Mufti point car check question?
Discussion
I bought a car from them last year and missed one of the tyres being near to the limit,would have asked for it to be replaced had i noticed,had the car coming up to a year and it's been fine,tyre replaced at my cost but for all they have a bad name i've bought 2 cars from them and they've both been fine.i don't think they replace anything unless it is illegal,pays your money takes your choice.
If their "mulit point check" misses something as easy to check as the tyre levels then what else (that you can't easily see) have they also missed?
My opinion (and that's all it is in this case) is that they did no such thing, the "mulit point check" is just a sales/marketing ploy not what they actually did. Some dealers actually do these checks and some don't (despite what they say) and in this case it seems the latter.
Obviously if you find issues after sale, they should resolve them (if under warranty/SOGA) but wear and tear items I bet they fob you off.
The car ultimately may (or may not) be fine but my trust would be out the window.
Maybe they can provide this multi-point checklist and state (in writing) that any items that would fail the check (i.e. that you notice after sale) will be rectified, no questions asked.
My opinion (and that's all it is in this case) is that they did no such thing, the "mulit point check" is just a sales/marketing ploy not what they actually did. Some dealers actually do these checks and some don't (despite what they say) and in this case it seems the latter.
Obviously if you find issues after sale, they should resolve them (if under warranty/SOGA) but wear and tear items I bet they fob you off.
The car ultimately may (or may not) be fine but my trust would be out the window.
Maybe they can provide this multi-point checklist and state (in writing) that any items that would fail the check (i.e. that you notice after sale) will be rectified, no questions asked.
saabster14 said:
The tyres were definitely below legal limit, which as a poster rightly pointed out made my trust of their system fall flat.
The things I noticed on first glance did make me thing, "what else has been overlooked?"
How do you know they were below the legal limit?The things I noticed on first glance did make me thing, "what else has been overlooked?"
Even the dodgiest of Arthur Daley types would swap illegal tyres for just barely legal second hand ones, especially if it is pointed out to them.
Which makes me think they had "at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band in the centre 3/4 of the tread and around the entire circumference". A tyre like that can look shockingly bald, but it is not illegal.
It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience.
I looked at a Freelander at our local Vauxhall main dealer last year. It was a fine looking low mileage one owner car. It still had all four original (2004) tyres fitted. All of the sidewalls were very badly cracked. This car had apparently been fully checked and was being offered for sale as it was.
briang9 said:
Driver101 said:
As soon as you said The "company", I knew to expect something wrong.
Indeed, that was a bit of a clue
My niece nearly bought from them recently but went next door to Motorpoint instead, 2 tyres low on tread, no problem, replaced with new OEM Bridgestones prior to pick up.
Edited by Big Al. on Sunday 30th March 20:04
Not The "company", but their check of my recent purchase failed to spot a seriously knackered front wheel bearing and a failing water pump.
They did spot the very worn tyre though, and swapped the Continental for a ditchfinder (which i've now got for sale on Ebay!)
ETA
Name removed.
They did spot the very worn tyre though, and swapped the Continental for a ditchfinder (which i've now got for sale on Ebay!)
ETA
Name removed.
Edited by Big Al. on Sunday 30th March 20:04
posters on this forum are still suggesting that the employees carrying out the inspections are failing to capture the faults and issues, this is definitely not the case in most instances. Please re-read my earlier post repeated below:
"It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
"It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
ks- the only good thing about them is that you can do the checks yourself and then get them to rectify as required before you buy the vehicle.saabster14 said:
Hi folks
I really want to avoid this thread going down the salesmen/ dealer bashing route so I'll try and word this carefully....
I was looking at a 3 years old car for my missus last weekend, stumbled across a decent car that fit the criteria I had in mind. car was at a main dealers. Decent enough car, couple of blemishes but all fairly consistent with age.
One thing that jumped out at me was on my initial walk round the car was that all 4 tyres were needing replaced and that the rear brake pads were down to the bone, so to speak. No big deal I thought, they are consumables after all. The salesman said that every car would get a thorough multipoint check prior to being sold and if these things needed doing they would be done. All good then
.... Well not quite...
Agreed a price for the car, which was about the right money, both salesman and I seemed happy with the deal proposed. I asked about timings of sale, when was multipoint pre sale checks going to be done, when could we collect car, pay for it etc.. When I was told that the checks had already been done and that was how the car would be presented to me. I questioned the condition of the tyres, to which the reply was that they had been thoroughly checked already..... So my brain is thinking.."ok, first thing I need to do is spend £400-£500 on tyres and maybe some new brake pads" not the end of the world but that little extra expenditure that pushed the cost of changing car up.
Now I realise that putting new tyres etc on every trade in would squeeze profits probably not be viable for a business point of view, but what did concern me was that the multipoint check that this car had gone through did not pick up the below the legal limit tyres, which for me is a safety issue and safety should not come before profit.
