, it could also be plausible.
At this point I just want to say that this particular car is in the exact spec and colour I want, hence why I haven’t walked away already and there is currently nothing else for sale that matches exactly what I am looking for.
The main question I have is do you think it really is possible for a main dealer, authorised by the manufacturer to just pick up a service book and stamp it fraudulently to get the sale? I know this isn’t exactly hard to do and independents can do it much easier but is a main dealer from a massive national network really going to do this?
Once I see the book and see where it was supposedly serviced I can contact that dealership directly and get them to confirm that the service was carried out (and get that in an email to, to cover myself).
Given how poorly prepped the southern dealer was, I think it is feasible that this could all be genuine – them telling me it doesn’t have a service book and it was all digital was a blatant lie but I do get that while that in itself is a bad service, they didn’t know the answer and due to wanting the sale there and then (which I wanted too before realising this) just told me whatever it took to get the sale. Same goes for them telling me that it hadn’t been serviced and was due a service – they called the northern dealership to check who said it hadn’t been serviced. Given what I researched, again it is plausible that they were told it had no service history from that dealership even though the car really did have some – and the lack of thorough checking was again to get a quick sale. Lastly, the book being found in the northern dealership… I know how companies are overworked and understaffed and I do believe the book may have possibly been misplaced and then found but it does all seem a bit convenient.
What do you think? Have an authorised main dealer really faked service history? Could an authorised main dealer really do it and risk it? Am I being too naïve? Am I looking into it all too much? I know car salesman get a bad rep but mistakes do happen and people do mess up.
I know there are a lot of red flags and I should walk away but as I said I could be waiting a long time for another one of this spec car comes up within budget which is why I’m going to wait to see this supposed history.
The sales process has been shocking so far but providing everything is sorted, I am happy to proceed as I do want the car.
The car was moved from the franchised main dealer up north, down to another dealership down south for me to view, the south dealer was still park of the big network, but a franchise for a different manufacturer.
The car was clearly rushed down south with no proper prep done and being a completely different marque the southern dealership didn’t really know much about the car – which is not a good start but it is understandable if it’s not a model that their place even sells. The salesman was actually on annual leave and I wasn’t meant to view the car until next week but I was being impatient – the salesman came in on his day off for me which was nice and I’d done my research so didn’t need his knowledge. All was looking good until it came to service history.
I was under the impression it had full main dealer history but there was no service book to confirm and they told me that the service history was all digital and there was no book, however they checked the system and said it had no service history at all (car is 18 months old and was due its first service in March 19). I queried this as it seemed wrong to me and they went away to call the northern dealership where it came from and returned saying it was overdue a service but did have it’s sales prep service done (which doesn’t really count). Irritating but not a deal breaker – until I realised than being 6 months overdue its service might give me issues regarding warranty. They assured me it wouldn’t but I made some calls myself to other main dealers for the manufacturer of the car and they all said it may very well impact my warranty depending on what I had to claim for on warranty. This changed things a bit as I was really looking for a car with a bit of manufactures warranty intact.
I walked away but kept my deposit down as they were going to investigate. I got a call on Monday saying that the dealer up north where the car has moved from has found the service book and the car was service on time after it’s first year at 7,000 miles and that they would send the book down to the south dealership for me to look at and go from there which sounded positive to me until I thought about it some more.
They told me it didn’t have a service book and that it was digital but now a service book has materialised?
They told me that they checked with the northern dealership and the car hadn’t been serviced and was due one, but now it turns out it was serviced all along?
All very suspicious but I appreciate mistakes can happen so did some research myself.
I called 6 main dealers for the marque I am looking at, 3 of which were part of the same group I am dealing with. None of those dealerships had the record of the car being serviced at all but all of those dealerships also advised that there is no centralised database and I’d need to speak directly with the dealership that serviced the car to see confirm it was done. So all of the group dealers I contacted all confirmed they couldn’t see each other dealers history even though they’re all part of the same group (yet they could all see the pre-sales oil change and filter it had before being moved down south?).
One of the dealers I spoke to was the northern dealer who sent the car south who also had no record of a service (so at this point I don’t know what dealer the service was with, assuming it was even main dealer!).
