My Saturday.. Lengthy Dealership Rant !
Discussion
As some of you know, I had to sell my Chimaera for cashflow reasons recently, but we really didn’t want to be without it.. however advertised on the internet at a well known TVR dealer was a 4.0 1993 Chimaera in need of a new chassis for £3000. Great I thought… a bit of hard work, but we can still end up with a nice Chimaera at the end of it all once we’ve restored it.
So Monday Afternoon I phone up the TVR dealership and speak to the boss. He tells me that the car is in good condition, barring the fact that the outriggers are very badly corroded, with regards to replacing the whole chassis he reckoned “you might get away with replacing the outriggers”.. sounded hopeful. I asked some general questions about condition, and mileage all which sounded positive, including the mileage being “between 30,000 and 40,000 miles” which was nice and low I felt.
Tuesday Morning, phone him again to confirm about the overall condition of the car. I was told that the car is in excellent condition and that they were going to offer £11,000 to £12,000 trade in on it, but just thought they put it “on a ramp to check”.. accordingly found out about the chassis, but other than that, the car was A1. At the time he also told me that the car had recently been serviced and MOT’d and we had a brief chat about how the service people should have spotted the chassis rust, and that the MOT must be a bit dodgy as it shouldn’t have passed.
Anyway, to round this conversation off I said that if it was as he described, I would come down on Saturday and drive it away. He raised two “points” at this and stated.. “One..no offers” and “Two.. I don’t want my time wasting” at which point I explained that I had until recently had an identical model, and that I basically would turn up, inspect it, and assuming it was as described, pay the asking price and drive off with it.
All sounded good, and as I felt this was the ideal opportunity to get another Chimaera, I got him to phone me back with the number-plate so I could arrange some insurance for it.
So, Saturday morning, and an early start to get the 2 ½ hours journey to the dealers out of the way. Once arrived at the dealership we identified the car, which was on a ramp with battery on charge, and began to have a poke around unsupervised as the boss was out on a test drive or something.
A problem with the car was immediately apparent… it had obviously been left unattended with a leaking roof for weeks. The interior was soaking wet, the sun visors were white with mould, there was some peculiar slime/mould growing on the parcel shelf, and the whole car stank. It looked like it was going to need at least some of the interior carpeting replaced and the rest given an extreme valeting. On opening the boot this had water in it too, and the carpeting on one side was peeling away from the bodywork too with the moisture, and the rear lights were all steamed up.
Anyway, dispute this immediate disappointment, we got it in the air to look at the chassis.. and to be fair, this was as described.. the outriggers were completely shot, with whole sections having collapsed with rust, but the main spine of the chassis was fine. The rest of the car, bodywork-wise was also ok, a few scratches here and there, but for the price, it would have been worth it.
The boss arrived shortly, to whom I explained my disappointment about the interior, which he wasn’t really interested about, just saying “yes, my fault.. we left it outside”.. then I asked him about the mileage as, having looked at the interior, noticed that it had nearly 45,000 on it, not the 30,000-40,000 he had told me on the phone. Again this was greeted with a fairly uninterested.. “mmm.. I guessed”.
Despite this other minor disappointment we thought it was still worth a go, and duly we continued our inspection. On starting the car, I immediately heard a bit of a rattly top end, and switched it off to get the dipstick out… just above the minimum. Considering this had been serviced “recently” that was not a good sign. Anyway I still took it out for a test-drive once the boss had made me confirm that I had insurance for the car and it was covered… suffice to say it went well, stopped well, and generally was absolutely fine.
Whilst I was testing it, Louise was left with the boss, who chatted to her briefly about how odd it was to have a car like that which had been serviced and MOT’d within the last few months yet had a badly corroded chassis, then she went to wait in our car.
I got back, having made my mind up, and went to seal the deal so-to-speak, asking for three things.. the right numberplates to be fitted so I could drive it back (it had a different plate on the car for some reason), the oil to be topped up.. and also whatever they had done to the ignition when they put it on charge to be “un-done” as the ignition was all on and live, without the keys being in the car.
This was met with some minor interest. It wasn’t anything they had done therefore it must be an electrical problem associated with the water in the car I was told. Anyway, I drove it back into the workshop, and the mechanic chap spent 10 minutes with WD40 pulling relays out, and playing with the ECU and Fuseboard.
Whilst this was going on, the boss arrived with the service history, which indeed showed a service under 1000 miles ago. I then asked him for the other receipts and paperwork to go with the car. A couple of minutes later (whilst the chap was still trying to sort out the electrics), the boss comes back:
Boss: “Now there is one thing I must inform you…. The car has no MOT”
Me: “that’s not what you said on the phone”
Boss: “I never stated it”
Me: “Well you certainly inferred it !”
Boss A disinterested look..
