Over the last 3 weeks 2 of my boys were looking to buy a new car.
1 x nearly new car
1 x brand new car
Nearly new car
Tried local franchise & got a figure.
Scoured autotrader and got figures from a few others.
Settled on a Yorkshire dealer - 4 mth old 3,000mls
All done & dusted in just over 2 hours - he drove home.
Overall saving of £6K from his local main dealer - same model/spec etc etc
New Car - local main dealer
Advertised model 180BHP diesel auto.
Plenty demonstrators - new cars in stock but not the colour he wanted.
They said they had other cars in the group - the colour but it had some extras
which would make it dearer - but not hugely. So they ordered it delivery in 1 week..
To be picked up on Friday past. Son gets the reg no on Friday am
and logs on to his insurance to transfer the cover - lo & behold the car comes up
as a 150BHP model. Must be a mistake!
Phones garage.
All manner of excuses - "you won't notice the difference" etc etc
They refused to change the car for another.
He told them that this was unacceptable & he would not be picking up the car.
"But it is registered in your name - you have to take it"
"Car is not as described & ordered"
The 180BHP car is approx £800 more than the 150BHP car with otherwise the same spec.
(I would call it FRAUD)
He has heard nothing since Friday morning.
"2nd hand back street dealer con" from a local main dealer that is part of a medium Scottish chain of prestige franchises.
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What does it say on the order form..
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My brother in law bought an ex demo Volvo estate in the nineties - supposed to be a 2.4 litre, turned out to be a 2.0 litre. They didn't want to know. Main dealer as well.
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>> The 180BHP car is approx £800 more than the 150bhp car with otherwise the same spec.
That in itself is a Mickey take, considering the extra 30BHP is probably achieved with a remap of the ECU.
However, are you sure the insurance company haven't made a mistake? When Vauxhall were using the Fiat 1.9CDTi engine, there was a 120bhp and a 150bhp version of it. Insurance companies were always getting it wrong.
Has your son tried other websites to cross reference what engine it's got?
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>> However, are you sure the insurance company haven't made a mistake? When Vauxhall were using
>> the Fiat 1.9CDTi engine, there was a 120bhp and a 150bhp version of it. Insurance
>> companies were always getting it wrong.
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Insurance company will presumably take data from DVLA but it only needs a fat finger at first registration for wrong model code to be picked.
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There are 2 engines of 2 litres - 150 & 180 BHP
The garage admitted it was a 150BHP engine
Last edited by: Falkirk Bairn on Mon 3 Feb 20 at 10:59
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I am very wary of dealers and especially franchised ones. I agreed a couple of years ago to pay a deposit to secure 'first refusal' on a car I hadn't seen. They stuck an order form in front of me.
I declined to sign it. It didn't stop them arguing when I saw the car and told them I didn't want to exercise my option.
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My last buying experience was painless. The New Fiesta,
Decided what model and spec required was, perused autotrader, found one at franchised dealer, phoned up arranged test drive, we went, wife tested, liked it, paid deposit, declined all the no pressure sold extras, arranged date to pick it up few days later
went back by train, dealer picked me up at station, paid balance, left with the new car, taxed and registered to Mrs Z
Think the lesson here is never agree to buy a car unseen.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 3 Feb 20 at 13:05
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A tale of trying to buy 2 cars - R.P.