I spoke to the manufacturer directly, who themselves said they don’t have a centralised system and I would need to speak to the dealer that serviced the car to have it confirmed. At this point I was a bit worried that this supposed history is going to be fraudulent so I queried this with the manufacture who said that if the dealer in question has fraudulently stamped the book then it would be investigated and I wouldn’t be left in the lurch if all of this was discovered during a warranty claim etc and confirmed that the dealer that sent it down south is a proper authorised dealer despite it being a franchise.
So the reason for my post is to just get different opinions really as even though I know it all seems very suspicious, it could also be plausible.
At this point I just want to say that this particular car is in the exact spec and colour I want, hence why I haven’t walked away already and there is currently nothing else for sale that matches exactly what I am looking for.
The main question I have is do you think it really is possible for a main dealer, authorised by the manufacturer to just pick up a service book and stamp it fraudulently to get the sale? I know this isn’t exactly hard to do and independents can do it much easier but is a main dealer from a massive national network really going to do this?
Once I see the book and see where it was supposedly serviced I can contact that dealership directly and get them to confirm that the service was carried out (and get that in an email to, to cover myself).
Given how poorly prepped the southern dealer was, I think it is feasible that this could all be genuine – them telling me it doesn’t have a service book and it was all digital was a blatant lie but I do get that while that in itself is a bad service, they didn’t know the answer and due to wanting the sale there and then (which I wanted too before realising this) just told me whatever it took to get the sale. Same goes for them telling me that it hadn’t been serviced and was due a service – they called the northern dealership to check who said it hadn’t been serviced. Given what I researched, again it is plausible that they were told it had no service history from that dealership even though the car really did have some – and the lack of thorough checking was again to get a quick sale. Lastly, the book being found in the northern dealership… I know how companies are overworked and understaffed and I do believe the book may have possibly been misplaced and then found but it does all seem a bit convenient.
What do you think? Have an authorised main dealer really faked service history? Could an authorised main dealer really do it and risk it? Am I being too naïve? Am I looking into it all too much? I know car salesman get a bad rep but mistakes do happen and people do mess up.
I know there are a lot of red flags and I should walk away but as I said I could be waiting a long time for another one of this spec car comes up within budget which is why I’m going to wait to see this supposed history.
Where does the dealer claim it was serviced - was it by them, or somebody else?
The lack of centralised database things is probably true - g/f has owned a Peugeot for several years, and when she wanted to check what service was due last year, we were a bit surprised when Peugeot told her there is no centralised database and only the individual dealers have the service history for when they serviced it. Seems a bit flawed to me!
The lack of centralised database things is probably true - g/f has owned a Peugeot for several years, and when she wanted to check what service was due last year, we were a bit surprised when Peugeot told her there is no centralised database and only the individual dealers have the service history for when they serviced it. Seems a bit flawed to me!
davek_964 said:
Where does the dealer claim it was serviced - was it by them, or somebody else?
I stupidly didn't ask and it's in the post now so I'll have to wait to find out when it arrives down south.If it's supposedly been serviced by the dealer up north that 'found the book' I know it's all BS as they already confirmed that there is no service history from them on the car!
You'd think in this day and age there would be centralized systems in place, I understand the manufacturer not having one but for a large network of main dealers you would think they would!
I think if you want certainty you need to see a copy invoice or schedule of the work done from the servicing dealer. Anyone can find a service book and stamp it, possibly even a salesman at a main dealer, I'm not saying the whole dealership is complicit but a rogue salesman chasing a sale? its possible.
Sounds like BS to me.
I phoned about a car for sale once, and asked had the cambelt been done. The salesman opened the book and said ......yep at 50k on the last service.
There was no receipt.
Guess what snapped a month later ? Basically just ticked the box whilst I was on the phone.
I got some money back after writing to the previous owner who confirmed it's why she sold it and had definitely not been done. The car was probably repairable and I would have pushed the garage further had I not had a minor accident in it by chance a week earlier scraping the entire side.
I'd walk away unless it was serviced at an independent garage of that selling it and you can verify it and obtain copies.
