I have been in the motor trade for over 30 years and although I have never worked in a main dealer I have worked in garages servicing and repairing vehicles. Car dealers have a bad reputation for a reason. There are good dealers out there but I have seen first hand cars sold to people and the issues which they knew fine well about when selling the cars. There are still so many cowboys out there who chance their arm selling junk knowing that a large percentage of the people out there have never heard of the consumer rights act and what rights they have by law. I know you go above and beyond making sure your cars are as good as they can be and sell them for a lower price than you could get but unfortunately from what I have seen over the years that is not the real world. Love your channel, always great content.
Unfortunately I have to agree. I know a few excellent car dealerships but know too many that go for maximum profit and don't really care about their customers. They offer pennies on quality trade-ins and ask top dollar for their cars on the forecourts. Most trade-ins older than a certain age go straight to auction or off loaded to other dealers anyway.
See I don't deny what you are saying but obviously deal with a network of used dealers and to the man/woman they are constantly going over and about fixing silly stuff. I think there is the idea that all dealers can tell a spring will break in 100 miles so when it does it was a known fault and that they are all the best mechanics know to mankind and can just listen to an engine and know a egr light will come up in 1000 miles. Which leads to the assumption the sold trouble.
You've made many good points, although in this particular case the owner may not have known of the fifth gear issue if they had only used the car once a week around town to do the shopping, maybe an elderly person for example. That said, Chops Garage is a fine example of how dealers should present and trade cars, so hold your head up high.
just putting in a shitty used gearbox is such a bad idea. It's probably an easy fix for a gearbox mechanic to have a look at and fix. maybe just some sleeve from the selector mechanism thats worn out.
My late father in law, who started his engineering career in the motor trade, regarded all second hand cars that were traded in as someone else's trouble.
I bought a locally registered to me Laguna from a big EH stealership that had reportedly had full Renault service service history and it's cam belt done by the local dealers...When I contacted them they hadn't done the work at all..Evans Halshite offered to do the cambelt at a "special" price that was only £150 more expensive than the main dealer..Sadly it works both ways...some c**t at Evans had ticked a load of boxes to raise it's value...they haven't...and never,ever will see another penny of mine.
I think you're spot on with this video James, although I will say like others have said there are a lot of sharks out there, people who literally don't care what they sell if there's a quid in it for them, and they will try anything to get away with it. You're one of the most honest dealers I've ever seen from all the videos I've watched, but there is definitely a murky underbelly in the car trade (as in most trades I guess) with people who really don't care how they make money.
All good points made, I bought a Dacia Duster DCI recently from a local dealer, I was on the cusp of ordering a brand new one when the dealer had a 2015 one come in with all the bells and whistles and had a smidge over 10k miles, I thought great, I'd be able to get a virtually new one for half the price, my part exchange was a 2009 VW that had never skipped a beat and was religiously serviced albeit by myself DIY after 60k and although the part exchange offer was low there's always the rule of thumb to leave enough profit in it for the next guy and going back a few years I'd have been lucky to get scrap value on it. Low and behold the day I picked up the new one I managed barely 40 miles before the injectors failed, a fault that only became apparent after sustained driving. The dealer was clearly embarrassed given the condition of the rest of the car but he got it recovered from where it had failed, replaced the injectors and then put 200 miles on it to be certain there were no other faults, I could tell he was clearly gutted as a massive chunk of the profit was eaten away from the bill to repair it. Compare that to a main dealership, years ago I had a Mercedes and the folding mirrors failed, when I collected it one of the mirror glasses was cracked and the main dealership said unless I had concrete proof that the glass was intact when I dropped it off they weren't going to honour any repairs.
Sounds like the difference between a smaller dealership and a chain. Glad to hear they looked after you and good to see you recognise there is no way they could of known the fault. Its not how you fall down but how you get up as they say!
Actually the couple of times I part-exed with a main dealer I wasn't asked if it had any faults (it didn't) and they didn't ask for the service book (though I left it anyway). They just didn't care as they knew it was going to be offloaded to another dealer or to auction anyway.
