Another Dealer Auction tale of woe

[sparky 274]

A few weeks ago I was outbid on DA on a 10 plate grand scenic. No problem. A week later and it's back on and I got outbid again. No problem. This week, it comes back on again so obviously smelling a rat I rang up the guys at DA to see if they could find out what the crack was with it and to make sure there were no major nasty horror stories with the car. They rang back and said apart from a couple of issues which had been missed on the original splat, the car is ok. 

The splat is telling me to allow for £500, tops, and here is their brief description, "Here you see a 2010 Renault Scenic. This car has the added benefits of parking sensors, tow bar as well as having air conditioning and a wide range of features available. Drives Lovely. This car will go at Market value so don't miss out".

I won the auction at Cap Clean and sent a driver in today. Now usually, I pay first and to be fair for one reason or another, I have not really been stung, but because this car had done a couple of sales I waited for my driver to ring me before pressing the money button. Well thank the lord I did.

It turns out, the car is an animal. Mechanically, my man says it sounds rough. Now, that may be a matter of opinion, but what is a matter of fact is that the car looks like it has been painted by the kids at after school club. There are paper marks and over spray everywhere and in grading terms, it's a 5, not the three I was expecting especially after my phone call with DA to clarify what the car was like.

Needless to say I've left it there and thankfully I'm only £100 down because without doubt, had I not been outbid before I would have been stuck with a Jamie Oliver sized lemon.

Oh, the 'dealer' was Wessex Garages by the way. Bar Stewards.

[SC Derby 259]

I never bid if I see them go through twice TBH never mind any more.

[It's me 615]

42 minutes ago, SC Derby said:

I never bid if I see them go through twice TBH never mind any more.

to be sure if its still there the bells should be so loud you think you have tinitusk

sparky...at least you didnt find the carrier under the seat with a used nappy in it like i once did

Edited July 29, 2016 by s and b

[betginge 73]

My personal opinion I will never pay anywhere near book price for a scenic, as they are always a headache. I try and buy them £300 - £500 under the cap. 

I have never bought via DA, but a friend uses it and has had some success, However recently he nearly bought a misdescribed car that had been placed on DA by Vauxhall Dealer. bad paint, electric fault.  

 

Glad to hear you avoided a right parcel. 

[sparky 274]

15 hours ago, SC Derby said:

I never bid if I see them go through twice TBH never mind any more.

I take your point and if I hadn't of made contact (via DA) with the dealer to make sure there were no horror stories with it then I would not have bid. For them to come back answering the question saying the car is ok and as described on the updated splat, well as Danny Dyer might say, that's pwopa nawty.

[Jack Regan 116]

won an auction  for a celica on DA, described and looked a nice car and when I got there to collect it was, check header tank and it was full of oil, salesman was with me and he saw it to and apologised, needless to say I left it..... Twos days later it's back on auction no mention of oil in header tank.... did they know it was full of oil ? maybe not.... but they do now , naughty !

i think DA should introduce some sort of feed back system.

[sparky 274]

23 minutes ago, Jack Regan said:

won an auction  for a celica on DA, described and looked a nice car and when I got there to collect it was, check header tank and it was full of oil, salesman was with me and he saw it to and apologised, needless to say I left it..... Twos days later it's back on auction no mention of oil in header tank.... did they know it was full of oil ? maybe not.... but they do now , naughty !

i think DA should introduce some sort of feed back system.

I agree about a feed back system of sorts, but that is never going to happen as turkey's don't vote for xmas and nobody cares about us lot. Auction4cars had a feedback system in it's early days and that got binned.

To be fair, I buy  a bit off DA and stories like this are few and far between, god knows whether that's down to luck or good judgement!

[Max Branning 149]

I have been stung a few times and will now not buy anything that i cant go and collect myself. If you have a good delivery driver who will help you and give the car a good checking over before loading then maybe ok but most of the time they will just chuck it on the back of a wagon and drop it in to you with any problems.

Very rarely will the trainee salesman who is appraising the cars bother to lift the bonnet and even if they did would not know what they was looking at so its a gamble. What does piss me off is that they sometimes avoid taking a picture of any damage/scratches but just mark it as a S on the diagram. Is it really that hard to get a close up picture of the damage so we can bid accordingly?

[umesh 336]

Top and bottom of it .. 'LOT ' of the dealers putting the cars in the auctions know there is an issue, I don't buy anything from Auctions [ Especially when I read these horror stories anyway] a read either here or another forum where a car was put in DA by a group - but when you look at the group's website they retail similar price/type of cars, so that car must have an issue if they won't retail it - however no mention of issues when its put through the sale [ they think they are clever !] 

Was talking to a trader last week ,1st I met him he called into the showroom was telling me about two Merc's he'd bought from the main dealer . when he told me the dealer and the 2 cars , I said I would be suspicious as they normally retail those cars, and I thought they now have an auction policy too... 

Yes you've guessed it one of them he was told had a 'wheel bearing' noise circa £100 , Needs a diff ! He thinks thats going to cost £700/800.. second car .. drives perfectly.. Only thing is on ' cold' start up the engine rattles for ' quite' a while ..... the dealerships answer " we were not aware of any issues ", both cars supplied /serviced by the dealer " .. the trader said " Thought I was in luck getting into this dealer and buying GOOD stock " Think the dealer was thinking I'll stitch him him while he's trying to get in here "

Very sad but too many dealers / traders trying to screw others over !

[david gott 58]

A small main dealer near where I live puts all their stuff on dealer auction, now what gets me is quite often they will retail the really nice cheapish part exes, low mileage, £2495 - £2995, this really puts me off buying any of their cars I see on DA, I think why aren't they selling it themselves etc. I've tried all the local dealers selling high end stuff hoping to get their cheaper stuff and that's been a success rate of 60% lemons and 40% decent, my best results are the auctions but it's a job in itself trying to get a good deal, love to know where Umesh gets all his bargains  

[andymc1973 199]

I have mentioned my experiences on DA a few times over on the A/T forum, the garages couldn't give a monkeys as there are mechanic's cars on there and stuff they've bought off the street, my best tip is to get friendly with the guy who loads them on the system and call him, some places are a lot worse than others and lie through their teeth, what I have never understood is why it is allowed for trade to trade sales to be handled dishonestly, I'd picked up a 2008 1.8 astra cabby and when i got it back looked through its paper work and there was an estimate from the selling garage to repair it at £2.5k, I rang them up and had them bang to rights and got my money back, it was back on there the next day with the estimate out of the book pack and no mention in the appraisal

[sparky 274]

Just as a follow up, the car is going through manheim this week. Needless to say, it's been given a grade 5 and is non assured. Personally I hope the cambelt snaps as it's being driven through.

[umesh 336]

On 07/08/2016 at 3:47 PM, andymc1973 said:

I have mentioned my experiences on DA a few times over on the A/T forum, the garages couldn't give a monkeys as there are mechanic's cars on there and stuff they've bought off the street, my best tip is to get friendly with the guy who loads them on the system and call him, some places are a lot worse than others and lie through their teeth, what I have never understood is why it is allowed for trade to trade sales to be handled dishonestly, I'd picked up a 2008 1.8 astra cabby and when i got it back looked through its paper work and there was an estimate from the selling garage to repair it at £2.5k, I rang them up and had them bang to rights and got my money back, it was back on there the next day with the estimate out of the book pack and no mention in the appraisal

SHOCKING !! But that's just how bad some dealers are .. old saying ' Buyers beware' ! very sad fellow dealers stitching up other dealers ! 

[jamslug 91]

On 8/10/2016 at 0:58 PM, sparky said:

Just as a follow up, the car is going through manheim this week. Needless to say, it's been given a grade 5 and is non assured. Personally I hope the cambelt snaps as it's being driven through.

After an hour phone call with a customer reciting the Consumer Rights Act to me as if he wrote the effing thing, that has made me chuckle. 

[Econimotor 15]

On 07/08/2016 at 3:47 PM, andymc1973 said:

I have mentioned my experiences on DA a few times over on the A/T forum, the garages couldn't give a monkeys as there are mechanic's cars on there and stuff they've bought off the street, my best tip is to get friendly with the guy who loads them on the system and call him, some places are a lot worse than others and lie through their teeth, what I have never understood is why it is allowed for trade to trade sales to be handled dishonestly, I'd picked up a 2008 1.8 astra cabby and when i got it back looked through its paper work and there was an estimate from the selling garage to repair it at £2.5k, I rang them up and had them bang to rights and got my money back, it was back on there the next day with the estimate out of the book pack and no mention in the appraisal

Why did you not go to trading standards as well they are not just there for the public. That would then hopefully stop these kind of sales. As you say you had them bang to rights and in my opinion gross misconduct.

No matter its a trade sale they knew the faults and should have been advertised with those by law. Wonder what poor trader got lumbered.

[Tom 164]

This is why I don't use these kind of sites, no real condition report, no mechanical report. At least with BCA you get both these so if the cars is a tub like I had last month you can get a refund. Plus if you're there in person you can see and hear the car first. I know the fees are much greater with auctions houses but you get the backup and I hate anything to do with main dealers there stuck up attitude is unreal.

[Max Branning 149]

The cars should be appraised better before being auctioned, its obvious most buyers cannot physically come and view the car before buying so you are relying on the person listing the car to give a good description. They often hide behind the words "cars have not been mechanically inspected in our workshops" but why not when they have a workshop and mechanics on site? It would take 10 minutes for a skilled mechanic to give the car a quick inspection and appraise the car to a reasonable trade standard.

As a car dealer you must expect a lemon now and again and things will crop up that you didnt see or hear at the auctions but the majority of the time the sellers on these type of sites really just do not care - Its a trade sale - tough luck...!

[sparky 274]

23 hours ago, tradex said:

Hi gentleman....long time sleeper on here, great forum. This thread has got my attention due to the issues we have had recently with dealer auction. A quickly summary over the last 3 months....I'd quite forgotten what a bad run we have had!

Peugeot CC with both clutch pedal so high we had to take the roof down to let the clutch out....and gearbox whining more than my wife...

Honda Civic with noisy box that turned out to be one of the techs' car...

Focus listed as a manual, only to find an automatic when arriving on site....pics of interior didn't show gearlever...or that the car looked like skip inside...just why, why do that?

Merc' A Class that will not go into gear when cold...car was warm when we arrived to collect as 'cars were kept offsite'....

Punto....that was put thru BCA with a knackered gearbox only to reappear on DA....dealer was listing for another car dealer whom bought the Punto from BCA....some BCA docs still in glovebox. Same dealer we have learnt, lists 'wrong erns's for pet dealers for £150.

Meriva with an engine tapping more than an angry woodpecker and no power steering with EPS light on but had been put out by earlier I guess...relisted as all good! The funny thing was the guy whom brought the car out thought all Meriva's must have really heavy steering and couldn't see how his grandfather could drive one...

Clio with an oil leak bigger than the Amoco Cadiz....relisted as no faults.

Jaguar S class....all good but on collection a bad misfire, engine light on but did a get a substantial discount as it 'looked' a peach...was told it had been scanned and it was coilpacks...no sir, it was an ECU problem...my fault, should of walked away...

Golf diesel, that wouldn't go over 40 mph.....had a stand-up 'one way row' with the dealer prinicple calling me all sorts of names and almost self-combusting in front of arriving private customers....Dealer Auction told me, yes we get a lots of cars 'backed' there. we got banned from buying from this Honda dealer, as if we would go back

Cars listed with previous speedo changes (Renault's & Volvo's)...a quick scan on the VOSA site catch's these ones...so no mileage checks being done?

Clio that turned out to be a cat D....Dealer Auction told us it was our responsability to check this...err OK...so our fault then.

So, no more, no way, ever, its back to BCA, as much as we hate it....Dealer Auction used to be an OK source a while back, but we find, prices are now higher even with the BCA tip, and descriptions are now so utterly unreliable as to be laughable.

The guys doing the descriptions rarely do a decent job of description and to be fair no one wants the job, so quite often the 'boy' get the job and wouldn't know a Focus from a Ariston washing machine half the time. Also, too many cars are being listed for other 'interested parties' or pet dealers as I call them.

Dealer Auction...a great idea, but not policed well enough with very little regard for the customer....us.