I phoned about a car for sale once, and asked had the cambelt been done. The salesman opened the book and said ......yep at 50k on the last service.
There was no receipt.
Guess what snapped a month later ? Basically just ticked the box whilst I was on the phone.
I got some money back after writing to the previous owner who confirmed it's why she sold it and had definitely not been done. The car was probably repairable and I would have pushed the garage further had I not had a minor accident in it by chance a week earlier scraping the entire side.
I'd walk away unless it was serviced at an independent garage of that selling it and you can verify it and obtain copies.
joropug said:
I'd walk away unless it was serviced at an independent garage of that selling it and you can verify it and obtain copies.
Well, that's the thing, independent likely means it could affect my warranty. In truth, I don't care whether it has or has not been serviced at this point because a main dealer service is only £250 which I can do as soon as I have the car. But what does concern me is fake service history from the main dealer impacting my warranty a year down the line. The car is 18 months old and done 8k so I imagine I won't ever even need to claim on warranty but 'what if' is what is at the forefront of my mind.
If I do everything I can to verify with the supposed dealer who serviced it and once I have everything documented to cover myself, I may still proceed. Normally I'd have walked already but I do wan this car! Need to think with my head.
Similar thing happened to me. Only 3 services in the book, dealer assured me the rest was online. We checked thoroughly online and rang around and found the dealership (part of a national franchise) had been shut two months previously. No joy, but I wanted the car. Got it checked over by a specialist and was informed at 47000 miles it was in very good condition. Like you I was worried about the warranty and through discussions with the dealer he supplied a two year AA warranty through his business (means no service history check), with a headed, signed letter stating the business would underwrite any warranty claim that was turned down as a result of non-complete vehicle service history.
popeyewhite said:
Similar thing happened to me. Only 3 services in the book, dealer assured me the rest was online. We checked thoroughly online and rang around and found the dealership (part of a national franchise) had been shut two months previously. No joy, but I wanted the car. Got it checked over by a specialist and was informed at 47000 miles it was in very good condition. Like you I was worried about the warranty and through discussions with the dealer he supplied a two year AA warranty through his business (means no service history check), with a headed, signed letter stating the business would underwrite any warranty claim that was turned down as a result of non-complete vehicle service history.
That is a good idea, though I'm only interested in the original manufacturer warranty while the car is so new, but a written signed and headed letter to confirm that this claimed service was carried out by the dealer that did it would be nice (as at this point even the stamped book isn't enough seeing how shady it all seems). Thanks for your input. Mexman said:
Its obviously not the car for you, so leave it.
It very much is the car for me which is why I don't want to leave it just yet. I'm not going to pay £35k for a car that does quite possibly have dodgy history. It sounds like you were less concerned by the service being six months overdue, and more by the potential impact on the warranty.
The magically reappearing service book - an utter fabrication or not - would cover the latter, and you could ask for an additional service now for your own reassurance?
The magically reappearing service book - an utter fabrication or not - would cover the latter, and you could ask for an additional service now for your own reassurance?
InitialDave said:
It sounds like you were less concerned by the service being six months overdue, and more by the potential impact on the warranty.
The magically reappearing service book - an utter fabrication or not - would cover the latter, and you could ask for an additional service now for your own reassurance?
I am more concerned about the warranty, yes. Obviously the service being 6 months late is a concern but it's low mileage so long term can't really see it being a problem other than for warranty reasons. If it was 6 months overdue AND 5k miles overdue, that would be a different story though. The magically reappearing service book - an utter fabrication or not - would cover the latter, and you could ask for an additional service now for your own reassurance?
But this claimed service history was supposedly on time, so if everything checks out the car is fine and it's just me being paranoid + the vendor being very unorganised.
If the service was done 6 months late (or not done at all), I'll walk away, regardless of what they try to offer and that's my conundrum really and why I'm so concerned about the warranty and not the servicing - because I don't want to have a stamped book and then 6 months down the line have a blown engine and the manufacturer turn around and say "sorry sir, your car was never serviced, this stamp has been forged".
loskie said:
It DOES have a dodgy history, you know that but are trying to persuade yourself it does not.
£35k to buy a car with likely no warranty.