He obviously had “guessed” that it had one, and had just then discovered that it hadn’t.. Accordingly I had been uninsured for the test drive, and there was no way I could drive it away either, as again I would be un-insured.
The mechanic admitted defeat on the electrics soon afterwards and suggested it may be ok with some drying out but may need a new relay plate.
By now I was most pissed off
I had been mislead about the Mileage, mislead about the condition of the interior, mislead about the MOT, and there was also this electrical problem with the car.
My sensible head was saying walk away.. this bloke is obviously very economical with the truth, so what else might be wrong with it.. He was also indifferent, to the point of rudeness about the whole thing... the car was not as described but frankly he couldn’t give a shit.. suffice to say we left without it.
So from his “don’t waste my time” conversation on Tuesday, he successfully wasted my whole Saturday… what a
So Monday Afternoon I phone up the TVR dealership and speak to the boss. He tells me that the car is in good condition, barring the fact that the outriggers are very badly corroded, with regards to replacing the whole chassis he reckoned “you might get away with replacing the outriggers”.. sounded hopeful. I asked some general questions about condition, and mileage all which sounded positive, including the mileage being “between 30,000 and 40,000 miles” which was nice and low I felt.
Tuesday Morning, phone him again to confirm about the overall condition of the car. I was told that the car is in excellent condition and that they were going to offer £11,000 to £12,000 trade in on it, but just thought they put it “on a ramp to check”.. accordingly found out about the chassis, but other than that, the car was A1. At the time he also told me that the car had recently been serviced and MOT’d and we had a brief chat about how the service people should have spotted the chassis rust, and that the MOT must be a bit dodgy as it shouldn’t have passed.
Anyway, to round this conversation off I said that if it was as he described, I would come down on Saturday and drive it away. He raised two “points” at this and stated.. “One..no offers” and “Two.. I don’t want my time wasting” at which point I explained that I had until recently had an identical model, and that I basically would turn up, inspect it, and assuming it was as described, pay the asking price and drive off with it.
All sounded good, and as I felt this was the ideal opportunity to get another Chimaera, I got him to phone me back with the number-plate so I could arrange some insurance for it.
So, Saturday morning, and an early start to get the 2 ½ hours journey to the dealers out of the way. Once arrived at the dealership we identified the car, which was on a ramp with battery on charge, and began to have a poke around unsupervised as the boss was out on a test drive or something.
A problem with the car was immediately apparent… it had obviously been left unattended with a leaking roof for weeks. The interior was soaking wet, the sun visors were white with mould, there was some peculiar slime/mould growing on the parcel shelf, and the whole car stank. It looked like it was going to need at least some of the interior carpeting replaced and the rest given an extreme valeting. On opening the boot this had water in it too, and the carpeting on one side was peeling away from the bodywork too with the moisture, and the rear lights were all steamed up.
Anyway, dispute this immediate disappointment, we got it in the air to look at the chassis.. and to be fair, this was as described.. the outriggers were completely shot, with whole sections having collapsed with rust, but the main spine of the chassis was fine. The rest of the car, bodywork-wise was also ok, a few scratches here and there, but for the price, it would have been worth it.
The boss arrived shortly, to whom I explained my disappointment about the interior, which he wasn’t really interested about, just saying “yes, my fault.. we left it outside”.. then I asked him about the mileage as, having looked at the interior, noticed that it had nearly 45,000 on it, not the 30,000-40,000 he had told me on the phone. Again this was greeted with a fairly uninterested.. “mmm.. I guessed”.
Despite this other minor disappointment we thought it was still worth a go, and duly we continued our inspection. On starting the car, I immediately heard a bit of a rattly top end, and switched it off to get the dipstick out… just above the minimum. Considering this had been serviced “recently” that was not a good sign. Anyway I still took it out for a test-drive once the boss had made me confirm that I had insurance for the car and it was covered… suffice to say it went well, stopped well, and generally was absolutely fine.
Whilst I was testing it, Louise was left with the boss, who chatted to her briefly about how odd it was to have a car like that which had been serviced and MOT’d within the last few months yet had a badly corroded chassis, then she went to wait in our car.
I got back, having made my mind up, and went to seal the deal so-to-speak, asking for three things.. the right numberplates to be fitted so I could drive it back (it had a different plate on the car for some reason), the oil to be topped up.. and also whatever they had done to the ignition when they put it on charge to be “un-done” as the ignition was all on and live, without the keys being in the car.
This was met with some minor interest. It wasn’t anything they had done therefore it must be an electrical problem associated with the water in the car I was told. Anyway, I drove it back into the workshop, and the mechanic chap spent 10 minutes with WD40 pulling relays out, and playing with the ECU and Fuseboard.
