Leaderboard

Mr Customer a warranty on an old car isn't worth the paper its written on, its an insurance policy written to protect the (companies interest) from paying out. They exclude Wear n Tear, as does the CRA so when you are purchasing an old car Mr Customer you should be expecting wear n tear. What I do Mr Customer is make sure the car is completely mechanically sound, new MOT, service, independent inspection prior to it leaving me, however its your responsibility to take ownership for faults were occur afterwards. Along those lines usually..... Oh, and don't expect "gold for the price of silver" I love that one

Just saw this short article by Lawgistics, an interesting read following the discussion about credit card payments earlier in the week: Chargebacks and their kangaroo courts We are starting to see an increasing trend where clients are on the wrong end of “chargeback” decisions made by weak individuals who will not stand up to consumer pressure. To clarify, a “Chargeback” is where a consumer complains to their bank about a debit card transaction alleging that they should be refunded as they goods purchased using that card are defective. Such chargebacks are not prescribed in law (unlike for credit cards) and so can be more easily abused. Especially in that banks – who provide the debit card to their customers – generally want to keep hold of them. So when they get a complaint about a car that has been purchased on a debit card it is very easy for them to simply reverse the deal and arrange for the monies to be returned – usually via the likes of “Worldpay” or “Elavon” (amongst others) who provide the selling merchant with their card machine. You would expect a car dealer to be given reasonable opportunity to defend any such allegations but they are rarely given much if any notice of the money about to disappear from their account on the back of a debit card based dispute as to quality of the goods. Even when Lawgistics provide overwhelming evidence to rebut the allegations, we find that the card providers pay little or no attention and find in favour of returning the monies back into the customer’s bank account. The point is they do not care about the fact that the consumer may be lying through their teeth but end up with a free car at the end of it. Now we are at the point of advising clients to actively sue the merchant provider for removing funds out of clients’ accounts when (we say) they have no legal right to do so.

The manufacturer has the first and their only one bite of the cherry. We are dealers, we add value, reassurance and some come back, otherwise, why exist. We make money on each sale and it is fair that we have to pay some of that back due to failure. I win on most, break even on some and lose on others. If at year end I’ve earned a wage and covered my ex’s I will never complain and even lose money to honour what I consider my obligations. No, I’m not a millionaire but I sleep well and people like buying from me because they think they can trust me and they can.

see what is selling locally ie little cofin dodger cars or prestige or suv etc buy the best but dont overpay ie dont get auction fever

A clutch in my opinion is fundamentally a wear and tear item but personally (bring on the flames), I believe a customer has a right to expect that clutch to last at least to the end of their warranty period. Customers are always paranoid about clutches and timing belts from my experience. The only customer who pisses me off are the ones who know they are buying a sold as seen car (yes I know we shouldn't) and are happy to save £'s only to start spouting selective CRA at me. I have no issue paying out for almost anything to someone who has paid my retail price, my margin is high and they only see my "value" when they have a claim. Today, I have fitted a £354+VAT + Labour shock absorber to a TT. Am I pissed off, no, would I rather not, yes but I had £1700 across that car and just sold his PX for another + £1200. It's my job, the reason I rarely allow to be chipped and the reason people come back (the PX went to a repeat customer). I would have acted the same if it went on day 59 or day 1. Each to their own.

You passed your monthly quota weeks ago

Mate, you know I respect your opinion more than most on here and maybe I am wrong but I cannot get my head around why I should be insuring 8/9/10 year old cars against mechanical failure for 3 months or more. I have to, as a retailer, provide something fit for purpose, as described and of satisfactory quality. I do that, each time, As for giving confidence to punters, I show them the car they are buying, 80 hd images, full walkround of the car inside, out, documents and keys, take the thing for a drive, show them the engine. They can look at my reviews and see 20+ five star reviews from genuine punters. If this doesn’t inspire confidence in people looking at my cars I don’t know what will. I feel like I do a lot for my margin, fix things that need fixing, mop scratches, proper valets, thoroughly check cars mechanically etc. I don’t feel like I want to wipe their arses as well when something beyond my control goes wrong. That’s life, it’s a used car, sometimes they go wrong. Max Brannings post has been quite thought provoking for me. I’m thinking there must be something I can do for punters, to make them fell like they’re not going to end up being taken on, sold a pup, yet also getting them to realise I won’t wipe their arse for them just because they think I ought to. There’s definitely some common ground between “sold as seen” and insuring the punters against spending any money on their own cars.

I think the magazine is missing a huge opportunity. You know the sort of thing, sign up for 12 monthly instalments, workshop with guest speakers, reduced lawgistics pack. A sort of trade along with CDM? Why not, every man and his dog is doing it on youtube these days?

EPV I think the no warranty thing is a terrible decision. You are a smart switched on guy but its not the way to boost consumer confidence. I only pay for stuff that I am meant to on our warranties and not complete stupid wear and tear stuff but like Mark we take enough out of them, do enough units that don't come back t deal with the few that do. A lot of these folk you help on minor issues are ungrateful and you don't get so much as a thanks but a good few years further down the line plenty of friends of customers who had warranty claim, family, and the original buyer are coming back to us. Eyes on the long game. You know that a PDI shows everything works today is fine. You also know 5 days later if something packs in your are going to pay for it, play the game call it a warranty ( your own in house or administered ones not warrantywise / autoprotect rubbish).

I don't disagree with that, if a part like an alternator or starter motor failed a short period of time after they had been sold the car I would 100% contribute towards the cost. I don't dispute that at all. What's wrong with that? Should I instead put "you're on your own, sunshine" Aftercare meaning "if you ring me with a failed starter motor 2 days after you have bought a car, I will sort it out for you" It doesn't mean "2 months after you bought a car from me and driven it 2000 miles, I'll replace the clutch" There's a whole load of grey area between those two statements as well!

I hope I am not hijacking this old thread but landed here when I was googling MOT history check online. Link to below GOV website where you can check MOT history and its free https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history another website (link below) offers detail free car history check. I am not promoting but its genuinely free no credit cards or personal details asked all the best to all used car buys out there https://caranalytics.co.uk/

They just remind them of their obligations under the CRA2015 if asked. We (have a site) still give a three or six month warranty with an option to extend, depending on the car. To be fair- most customers don't ask about warranty anymore, but some do- so maybe not advertising or giving one is indeed the best way to do it. I'm old school so I think it important to spell it out clearly how long the warranty is for an what it covers- and get them to sign to show they have been made aware. I also, rightly or wrongly think that this is more expected by punters if they're buying from a site.

Don’t offer one!

We had and Alfa Romeo with a Sillyspeed gearbox.... that took more than a year!

They require regular fluid changes otherwise the actuators get gummed up and the clutch packs wear prematurely. The Fiesta / C Max / Focus (petrol) have a 'dry' system and are totally different.

I do much better than ebay as I am actually contemplating pulling the ebay plug - In 2 minds as I think ebay brings more walk in business and just turned up folk than perhaps I give it credit for. One thing with Cargurus ( I am a fan, it works for me and I personally like the platform) is the customers who we do get through from there don't often haggle and are generally quite well informed buyers.

Agreed Jeez, I'd like a £ for every Car I've bought that doesn't even have a Jack or Wheelbrace