D&M

I've PM'ed you about the Merc box to pick your brain... Hope you don't mind!

I have heard Parkers are good for reviews and suggestions for similar cars. Reliability is something dealers can't promise. You're buying an old machine that has been used and worn. You've got £8k, you're looking at cars that were £50-60k new. As cars get older/cheaper, maintainence can be skimped. Good luck.

We pay £22 something for 5L - most of Autosmarts 5L containers are about the same price. Contact a rep, don't buy from eBay. If you aren't buying from a reputable seller, they could be watering it down a bit. We haven't bought Highstyle from eBay, but have bought Autosmart polishes and they seperate after a couple of days. With the same stuff from the rep, it doesn't, and it's cheaper!

It doesn't last as long as highstyle if kept outside. It doesn't give such a glossy finish, but gives the tyres a 'new' look. Smells lovely too, and can be used as interior & bumper trim and engine bay dressing It's not silicone based so isn't greasy. Next time your rep is round, see if he'll give you a sample

Very true.... We use smart wheels from autosmart for scrubbing both the wheels and tyres, Then we use autosmart fusion just spray it on.

We like these ones, for a laugh. When they start listing the faults, all we say is 'sounds like this ones kanckered, not the car for you' and start shutting it up and locking it. Get some shocked faces, and 'no, no we still want to buy it' 'No, you've just told me that its knackered. I'm a reputable motor trader and I don't sell knackered cars' and warmly thank them for finding all these faults that I wasn't aware of, despite our thorough pre sales checks.

Best people to ask would be the planners. Get your answer straight from the horses mouth.

Just do it, you'll only learn if you can do it or not by practice. Worst case, it'll look naff so you'll need to get it painted proffesionally - but you were planning to get it painted anyway, so not much to lose. Even if it looks a little naff, it'll probably not notice in your photos so you can get it online and get it painted later. We had a E90 a few weeks ago, bought a new front tow eye cover and painted it with the brush in a touch-up pen. Was passable, and the customer didn't notice!

We started our LTD company after only a few sales. Easy to do and set up - no need to pay anyone. Just do it on the Companies House website. If you're joining with someone, sit down at talk and draw up an agreement as to who puts in what and how much they get back and when. Money comes between people, especially family! No, you don't need a VAT number to join the private forum, just email in your trade insurance certificate.... You may need to call afterwards to confirm they've recieved it - we had to... Must have got lost in someones inbox!

Your inexperiance does in no way reduce the consumers rights or expectaions. As already advised, you need to get the car back to you and have it looked at. As you've said, the customer is going to take you to court if you don't refund in full - why not spend a little money now, get the car recovered to an independant BMW specialist to have the problem diagnosed. You NEED to know what is actually wrong, and what has caused it to go wrong BEFORE offering anything. If he then takes you to court, you've got a report stating that whatever has gone wrong is because of 'XXXX' Also, texters are chancers. Don't reply to texts, or they'll expect you to be up and immediatly replying to anything they say. Call, and speak on the phone.

BBC watchdog did a investigation about this not so long a go. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44068042

Car was returned day and a full refund was done via bank transfer. Our friends said that the atmosphere was very unpleasant from the dealer. But they got their money back. Name of the dealer for those interested is Cleevewood Garage, Based in Bristol Even today, the written off cars on their website without mentioning it. I wonder how long it'll be before they learn their lesson and start being completely honest.

When I say respect, I mean in that they've offered to refund without much trouble. They could have ignored any correspondence, told them to naff off, or made them go all the way to court and then close the company. But, I do agree. Absoloutley no respect at all for the dealer selling the car un-declared in the first place. We wouldn't dare do that, but thats why we sleep soundly at night. I do believe that they aren't going to have any trouble tomorrow. It is hard to believe that car dealers out there still do that. It is hard enough with some customers to convince them that not all dealers have that ethos! I'm not giving them any extra credit - just glad that they are doing the right thing when they could just as easily do nothing Apologies for using that turn of phrase, it seems it may have been mis-interpreted. I still don't want to publicly name and shame, but am happy to PM anyone who'd like to know the company in question

Update. After few emails (Not from us) The dealer has told our friends that he has been in touch with Trading Standards and they told him that they haven't done anything wrong (Hmmm). However, they are in the process of updating all their other cars on their website to reflect their status. However, they have offered a full refund plus a little extra to cover the fuel to return the car. We've told our friends that this is a generous offer and they've accepted and are dropping the car back tomorrow. Respect to the dealer for putting it right with minimal fuss. Just a shame they weren't completley open at time of purchase.