AND no service history.
Does that make good buying sense?
No it doesn't make good buying sense to buy a car with no warranty or service history - which is exactly why I won't be buying it unless I've got evidence that everything is all in order and the servicing hasn't been faked.£35k to buy a car with likely no warranty.
AND no service history.
Does that make good buying sense?
It does all look quite dodgy from here, I'm not trying to persuade myself otherwise, that's why I am posting on here, to gauge other peoples opinions too. People do make mistakes and offices can be unorganised though so I'm giving the dealer the benefit of the doubt for now because as fishy at it seems it could all be genuine. At the moment, based on what I've been told, the car does not have dodgy history at all and is still under manufactures warranty, but it's me that thinks something that could be a miss with all the messing around there has been.
Edited by PinkHighlighter on Tuesday 8th October 16:43
Be patient wait until you get the book then you'll be able to see who serviced it & if it's , it's not unusual to find that a service hasn't been added to the database.
A quick phone call once you have the information to hand will confirm it's legitimacy & you can proceed from there. everything else is speculation.
A quick phone call once you have the information to hand will confirm it's legitimacy & you can proceed from there. everything else is speculation.
PinkHighlighter said:
I’m looking at buying an used car from a franchised main dealer, the franchise is a particularly big car group – one of the biggest, in fact.
The sales process has been shocking so far but providing everything is sorted, I am happy to proceed as I do want the car.
The car was moved from the franchised main dealer up north, down to another dealership down south for me to view, the south dealer was still park of the big network, but a franchise for a different manufacturer.
The car was clearly rushed down south with no proper prep done and being a completely different marque the southern dealership didn’t really know much about the car – which is not a good start but it is understandable if it’s not a model that their place even sells. The salesman was actually on annual leave and I wasn’t meant to view the car until next week but I was being impatient – the salesman came in on his day off for me which was nice and I’d done my research so didn’t need his knowledge. All was looking good until it came to service history.
I was under the impression it had full main dealer history but there was no service book to confirm and they told me that the service history was all digital and there was no book, however they checked the system and said it had no service history at all (car is 18 months old and was due its first service in March 19). I queried this as it seemed wrong to me and they went away to call the northern dealership where it came from and returned saying it was overdue a service but did have it’s sales prep service done (which doesn’t really count). Irritating but not a deal breaker – until I realised than being 6 months overdue its service might give me issues regarding warranty. They assured me it wouldn’t but I made some calls myself to other main dealers for the manufacturer of the car and they all said it may very well impact my warranty depending on what I had to claim for on warranty. This changed things a bit as I was really looking for a car with a bit of manufactures warranty intact.
I walked away but kept my deposit down as they were going to investigate. I got a call on Monday saying that the dealer up north where the car has moved from has found the service book and the car was service on time after it’s first year at 7,000 miles and that they would send the book down to the south dealership for me to look at and go from there which sounded positive to me until I thought about it some more.
They told me it didn’t have a service book and that it was digital but now a service book has materialised?
They told me that they checked with the northern dealership and the car hadn’t been serviced and was due one, but now it turns out it was serviced all along?
All very suspicious but I appreciate mistakes can happen so did some research myself.
I called 6 main dealers for the marque I am looking at, 3 of which were part of the same group I am dealing with. None of those dealerships had the record of the car being serviced at all but all of those dealerships also advised that there is no centralised database and I’d need to speak directly with the dealership that serviced the car to see confirm it was done. So all of the group dealers I contacted all confirmed they couldn’t see each other dealers history even though they’re all part of the same group (yet they could all see the pre-sales oil change and filter it had before being moved down south?).
One of the dealers I spoke to was the northern dealer who sent the car south who also had no record of a service (so at this point I don’t know what dealer the service was with, assuming it was even main dealer!).
I spoke to the manufacturer directly, who themselves said they don’t have a centralised system and I would need to speak to the dealer that serviced the car to have it confirmed. At this point I was a bit worried that this supposed history is going to be fraudulent so I queried this with the manufacture who said that if the dealer in question has fraudulently stamped the book then it would be investigated and I wouldn’t be left in the lurch if all of this was discovered during a warranty claim etc and confirmed that the dealer that sent it down south is a proper authorised dealer despite it being a franchise.