NB....is it just me or an being paranoid.....but when entering a main dealer armed with trade plates, I can almost feel the 'here comes the pondlife' vibes and looks....cars are never ready and always seem to be one key when listed as two? No, this isn' right, correct or proper, hang on, they are often making more money out of us than the deal they did for the new car with the other customer....

 

cheers guys, keep erm coming

Great post, if you know what I mean.

After another poorly described car since my original post I no longer bother with the site and have now reset my password to hf64094r/']gkmq276 and asked chrome not to remember it, just in case I get tempted when I get desperate. Viva la pondlife!

[Scooby who 41]

 

Won a 62 reg Focus from a Ssang Yong/MG dealer in Lancashire on D.A. a few weeks back.

Advertised as having ''Full service history" under Service History section. Additional comments read: "Retail ready car, some small chips and very light scratches, full service history"

Paid top money, then had car paid for by BACS within 4 hrs of auction end and collected by a third party. Car arrives and I go through the book pack, no service book to be found anywhere!

So I email them twice, no reply.

I call twice, salesman is off.

I call again the following week, salesman is back but hasn't had time to address emails and will get back to me.

2 days later and no update, I call again but "he's off at auction"

Following day I call again and told he's busy and will return my call.......he doesn't, surprise surprise!

 

With patience running thin, I call Dealer Auction, they tell me to email the complaint to them, I do. A few hours later I get a call from D.A. who say they will contact the dealer.

A week goes by. Nothing. I email D.A. again. They call me again and say they will get to the bottom of it.

 

Finally dealer calls me and says the car was advertised in good faith WITH service history. Service book was in the car and if it's not, then "we both can point fingers as to where or who has it" He says he bought it from a Jaguar dealer, and will contact him/them, to see if they can find out from the previous owner where it was serviced, if at all!

Meanwhile I write a nice letter (offering money in return for info) to the previous owner asking the same questions and send by registered mail.

 

Since then nobody has contacted me.

 

What should I do???????

 

It's and absolute joke that:

1) This dealer is allowed to get away with this.

2) I get no refund or partial refund for a car advertised with service history but hasn't

3) Service history booklets are left lying around in cars for anyone to take as they wish ( if that's what happened)

4) D.A have more or less wiped their hands of the issue.

5) This will happen time and time again.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2016 by Scooby who

[umesh 336]

Full money back from DA , 'Mis-sold' ' simple as that regardless of ' sold in good faith ' They are acting as the agent so its their responsibility. 

[metcars 397]

59 minutes ago, umesh said:

........ They are acting as the agent so its their responsibility. 

,,,,,,, but they are trying to squeeze this under the auction banner of "sold as seen/no refunds"

[sparky 274]

8 minutes ago, metcars said:

,,,,,,, but they are trying to squeeze this under the auction banner of "sold as seen/no refunds"

If you spoke to the head man at DA, pound to a penny he used the word 'facilitate' more than once and basically washed his hands of it. This has happened to me a couple of times so I now hardly use the site unless it's coming from a vendor I know and trust.

I honestly don't know what you can do, there is obviously no POD form. Like many others including myself you have just learnt a hard lesson that there are a number of dealers on there who just can't be trusted and so apart from giving said dealer both barrels and them some, it's a case of taking it on the chin. It's not right but I can't see what else you can do.

 

Good luck and I hope you get some positive news with this one.

 

[SC Derby 259]

Formally reject the car as it was falsely advertised?

As a customer would to us in the same circumstance?

[umesh 336]

1 hour ago, metcars said:

,,,,,,, but they are trying to squeeze this under the auction banner of "sold as seen/no refunds"

You bought it with the information given ' full service history' you only bought it because of that other wise you would not have bought it ?? Very simple goods NOT as described ..Maybe a call to Lagistics , but cannot see how they can not claim responsibility ,other wise its open to all sorts of abuse! 

Edited October 19, 2016 by umesh

[It's me 615]

this would come under misrepresentation and i would look carefully at the terms of the selling agent as to whether they have a get out clause,even though its a business to business sale  this still comes under the scope of the consumer rights act

i would sent an lba to the selling agent with a copy also to the dealer  and i would pursue it to the hilt,put the car in a corner and make a stand,

Edited October 19, 2016 by s and b