So my question is: how stringent are these pre sale checks? Are the employees under pressure from the company to get cars through the system without spending any money on them or are the guys physically doing the checks just missing things?
All in all it was no big deal, I accept that tyres etc are consumables and will need replacing, the main concern for me was that 4 tyres below the legal limit could get through the company's presage checks either unnoticed or noticed and ignored.
It's illegal for a trader to sell a car with tyres below the legal limit, the car must be roadworthy and with those tyres it isn't. Trading standards, if alerted, would be there in a flash and take the matter very seriously.I really want to avoid this thread going down the salesmen/ dealer bashing route so I'll try and word this carefully....
I was looking at a 3 years old car for my missus last weekend, stumbled across a decent car that fit the criteria I had in mind. car was at a main dealers. Decent enough car, couple of blemishes but all fairly consistent with age.
One thing that jumped out at me was on my initial walk round the car was that all 4 tyres were needing replaced and that the rear brake pads were down to the bone, so to speak. No big deal I thought, they are consumables after all. The salesman said that every car would get a thorough multipoint check prior to being sold and if these things needed doing they would be done. All good then
.... Well not quite...Agreed a price for the car, which was about the right money, both salesman and I seemed happy with the deal proposed. I asked about timings of sale, when was multipoint pre sale checks going to be done, when could we collect car, pay for it etc.. When I was told that the checks had already been done and that was how the car would be presented to me. I questioned the condition of the tyres, to which the reply was that they had been thoroughly checked already..... So my brain is thinking.."ok, first thing I need to do is spend £400-£500 on tyres and maybe some new brake pads" not the end of the world but that little extra expenditure that pushed the cost of changing car up.
Now I realise that putting new tyres etc on every trade in would squeeze profits probably not be viable for a business point of view, but what did concern me was that the multipoint check that this car had gone through did not pick up the below the legal limit tyres, which for me is a safety issue and safety should not come before profit.
So my question is: how stringent are these pre sale checks? Are the employees under pressure from the company to get cars through the system without spending any money on them or are the guys physically doing the checks just missing things?
All in all it was no big deal, I accept that tyres etc are consumables and will need replacing, the main concern for me was that 4 tyres below the legal limit could get through the company's presage checks either unnoticed or noticed and ignored.
cjb1 said:
posters on this forum are still suggesting that the employees carrying out the inspections are failing to capture the faults and issues, this is definitely not the case in most instances. Please re-read my earlier post repeated below:
"It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
Not shooting the messenger here - just picking up on the point "It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
But doesn't this make a total mockery of their multi-point checks then? "Yes, we checked these things on the car and found that about 25% of the checks turned up problems which needed fixing, but because we paid above the odds on the trade-in, we can't afford to put them right."
So what peace of mind does that give the customer exactly? You buy a car, knowing nothing about cars, expecting it'll be totally safe and 100% road legal to drive away. You could get pulled over by plod half a mile from the dealership and fined for the worn tyres.
3 EXAMPLES OF MY OWN MULTI-POINT CHECK FAILS...
.
1. ford fiesta....after purchase rang a different main dealer who said it had a seatbelt recall outstanding from 12 months earlier
.
2. Mitsubishi Lancer...after purchasing checked etc etc...outstanding recall concerning airbags...new sensor needed fitting...recall 2 years old.
.
3. Ford mondeo....rear brakes stuck on 2 weeks after purchase...RAC multi-point check and purchased from main dealer....outstanding brake recall from 6months earlier.
.
make up your own mind!!!!
.
1. ford fiesta....after purchase rang a different main dealer who said it had a seatbelt recall outstanding from 12 months earlier
.
2. Mitsubishi Lancer...after purchasing checked etc etc...outstanding recall concerning airbags...new sensor needed fitting...recall 2 years old.
.
3. Ford mondeo....rear brakes stuck on 2 weeks after purchase...RAC multi-point check and purchased from main dealer....outstanding brake recall from 6months earlier.
.
make up your own mind!!!!
Chicane-UK said:
cjb1 said:
posters on this forum are still suggesting that the employees carrying out the inspections are failing to capture the faults and issues, this is definitely not the case in most instances. Please re-read my earlier post repeated below:
"It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
Not shooting the messenger here - just picking up on the point "It really doesn't matter who performs these multi-point checks or how stringent they are, at the end of the day it's the sales manager/salesman that decides how much remedial work is carried out, that scope is strictly governed by the profit margin in that particular sale, This isn't my opinion, it's from experience."
But doesn't this make a total mockery of their multi-point checks then? "Yes, we checked these things on the car and found that about 25% of the checks turned up problems which needed fixing, but because we paid above the odds on the trade-in, we can't afford to put them right."
So what peace of mind does that give the customer exactly? You buy a car, knowing nothing about cars, expecting it'll be totally safe and 100% road legal to drive away. You could get pulled over by plod half a mile from the dealership and fined for the worn tyres.
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