So the reason for my post is to just get different opinions really as even though I know it all seems very suspicious, it could also be plausible.
At this point I just want to say that this particular car is in the exact spec and colour I want, hence why I haven’t walked away already and there is currently nothing else for sale that matches exactly what I am looking for.
The main question I have is do you think it really is possible for a main dealer, authorised by the manufacturer to just pick up a service book and stamp it fraudulently to get the sale? I know this isn’t exactly hard to do and independents can do it much easier but is a main dealer from a massive national network really going to do this?
Once I see the book and see where it was supposedly serviced I can contact that dealership directly and get them to confirm that the service was carried out (and get that in an email to, to cover myself).
Given how poorly prepped the southern dealer was, I think it is feasible that this could all be genuine – them telling me it doesn’t have a service book and it was all digital was a blatant lie but I do get that while that in itself is a bad service, they didn’t know the answer and due to wanting the sale there and then (which I wanted too before realising this) just told me whatever it took to get the sale. Same goes for them telling me that it hadn’t been serviced and was due a service – they called the northern dealership to check who said it hadn’t been serviced. Given what I researched, again it is plausible that they were told it had no service history from that dealership even though the car really did have some – and the lack of thorough checking was again to get a quick sale. Lastly, the book being found in the northern dealership… I know how companies are overworked and understaffed and I do believe the book may have possibly been misplaced and then found but it does all seem a bit convenient.
What do you think? Have an authorised main dealer really faked service history? Could an authorised main dealer really do it and risk it? Am I being too naïve? Am I looking into it all too much? I know car salesman get a bad rep but mistakes do happen and people do mess up.
I know there are a lot of red flags and I should walk away but as I said I could be waiting a long time for another one of this spec car comes up within budget which is why I’m going to wait to see this supposed history.
Walk away. I would have done after reading just your first paragraph.The sales process has been shocking so far but providing everything is sorted, I am happy to proceed as I do want the car.
The car was moved from the franchised main dealer up north, down to another dealership down south for me to view, the south dealer was still park of the big network, but a franchise for a different manufacturer.
The car was clearly rushed down south with no proper prep done and being a completely different marque the southern dealership didn’t really know much about the car – which is not a good start but it is understandable if it’s not a model that their place even sells. The salesman was actually on annual leave and I wasn’t meant to view the car until next week but I was being impatient – the salesman came in on his day off for me which was nice and I’d done my research so didn’t need his knowledge. All was looking good until it came to service history.
I was under the impression it had full main dealer history but there was no service book to confirm and they told me that the service history was all digital and there was no book, however they checked the system and said it had no service history at all (car is 18 months old and was due its first service in March 19). I queried this as it seemed wrong to me and they went away to call the northern dealership where it came from and returned saying it was overdue a service but did have it’s sales prep service done (which doesn’t really count). Irritating but not a deal breaker – until I realised than being 6 months overdue its service might give me issues regarding warranty. They assured me it wouldn’t but I made some calls myself to other main dealers for the manufacturer of the car and they all said it may very well impact my warranty depending on what I had to claim for on warranty. This changed things a bit as I was really looking for a car with a bit of manufactures warranty intact.
I walked away but kept my deposit down as they were going to investigate. I got a call on Monday saying that the dealer up north where the car has moved from has found the service book and the car was service on time after it’s first year at 7,000 miles and that they would send the book down to the south dealership for me to look at and go from there which sounded positive to me until I thought about it some more.
They told me it didn’t have a service book and that it was digital but now a service book has materialised?
They told me that they checked with the northern dealership and the car hadn’t been serviced and was due one, but now it turns out it was serviced all along?
All very suspicious but I appreciate mistakes can happen so did some research myself.
I called 6 main dealers for the marque I am looking at, 3 of which were part of the same group I am dealing with. None of those dealerships had the record of the car being serviced at all but all of those dealerships also advised that there is no centralised database and I’d need to speak directly with the dealership that serviced the car to see confirm it was done. So all of the group dealers I contacted all confirmed they couldn’t see each other dealers history even though they’re all part of the same group (yet they could all see the pre-sales oil change and filter it had before being moved down south?).