Same here. Absolutely no interest at all. The last one I offered all the receipts (Mazda don't do hard copies of the service book so I didn't have that), but the dealer said he was not allowed to take them due to GDPR issues. It was good though, front brakes stuck, so that needed attention. I must say I was quite surprised, but there you are. My son's seen it on the road recently, so it is still fine.
Very good video with great points. It’s the dealers who masquerade as private sellers that are the problem, and a huge number of cars advertised as private sale are traders. I always avoid any car advertised as private unless it’s registered to the seller and I can see it at the address on the V5, also I avoid any dealer with “trade” in the name of the business.. there are exceptions to this obviously, but it’s safer to just exclude any dealer with trade in the title. “XYZ trade sales” in my experience means shady dealer and crappy car with deceptive ads.. that’s been by own experience.
In the good old days, before I started in the motor trade, I went to view an Escort with a friend at a used car site. The dealer had two, both dark blue, one was F reg. and one was G reg. (68 and 69). The body on the older car was rough but, as an incentive, the dealer offered to swap the plates between the two but my friend declined. Instead he put down a deposit on a Triumph 1300 after the dealer promised to get the bodywork 'sorted' and car MOT'd within two weeks. A month later the car hadn't moved and when requested a refund the answer was 'not refundable'. It took the AA and a lot of threats from my friends family before his deposit was returned.
Nice video! I bought a Panda from a dealer in Lymington called Hills Prestige last year. The dealer won't let me test drive it, quoting "dealer insurance won't cover clients". The dealer listed it as "the best of its kind" and it was sold at a premium price. When I picked it up, I discovered the window regulator was faulty and the clutch slave cylinder was gone! He never mentioned that to me. As part of the negotiation, he agreed the car would be in "good repair order" upon handover, which obviously isn't the case! I reported the issues within 30 days (Consumer rights act 2015), put fuel in it and brought it back to the dealer. He fixed the window but left the clutch slave cylinder untouched. When I went to pick it up, he made it sound as if he did me a big favour and refused to pay me back for my travel expenses due to this rectification. Really dodgy dealer with that little professional attitude. It really is certain individuals like that, which gave the trade a bad name! 😟
Always watch your channel and love it...there aren't many dealers as honest as you. I've been buying cars new and used for over forty years and have been stiffed a few times and been ripped off more than once... take a look at the reviews for a large national company like The Trade Centre??
I had a phase-1 Citroen C4 that was rubbish. Fed up with multiple issues, so decided to give up on it. Took it in for part-ex against MG ZT and admitted it was rubbish, but still got a good deal. Perhaps fact it was still well in warranty was a factor - but I'd simply had enough of it. This was in 2007, still got the ZT.
James you are absolutely right, especially from a small dealer perspective where a handful of disaster px’s could kill profitability. One aspect which your channel confirms over and over again is the relatively low price you pay for mechanical repairs for essential work, rather than what us punters are often quoted for work that may, or may not, be essential. As a dealer you can use your knowledge and contacts to send a repaired and trust worthy car out the door and make money on the margin. My dealings with both Hyundai and Vauxhall main dealers; they use the same annual safety check report ‘formula’ to scare the pants off the average person into thinking their cars are about to cost them a fortune. They are clearly using the annual service as an opportunity to trigger a sale or drive business into their workshop. The ‘safety report’ quotation for mechanical work is, to all intents and purposes, what would be required to bring the car back to as new condition. This and other “we’ve spotted x so you’ll need this work done soon” from garages angling for work unfortunately does much to trigger the part exchange of cars that in fact need relatively little work to be sold with an advisory free MOT. (Hopefully you get more of these). Consequently, I would feel entirely guilt free ‘unloading’ a duff car on a main dealer as it is almost 100 percent certain they would just send it to auction, and they have done their best to psychologically pressure me on an annual basis to empty my wallet into their cash tills within a year or two of the manufacturers warranty expiring. I have since learned my lesson and have used a trusted mechanic (my version of Moore’s!) for all of my car when they are out of warranty and would only buy from dealers who care or offer a very good warranty if they don’t. If you were anywhere near me you would get all of my business James, unfortunately trusted car dealers are three words that rarely appear in the same sentence around here. No surprise cynical customers, who feel exploited by the motor trade, keep quiet about faults both real and trumped up by other people in the motor trade! Vicious circle.
There are dealers and there are dealers, same with customers. My view is it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. And there are shades of grey e.g. main dealers vs. small dealers where the former has access to internal workshop facilities etc. (where they regularly charge silly amounts to customers i.e. ripping them off)
I totally understand your argument, BUT effectively you have bought that car in the same way the main dealer took it in. So, the main dealer has treated you in the same way the private punter treated them. Your fault is that you should have had the opportunity to give it a proper test drive, as you know it was probably a defective car - then you have the decision to either reject it of beat the dealer down. After all he probably had good margin on the car he sold to the private punter. I fully understand you need to have a relationship with main dealers and take the good with the bad, but that does not mean you have to be the person with the problem when the music stops !!!! Maybe you buy too high and sell too low, which I think is evident from your previous comments about your selling prices ? I really enjoy your videos and can see you are an honest car dealer and are trying to dispel the stories and help the general public. I would buy a car from you, if I needed one in this price range.
See this is the point most seem to be missing. The arguement is that its up to the dealer to catch the con rather than the punter be honest. I disagree with that premise. Lets say you had bought this car from a dealer without a CRA in position. You should simply eat it? It was up to you to catch the con? It might he lawful for punters to do it but does not make it morraly right
@@ChopsGarage I agree just because something is legal doesn’t make it morally right, there seems to be an attitude of us against them and that it’s ok to pass a defective vehicle on dishonestly as long as it’s to a dealer. I don’t treat a dealer any different to a private buyer when I sell a vehicle as a private seller. The Dishonest dealers help people justify the way they treat all dealers.
We would all like a retail ready car for 1.5k below retail money. Buying anything needs checking out, it's just you don't have the chance to, when buying from a main dealer. I'm not a hater, I love the channel James. Your a rare breed. I've been turned over by dealers before,and lost a few pennies. I only buy new now because of it.
The riskiest cars are those worth £3000. Because if you sell it privately, buyer is protected. So lots of these PX's end up with undeclared traders, selling them in small ads, at £2995. As for the Fiat shown I purchased one 2009 MY, in 2013 One owner, high mileage (at time, 72,000) we still own it done 90,000 now. Both my Son's had it as first car. It has been brilliant. Cost me £2400 cash. BTW you can put a 1.1 Active Eco Panda in fifth at less than 30 MPH it will poodle along, around town. The one shown must have had a 'Clarkson' type owner.
@@ChopsGarage i thought it was something worse aswell, i had to hold it in 5th gear for about 400kms 😅 but then afterwards the added oil completely fixed it, never had any issues again with it
I went to look at a car at a dealers and I noticed the front brake discs looked like they needed changing so I searched the mot history and they failed on them being dangerous but the same day it was passed and the brakes haven't been changed but there's no mention of the brakes.
Many dealers have a 'tame' MOT testing station that they go to for a small 'consideration'. I remember asking dealers if I could see the ticket but they said it would be done tomorrow if you want to buy it!
I once looked at a car on the forecourt of a major brand dealership. It had bald tyres, a puddle of "fluid" under the engine and another by the rear wheel under the car. When he started the car the exhaust was blowing. We declined the "test drive" which was him driving the car with us in it and walked away. We then went 20 years without a car.
Great content as usual. I don't want to add to anymore woes, but the car has two different size door mirrors. I think the offside is the updated version whilst the nearside is the old style.
I disagree, Ive part ex'd a couple of cars before & the dealer seems to take a second long look at from 10 meters away to make sure its not a wreck & then just offers you the going rate. Yeah, you cant do a cold start check cause the customer drove to your garage but you can go over the car the same way the public can when they go to buy a car off someones driveway. Why wouldnt you go through all the gears? You can put it in 5th at 30/40mph, just checking the function of the gearbox. There has to be a reason why im my experience the dealer doesnt give a crap what state your PX is in. Ive never tried to dump a broken car on a dealer but ive had a dealer try to sell me a car with 4 delaminated tyres that he had stuck the flaps of rubber down & slapped tyre dressing all over them to hide the problem. I had a 200 mile drive home, he knew it & was prepared to scam me & put me at risk of having a crash over a few hundred pounds profit...& this dealer supposedly had a good reputation in the car scene.
But what you have to consider is that you are the exception not the rule and that the dealer you dealt with on the bad car is also. I'm not working from experience you can count on one hand remember but on literally hundreds and hundreds of deals.
@@ChopsGarage Im pretty sure that car had decent wheels on it & they swapped them out for ones with corroded valves & delaminated tyres. When I go to see a car I assume they are hiding something & check the car as best I can. If I have the chance to check anything I want to & even have the chance to have a pro check the car over too before I pay if I wanted, its on me if I miss something. By not checking the car fully as a dealer you are missing out on the chance to negotiate down on their part ex?! A lot of these cars people have part ex'd in youtube videos are filthy & disgusting inside & look like trash, I dont see how you can afford not to go over the cars properly before doing the deal.
I love a good James rant, and as usual you speak the truth in your polite way. I've always looked at part-ex as the easiest way to 'sell' a vehicle, however it's also for the least money. The dealer doesn't necessarily want a part-ex, beause (as you've explained before) their profit is then tied up and at risk until that PX is sold and turns out to be decent. Every second-hand car is a car that someone doesn't want any more, sometimes for undeclared reasons. It's all about risk management isn't it, and part of being a business owner is minimising your exposure to risk. I wouldn't want to be a car dealer for anything; it's a tough job, and then you have to deal with the public! Hats off to you mate for keeping it real.
A lot of car dealers, not all, in my experience will offer you bottom dollar part ex whether you bring something decent in or what turns out a pile of crap. So over the years the race to the bottom has manifested itself, and many people just bring in stuff that needs work they can't be arsed with. Market forces in action I guess.
Well the dealers offer even less than we buy any car. And for what they offer in most cases I'd rather scrap it. To me they would offer £1k for a £3k car and even then they would try and knock it down even further.
It's quite a while since I bought a car from a dealer, but I remember it turned out to have a dud temperature gauge. It emerged that the dealer hadn't done a PDI and wasn't interested in fixing it. Fortunately I had purchased a warranty. Once I told the warranty company that the dealer didn't do PDIs and was simply gambling with their money and lying about doing the inspections, they suddenly came all over co-operative!
Completely agree with you James. We just took in a Volvo C30 as part ex. Customer wanted top dollar as there was nothing to fault. Two issues we spotted whilst on a test drive and the alarm issue they didn’t tell us about but made sure they didn’t lock the car whilst doing the deal, now we can’t put it up for sale until the issue is sorted 🤦🏻♂️
Hi James,I agree with you that some people probably px something because of a problem that they know about but then some might not know about an issue but I personally think that dealers have a bad reputation is because that unfortunately lots of them are not like you and are honest about everything and will spend money even after the car is sold and paid for,I know it was years a long time ago but when I was younger every car dealer was dodgy and I personally took a car back as there was a problem with the steering rack with I had an independent garage tell me there was a problem buy the dealer said there was nothing wrong with it and they were not going to take the car back or give me my money back so I went into the showroom and started telling everyone in there don't buy from these as they are dodgy and obviously got kicked out so I rang trading standards and she told me if I take to court I will win but doesn't mean the garage will give me the money back so I'd have had to pay for court and still not got any money back so I know what it's like to not trust car dealers but its a real shame as genuine dealers like yourself get labeled with the dodgy ones,as long as you keep doing what you do you'll be fine🙂👍
When the public sell a used car to a car dealer, that is effectively a trade sale. The car dealer does not pay retail for the car, they pay the trade price. With a trade deal, there's no come back, there's no test drive, no warranty, no nothing. You buy it as is for trade price, clean it up, sort out any problems and then sell it for retail price, hopefully making a decent profit, fingers crossed. Let's reframe this: How about you consider how you feel as a trader when a customer comes up and wants to buy a car at trade price as a pseudo-trader, then expects a test drive etc.? I don't doubt there are scummy people who pull a fast one on car dealers, but that's how the car trade works: Dealers buy cars cheap and assume risk. Customers pay retail and get customer protection. (Context: I've just watched your video "This guy was trouble from the start!" which tells the story as I reframed it.)
I've gone to main dealers and what they offered was so bad and I suspected this dealer was hawking my car around dealers whilst I was on a test drive and was probably trying to make money off it too .If your car is half decent and doesn't have finance sell it privately if dealers want it they can come to you.
The only way round it is to offer a price that you know you can get out of it, ie trade or auction, any higher is over allowance from the profit, hopefully you allowed 350/400 quid mate.
As a tech in other area (electronics) would say big issue is lack of honesty, general public also have issue of just not knowing in many instances what the ins and outs are, main dealers don't help as they often don't behave in a professional manner. My experence is small repairers/dealers are usually good and if you have good experience stick with them, running a car costs money, no way around that but some people always want to stick others with the bill which is dishonest which is were we came in. Things wear out and or break especially if not looked after or poorly treated.
Any car ever made will start to wear its component parts from the first time it's used, the degree of wear at any specific mileage will depend on its quality, maintenance and the way it is driven. All component parts wear of a car wear at different rates so it's only logical to assume that there is only so much life left in these components before they need to be changed. With this in mind it's only logical that car dealers will only offer a lower trade in price on the deal or a above average on the new car so that the difference covers his risk and gives him a profit as he is doing it for a living and not to please a third party.
But then, i am sure they'll be plenty of cars that are part-ex in, and their really good and need little to no money on repairs, etc. Its just that the owners want a simple transaction.
Looked at a car a few weeks back, had an enegine code so asked for it to be sorted (otherwise car grerat) was told that if wanted to, buy it and sort though warranty! I moved on oddly enough.
My first car was a Skoda Fabia, generally considered to be a well made car, which was bought from a car dealer and when I got it the reverse lights didn't work, screen washer didn't work, the front suspension had knocks, it constantly wanted to steer left and the handbrake was so worn out you could easily drive with it almost fully engaged. So already there's at least 3 MOT failures already. When it came to MOT time a few months later it cost me nearly £500 to get it through. It was 12 years old and only had 1 previous owner and around 64000 miles which is probably why they thought they could sell it for such a laughable price, and of course my dad is the sort of person who thinks cars with anymore than 2 owners is a bad car for some reason. Knowing what I know about cars now I wouldn't have paid any more than a third of what the dealer sold it to us for. That was the last time I bought a car from a dealer.
I had little zusuki would jump out of 5th it was just low on gearbox oil. Topped it up added bottle stp gearbox treatment did anther 3 years and 40k till my sister drove it into flood and trashed it
Do you find the reports accompanying auction cars can be relied upon to reveal most faults? I don't imagine an auction would test sufficiently to reveal a fault such as jumping out of fifth gear.
part ex is a way for dealers to get cheap car and flip it. it's a gamble. you'll get cars that are perfect and can be flipped without any work. Or you can have cars that have worked needing everywhere you look. If you haven't assessed the car properly then that's on you. It seems the way dealers operate is charge lowball - you'll win some and you'll lose some. Just make an offer to faciilate the sale of the part ex to keep cars moving. How much did you pay for that fiat? maybe sub £1000. So can scrap it or sell it as spares repairs for £400. At the same time, how many cars did you buy for £3500 and sell it on for £4500 within 30 days and never had a comeback and didn't need anything other than new oil and filters?
