Traders claiming to be private sellers on Autotrader
Discussion
No doubt this has been discussed before. Please feel free to refer me to a previous thread if so.
Looking to buy a car a car from a private seller for my son rather than a dealer, a significant proportion of the ones that pop up look to all intents and purposes like they're actually with dealers: photos in yards with plenty of others cars around them and cliched dealer-type descriptions - you know the kind of thing, 'little cracker', 'very clean', 'smooth runner' etc.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck?
Looking to buy a car a car from a private seller for my son rather than a dealer, a significant proportion of the ones that pop up look to all intents and purposes like they're actually with dealers: photos in yards with plenty of others cars around them and cliched dealer-type descriptions - you know the kind of thing, 'little cracker', 'very clean', 'smooth runner' etc.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck?
ZX10R NIN said:
Just buy the best car you can find be it from a dealer or private.
Sure, but if you buy from a Trader then it should come with the necessary preparations and most importantly the SOGA warranty.By listing as a PRIVATE seller then the new purchaser has a problem, and then prints out the advert, with it listed as a PRIVATE sale it gets harder to contest?
In addition when searching for PRIVATE sales you want that, not traders.
Trevor555 said:
Report them to Autotrader, look at the advert carefully and you'll see the "Report advert" link..
Does Autotrader ever take down any ads when you report them?I reported this one in March for falsely claiming the car has a full service history, when there’s a three-year gap between the last two services (BMW’s maximum is two years) and only six services over 15 years: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250...
It’s still live and the owner has refused to update the ad, despite knowing it’s completely misleading.
Anyone else want to report it and test out how many people need to report an ad for AT to do something?!
RoVoFob said:
Trevor555 said:
Report them to Autotrader, look at the advert carefully and you'll see the "Report advert" link..
Does Autotrader ever take down any ads when you report them?I reported this one in March for falsely claiming the car has a full service history, when there’s a three-year gap between the last two services (BMW’s maximum is two years) and only six services over 15 years: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250...
It’s still live and the owner has refused to update the ad, despite knowing it’s completely misleading.
Anyone else want to report it and test out how many people need to report an ad for AT to do something?!
I've reported quite a few, mostly cars that aren't physically available, you know "oh that sold weeks ago"
And some that are advertised as manual when it's in fact an auto, boils my pee lol
In answer to your question, some are taken down quickly, others remain even after several reports, so I guess it's simply pot luck.
Years ago the large supermarkets always advertised a cheap car, of course when you got there it was sold, but you got the "we have all these others for sale"
Back then trading standards put a stop to it, but not sure how active they are nowadays?
RoVoFob said:
Does Autotrader ever take down any ads when you report them?
I reported this one in March for falsely claiming the car has a full service history, when there’s a three-year gap between the last two services (BMW’s maximum is two years) and only six services over 15 years: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250...
It’s still live and the owner has refused to update the ad, despite knowing it’s completely misleading.
Anyone else want to report it and test out how many people need to report an ad for AT to do something?!
Does full service history have any sort of legal definition? I suspect not and the definition used on Auto Trader is closer to "Do you have documentation of everything that's been done to the car?" The full details of the car's service history is there, to put it slightly differently. The gaps are part of it's service history.I reported this one in March for falsely claiming the car has a full service history, when there’s a three-year gap between the last two services (BMW’s maximum is two years) and only six services over 15 years: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103250...
It’s still live and the owner has refused to update the ad, despite knowing it’s completely misleading.
Anyone else want to report it and test out how many people need to report an ad for AT to do something?!
Trevor555 said:
I guess your example would mean they'd have to do some work to investigate it with the advertiser who's also their paying customer. So I'm not surprised they wont act sadly.
I've reported quite a few, mostly cars that aren't physically available, you know "oh that sold weeks ago"
And some that are advertised as manual when it's in fact an auto, boils my pee lol
In answer to your question, some are taken down quickly, others remain even after several reports, so I guess it's simply pot luck.
Years ago the large supermarkets always advertised a cheap car, of course when you got there it was sold, but you got the "we have all these others for sale"
Back then trading standards put a stop to it, but not sure how active they are nowadays?
True. I don’t how advertisers are so stupid to mistake a manual for an auto or vice versa/arrogant enough to think it won’t piss people off. I mean, they’re going to notice if they come to look at the car, so why not just be honest!I've reported quite a few, mostly cars that aren't physically available, you know "oh that sold weeks ago"
And some that are advertised as manual when it's in fact an auto, boils my pee lol
In answer to your question, some are taken down quickly, others remain even after several reports, so I guess it's simply pot luck.
Years ago the large supermarkets always advertised a cheap car, of course when you got there it was sold, but you got the "we have all these others for sale"
Back then trading standards put a stop to it, but not sure how active they are nowadays?
That supermarket technique is known as ‘bait and switch’ isn’t it? Draw people in with an amazing ‘offer’, then say it’s not available and provide a worse/more expensive alternative…
paulrockliffe said:
Does full service history have any sort of legal definition? I suspect not and the definition used on Auto Trader is closer to "Do you have documentation of everything that's been done to the car?" The full details of the car's service history is there, to put it slightly differently. The gaps are part of it's service history.
That would mean that having documentation for the only service a car may have had over 20 years could be considered as a ‘full service history’. I don’t think that would be accepted legally, though my understanding of a FSH is no doubt not that enforceable either.Anyway, the car I mentioned has been up for sale since March - nearly five months - so at least no one is falling for the seller’s crap. He can hardly blame the used car market either…
Back on topic, at least establishing whether someone is a trader is a much more simple thing to do. I very much recommend asking about ‘the car’ rather than ‘the Octavia’ or anything more specific as a good way to establish who you’re talking to, as alluded to above.
I’d imagine that the cars traders try to shift through a ‘private sale’ are problem cars.
RoVoFob said:
I’d imagine that the cars traders try to shift through a ‘private sale’ are problem cars.
I think the issue is that the protections offered to a consumer by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are so powerful and long-lasting that traders look to dodge them by pretending to be private sellers.When that legislation has been discussed on here people sometimes struggle to believe just how strong their rights are
RoVoFob said:
I’d imagine that the cars traders try to shift through a ‘private sale’ are problem cars.
And the "selling on behalf of a customer" is a common one used for problem cars.A relatively new one is "managed sale"
All devious practises to avoid their obligations as a dealer when selling to a consumer.
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