One of the dealers I spoke to was the northern dealer who sent the car south who also had no record of a service (so at this point I don’t know what dealer the service was with, assuming it was even main dealer!).
I spoke to the manufacturer directly, who themselves said they don’t have a centralised system and I would need to speak to the dealer that serviced the car to have it confirmed. At this point I was a bit worried that this supposed history is going to be fraudulent so I queried this with the manufacture who said that if the dealer in question has fraudulently stamped the book then it would be investigated and I wouldn’t be left in the lurch if all of this was discovered during a warranty claim etc and confirmed that the dealer that sent it down south is a proper authorised dealer despite it being a franchise.
So the reason for my post is to just get different opinions really as even though I know it all seems very suspicious, it could also be plausible.
At this point I just want to say that this particular car is in the exact spec and colour I want, hence why I haven’t walked away already and there is currently nothing else for sale that matches exactly what I am looking for.
The main question I have is do you think it really is possible for a main dealer, authorised by the manufacturer to just pick up a service book and stamp it fraudulently to get the sale? I know this isn’t exactly hard to do and independents can do it much easier but is a main dealer from a massive national network really going to do this?
Once I see the book and see where it was supposedly serviced I can contact that dealership directly and get them to confirm that the service was carried out (and get that in an email to, to cover myself).
Given how poorly prepped the southern dealer was, I think it is feasible that this could all be genuine – them telling me it doesn’t have a service book and it was all digital was a blatant lie but I do get that while that in itself is a bad service, they didn’t know the answer and due to wanting the sale there and then (which I wanted too before realising this) just told me whatever it took to get the sale. Same goes for them telling me that it hadn’t been serviced and was due a service – they called the northern dealership to check who said it hadn’t been serviced. Given what I researched, again it is plausible that they were told it had no service history from that dealership even though the car really did have some – and the lack of thorough checking was again to get a quick sale. Lastly, the book being found in the northern dealership… I know how companies are overworked and understaffed and I do believe the book may have possibly been misplaced and then found but it does all seem a bit convenient.
What do you think? Have an authorised main dealer really faked service history? Could an authorised main dealer really do it and risk it? Am I being too naïve? Am I looking into it all too much? I know car salesman get a bad rep but mistakes do happen and people do mess up.
I know there are a lot of red flags and I should walk away but as I said I could be waiting a long time for another one of this spec car comes up within budget which is why I’m going to wait to see this supposed history.
Seriously, why would you even think of buying this car?
funkyrobot said:
Walk away. I would have done after reading just your first paragraph.
Seriously, why would you even think of buying this car?
While it does seem a bit dogy, it could all be genuine. As OP says, people do make mistakes and whilst this may very well be a complete scam, it's worth waiting to see what service history the dealer produces, surely?Seriously, why would you even think of buying this car?
If the car really is rare in the specific spec/colour OP wants and they don't come around very often it's probably worth waiting to see, that won't cost any money will it?
I'm very skeptical and imagine that this is from a group whos name ends in Dragon... If that's the case, in my experience with them there is just as much chance of it being all legit and poorly managed during the quick move of dealerships than there is of it being a scam.
I'm not for one second I think OP should buy this car though but at least wait and see what the dealer produces and go from there.
TREMAiNE said:
funkyrobot said:
Walk away. I would have done after reading just your first paragraph.
Seriously, why would you even think of buying this car?
While it does seem a bit dogy, it could all be genuine. As OP says, people do make mistakes and whilst this may very well be a complete scam, it's worth waiting to see what service history the dealer produces, surely?Seriously, why would you even think of buying this car?
If the car really is rare in the specific spec/colour OP wants and they don't come around very often it's probably worth waiting to see, that won't cost any money will it?
I'm very skeptical and imagine that this is from a group whos name ends in Dragon... If that's the case, in my experience with them there is just as much chance of it being all legit and poorly managed during the quick move of dealerships than there is of it being a scam.
I'm not for one second I think OP should buy this car though but at least wait and see what the dealer produces and go from there.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff