D&M 66 Posted January 30, 2018 Hello All, Sold a 2005 Mazda 5 4 weeks ago. Really nice proper car. Just had a text message (surprise surprise, a text.) complaining that the windscreen is continuously dripping wet. It wasn't ever steamed up when we had it in stock for 3 weeks. The guy says that he is in the trade - he said he worked in car sales and now as a valeter. And we spoke about that if he was going to be using the car for business purposes then there wouldn't be a warranty - but he assured us that this was his private car for the family. (we googled his number, and found lots of cars for sale and his valeting business.) We made it clear that for any claims to be valid, that the car must be privately insured and taxed - we even wrote this on the Lawgistics receipt in the additional notes and signed. The car has never been taxed since he bought it, and the insurance is trade. We're reluctant to offer goodwill since the car is likely being used for trade, against specific terms on the receipt, and we suspect that this 'issue' is either caused by him using the car as a valeting van, or from it being sat on a forecourt somewhere. We may have to have a scout around the town it was sold too and see if it's for sale anywhere. Interested to hear what you other dealers would do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted January 30, 2018 "continuously dripping wet " so he has either a leak or has wet vac'd the seats and there still wet, i would myself tell him to bring it back leave it with you for a few days so you can dry it out and check for leaks, run a hose pipe over the obvious and you have done all you can do, i bet a mars bar he has washed the seats and there still wet. if he does turn into an ass then at least you have shown goodwill, a few days without his car i would go 50/50 he wont even bother bringing it back. one point i would ask is how do you know he has insured the car in the trade ? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stalker 180 Posted January 30, 2018 Id ask him to drop if off with me and make sure it was water tight (ie not holding water inside the car anywhere) and that the heater was working correctly (demister flap moving etc) and pollen filter not blocked. Most of these faults should cost very minimal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan W 57 Posted January 30, 2018 Tell him to naff orf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D&M 66 Posted January 30, 2018 3 minutes ago, justina3 said: "continuously dripping wet " so he has either a leak or has wet vac'd the seats and there still wet, i would myself tell him to bring it back leave it with you for a few days so you can dry it out and check for leaks, run a hose pipe over the obvious and you have done all you can do, i bet a mars bar he has washed the seats and there still wet. if he does turn into an ass then at least you have shown goodwill, a few days without his car i would go 50/50 he wont even bother bringing it back. one point i would ask is how do you know he has insured the car in the trade ? I am very confident that the car is in the trade, as when you check it on askMID it comes up 'Mazda 5' and that's all. Privately insured cars come up with the make, model and trim, so it'd be 'Mazda 5 Sport' or similar. We may be incorrect, but every car that we've ever checked has come up that way. The car he turned up in and the reason why he needed a car was that his boss wanted the car back to put on the forecourt. That one came up again no tax and simple 'VW Passat' on the MID. He had 'owned' that car since September, and hadn't been taxed since May. He gave us the speil of 'we sell newer and lower mileage ones cheaper' when he was viewing. We told him the company he works for can do that, then he should get them to source him one. If they're selling better ones for less, why would he want ours? I suspect a hint of buyers remorse if something nicer has come in stock! 12 minutes ago, Stalker said: Id ask him to drop if off with me and make sure it was water tight (ie not holding water inside the car anywhere) and that the heater was working correctly (demister flap moving etc) and pollen filter not blocked. Most of these faults should cost very minimal. We do the Lawgistics PDI, so have already checked and made sure that all that works as it should. We clean out all scuttle panels of leaves / debris too. We are sure the car wasn't leaking water inside, there was no evidence of this. No damp/smells/misting up etc whilst the car was in our possession. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arfur Dealy 823 Posted January 30, 2018 Its a 13 years old and its winter......All of my cars have condensation on the screen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D&M 66 Posted January 30, 2018 4 minutes ago, Dan W said: Tell him to naff orf Tempting... No, we don't mind looking at cars if the buyer has a problem. The issue we're having with the car, is the buyer going against what we spoke about when selling the car to him. We supplied the car with a Warrantywise Bronze warranty. He knows the 'issue' isn't covered by the warranty supplied and is asking for it to be looked at as goodwill. Thanks all so far for the input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dan W 57 Posted January 30, 2018 16 minutes ago, D&M said: Tempting... No, we don't mind looking at cars if the buyer has a problem. The issue we're having with the car, is the buyer going against what we spoke about when selling the car to him. We supplied the car with a Warrantywise Bronze warranty. He knows the 'issue' isn't covered by the warranty supplied and is asking for it to be looked at as goodwill. Thanks all so far for the input. Can you ask him for proof of insurance so you know its insured for personal use ? he might get the point that you know what he is upto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
It's me 615 Posted January 30, 2018 the heater matrix might have bust of course? if its constantly being used for valeting jobs then he will obviously be getting in and out with wet feet etc so maybe he is the creater of his problem sometimes as said if he has done a deep cleanse as these valeters or detailers as they like to call themselves do, they always use far far too much water sorry cant help if i had to i would request the car for the day to investigate but on terms of being helpful rather than anything else the MID bight be a herring so be careful Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ocsltd 133 Posted January 30, 2018 I would say you're happy to look at the problem for him, but you need to see proof of insurance (not trade) and proof of being taxed, as per your terms of a warranty claim. If he's genuine, he'll provide that and drop the car off. (That way you can determine if he is the root cause of the 'problem' as suggested above) Or he'll just not bother as he isn't using it 'privately'. Does sound like an odd situation though..... Let's just hope he's not looking for 30 days free car hire...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOACROSS 414 Posted January 30, 2018 Would be rather evil but fun to get someone you know to book him for a valet or a quote and see what he turns up in! You’d have thought he had a dehumidifier if he’s ‘in the trade’! Whist I agree with the sentiment above about having a look for him, once you’ve done that you’ve opened yourself up. To be honest, I’d probably do the same though. (Even though I get them to sign for major mechanical only warranty). I always tend to help them out (the first time at least) with little moans if they’re polite about it. He might even put some business your way if he’s a valeter to the public -if you do end up getting on with him. positive thinking on a Tuesday! What’s wrong with me! ;0) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trident 24 Posted January 30, 2018 Just wondering, did you do the dvla keeper change or give him the paperwork to complete? we always do the change of keeper online, so it can't go into trade until they have the log book back... Just book him in and ask him to bring his insurance docs with him, suggest you'll have a look, do that and send him on his way, agree that unless the heater has packed up, he has probably valeted it and it's not dried out!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Screenman 47 Posted January 30, 2018 Tell him to turn off the recycled air button, left on it will soak most windows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BHM 994 Posted February 1, 2018 A text message. I wouldn’t respond to it. Dealt with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
D&M 66 Posted February 2, 2018 Thank you for all the replies. We've decided to ignore - we don't answer texts anyway. Waiting for him to call - so far, no call.... Will update as and when Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