Whilst this was going on, the boss arrived with the service history, which indeed showed a service under 1000 miles ago. I then asked him for the other receipts and paperwork to go with the car. A couple of minutes later (whilst the chap was still trying to sort out the electrics), the boss comes back:
Boss: “Now there is one thing I must inform you…. The car has no MOT”
Me: “that’s not what you said on the phone”
Boss: “I never stated it”
Me: “Well you certainly inferred it !”
Boss A disinterested look..
He obviously had “guessed” that it had one, and had just then discovered that it hadn’t.. Accordingly I had been uninsured for the test drive, and there was no way I could drive it away either, as again I would be un-insured.
The mechanic admitted defeat on the electrics soon afterwards and suggested it may be ok with some drying out but may need a new relay plate.
By now I was most pissed off
I had been mislead about the Mileage, mislead about the condition of the interior, mislead about the MOT, and there was also this electrical problem with the car.
My sensible head was saying walk away.. this bloke is obviously very economical with the truth, so what else might be wrong with it.. He was also indifferent, to the point of rudeness about the whole thing... the car was not as described but frankly he couldn’t give a shit.. suffice to say we left without it.
So from his “don’t waste my time” conversation on Tuesday, he successfully wasted my whole Saturday… what a
Matt, there is a website called mytuscanracer.com or similar that outlines in detail a similar story.
I was with the very same dealer, two years and £7K later in service work when I had to cancel the T350 order despite assuring me of refunds it never materialised funnily enough.
They also charged me £92 to replace a fan belt 4 days outside of warranty for a fault that had been introduced by them at a previous service (power steering pump out of line by half inch or so...)
Still the police were there last week, hopefully nicking the crook! Without question this is the one dealer I have heard the word villain said about more than any others...
I was with the very same dealer, two years and £7K later in service work when I had to cancel the T350 order despite assuring me of refunds it never materialised funnily enough.
They also charged me £92 to replace a fan belt 4 days outside of warranty for a fault that had been introduced by them at a previous service (power steering pump out of line by half inch or so...)
Still the police were there last week, hopefully nicking the crook! Without question this is the one dealer I have heard the word villain said about more than any others...
William's website is www.mytuscanchallenge.com although he took it down sometime last year as he didn't want to prejudice any legal precedings, from what I recall.
Terminator said:
William's website is <a href="http://www.mytuscanchallenge.com">www.mytuscanchallenge.com</a> although he took it down sometime last year as he didn't want to prejudice any legal precedings, from what I recall.
Just come from that site myself and can confirm it is still down.
Edited: to protect the innocent/guilty!
>> Edited by DustyC on Monday 19th January 10:46
found it quick enough as it was a PH advert!
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=18489&s=4
£1500 restoration project.
Ok as long as you have the room to do it.
www.pistonheads.com/sales/detail.asp?i=18489&s=4
£1500 restoration project.
Ok as long as you have the room to do it.
Thanks Dusty.. sadly I have no trailer etc for getting it to my place and also some logistacal problems on workshop space I have not solved yet. The beauty of this Chimaera was that as it had an MOT (
) I could buy it - drive it - store it in the carport until the workshop space was sorted, then work on it later in the year..
..an interesting proposition though !
Cheers
Matt
) I could buy it - drive it - store it in the carport until the workshop space was sorted, then work on it later in the year.. ..an interesting proposition though !
Cheers
Matt
Wacky Racer said:
I would not touch that car with a bargepole, in fact ANY car that had serious chassis rust, you did the right thing walking away......
Thanks WR..
the point of the excercise though was to replace the chassis anyway.. thats why it was £3000.. 
its just a shame the rest of it was not as desribed.
M@H said:
Thanks Dusty.. sadly I have no trailer etc for getting it to my place and also some logistacal problems on workshop space I have not solved yet. The beauty of this Chimaera was that as it had an MOT (
..an interesting proposition though !
Cheers
Matt
If you're looking for a sensible project, we have a Taimar looking for a good home. It's had a new chassis and hasn't done many miles since it was replaced. But it does need some work and a bit of TLC.
Your experience at that dealership sounds awful - I don't know what makes them think it's ok to treat people like that! It certainly sounds like you did the right thing in walking away, you could easily have bought yoursefl a whole heap of trouble there...
Cheers
MrsFFG
MrsFlipFlopGriff said:
Thanks Dusty.. sadly I have no trailer etc for getting it to my place and also some logistacal problems on workshop space I have not solved yet. The beauty of this Chimaera was that as it had an MOT (
..an interesting proposition though !
Cheers
Matt
If you're looking for a sensible project, we have a Taimar looking for a good home. It's had a new chassis and hasn't done many miles since it was replaced. But it does need some work and a bit of TLC.
My, what a kind thought...
Mrs H isn't convinced about TVRs with roofs, however I love the early ones myself.. could you let me have some details.. Cheers,
Matt.
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