We had a call from someone in the South of France about a £1,100 MG ZR TDi with 144k on the clock. Made arrangements for him to view - yeah, like he was ever going to turn up... Bang of time, a little french registered 207 drives up - there he is! Drove the car away. Apparantly, MG/Rover's are popular over there. I think its because the LHD ones are so expensive, and a few years ago most MGR stuff was throwaway money. Seems like their all appreciating now - think it is because now, most of the survivors are the good ones. Funny enough, we also had a different guy call about an MGF from somewhere in France, said he'd call the next day to arrange to collect but never called. Can't win them all!

Now you can no longer see the previous keeper details on the V5, I wonder how many cars will be registered to the dealership itself? Customer has no way of finding out who the previous keeper was, just relying on the dealers honesty.

Nail on the head. Couldn't describe them better! M Sport Individual, less than 90k, 6cyl, Auto, Stunning colour, cream leather, all elec and heated, widescreen nav + tv. I think they paid a fair price if it was a straight car. Nice addition to their near new VW Transporter, Rav4, and 6 motorbikes. They are just gutted as they wouldn't have bothered even looking at it if they knew, and held out for a straight one.

Couldn't agree more. An opinion shared with everyone on the forums it seems. With your DS3, have you thought about getting the roof and mirror caps wrapped or some decals? Cheap, and completely changes the car - or mention in the advert that you'd get some decals, or a roof wrap as per the customer requirements It looks such a nice car, but it might just need a little something extra to help it find a home We had an E90 M Sport for 2 weeks - Not a sniff.. Crashed the price too, but still nothing. Done an Arfur Dealy on it... Painted the alloys black and upped the price back to where it was and it found a home within 3 days.

They bought it because they loved it, that's the price it was advertised at and that is the price they paid. They were looking for a long time for an Individulal spec until this one popped up. Bought from a trusted dealer, whos been trading 25 years, and mentions on his website that their members of the Good Garage Scheme and the RMIF. Had a look on their website and about 30% of their cars are Categeory. C's, D's, N's and even an S. Not a single one has that mentioned in the advert. One does mention that their was light rear wing damage that has been repaired, but not that the car is a Category. A number of their cars have number plates removed from the car before photos (including said BMW, as our friends have an original print out from eBay MP of the orignal advert. We think that should be mentioned upfront, its a detremental fact about the car. As a customer, I wouldn't want that sprung on me if the dealer told me whilst viewing. And I certainly wouldn't to find that out a few months down the line. Agree with most all of the comments above, and would like to thank you all again for taking the time to read and post.

What a great first post. Hello and welcome. You're services are too far away from us, but we wish you the best of luck and hope someone takes you up on your offer and you both benefit greatly Nice to hear from someone offering advice instead of the recent influx of people asking to to spoon fed from more experianced dealers

They paid £4k, should be worth the same now... well, it was.

However tempting that may be, we're not going to do that due to the problem at the moment.

Thanks for the comments and advice. They are friends of ours, but we've done as much as we can - pointing out the flaws and letting them deal with is as they feel appropriate. They've offered us £400 for our time and efforts so far, which is pretty generous! They were more worried about this upsetting our relationship with them. We just don't like hearing about dishonesty, this trader car was registered as Cat D 3 months prior to our friends buying it but they were absoloutly assured that the car was NOT on the insurance register. They didn't check it, but the dealer isn't a small place and seemed reputable. We would hate to think that any of our customers have left us feeling like that. But thank you again all for your posts and insights.

Thanks for the reply, That is what the plan is at the moment - they've got a copy of the advert and no mention. On their invoice it does state that they were aware of damage, but that is in reference to to damage to just the wing (as the dealer they bought from is the dealer who replaced the wing)

Thank you for the replies so far. The dealer still operates, We've had a look on their website and about 30% of their stock is Cat C/D/N/S with no mention. I wouldn't like to do that. We've told them to get in contact with the dealer. Which is when they'll find out what kind he is. They paid strong money for the car, I'm sure they didn't buy it because it was cheap. They bought it because it was an individual. But good thinking, we did think about offering to help - but we've already spent 2 days getting it ready for photos!