I have 100% respect for you well done for honestly saying about this on your channel!! If you had a car i wanted like an mx5 mk3 i would buy a car from you
Unfortunately not all dealers are as honest as yourself. I bought a car last year and immediately returned it under the CRA as it had a major problem that kept sending it into reduced power mode. The dealer denied there was a problem, called me a liar and refused a refund. Took legal action but the solicitor didn't really want to know and took months to reply. I ended up losing thousands on that car as I needed to get a replacement that worked. So yes, spouting the CRA is all well and good if the dealer plays ball but if they don't, you're stuffed. It's so hard to find an honest dealer who wants to make an honest profit and doesn't want to rip you off one way or another. This is why your channel is so popular. I wish you were local to me :)
But James your case was cast iron , they only got away with it because you did not move forward. I can't see if they ended up in court how you would have lost.
That's exactly my experience of the CRA, Your rights don't stand for anything unless the dealer plays ball or if the dealer does NOT play ball, you're willing AND able to deal with litigation from a stress standpoint but also being able to wait the amount of time required to get it resolved.
@@ChopsGarage This is true in theory, but in practical terms unscrupulous dealers know if they wait long enough, most buyers will sadly have to give up due to lack of funds, the need of a working car and to be quite honest stress. It was a hugely stressful episode for me over a period of 6 months.
Very interesting, I have a 15 reg Panda that's just easily passed another MOT, as far as I can tell there's not a single thing wrong with it. I'd happily let a dealer test it all they want if in part-ex. I would genuinely be uncomfortable trying to hide a fault,as this video explains it's ultimately self defeating and can rebound on you. Plus I just hate dishonesty, I think I definitely would buy a used car from this man!
Don't do part exchange, tell your customers they can get a better price selling it privately or offer them a derisory amount .You might lose one or two customers but you'll save yourself time and money .
Hand on heart I've never traded a car in with a problem like to think I look after my cars, alot of the time when I trade a car in its spurr of the moment, I'll be looking on Autotrader then all of a sudden I've got rid. I've never taken a car back when it's had a problem as even a 4 years old 320d 57 plate I'd had the car maybe 6 - 8 weeks when it started over heating I got it fixed then traded it in within a month. I genuinely don't think you would sell a car with a problem. Infact my Mrs is using my car at the moment if by chance you have something on the channel I won't hesitate to buy a motor of you and we live in Leeds over 200 miles away.
There are people where no one needs to tell them whats right or wrong, their conscience does it for them. And unfortunately its the rest that means good people like yourself get less for your good car.
Problem is, your a diamond in the rough. Most car dealers are crooks, the horror stories are vast about fly by night , set up 2 weeks ago car dealers trying to make a quick quid from the general public. Your one of those dealers, swimming against the tide, your not any of those things, your probably too honest in most of your videos. I also say, you can’t always predict if a car is going to fail, and what sets you aside is, your willingness to put things right. Most dodgy dealers don’t care about their reputation, but you do. If I was going tell one of my grown up children to buy a run about, I would certainly send them your way. Keep up the good honest work, it’s refreshing.
James, I accept what you say, and you are probably the most honest car dealer I've ever come across and would rightly expect the same in return...I get it....However dealers DO sell cars with faults. A main dealer sold me a car with dodgy gearbox, but did they tell me it had been previously repaired...Nah not a chance (It ended up having a new gearbox fitted and 7 weeks of hassle and the intervention of Trading standards). Daughters boyfriend bought a car recently (no P/x)...within two days the car was in a local garage for £800 worth of repairs!! (fortunately they were reimbursed)....Just saying!
@@ChopsGarage Yes, but for it to work 'both ways' then the dealers should mention faults too...but chose not to. When I buy a used car to some extent expect faults, I bought a grand vitara recently the main dealer never mentioned the worn out front brakes! Am glad I had it delivered rather than drove the car home!!
@@Garffey You are assuming of course they were know faults. Items that show themselves immediately, fair enough, but is a dealer to know if its 2 days later after daily use, unlikely
@@ChopsGarage They told me the gearbox had been repaired at the cost of £2000 (when it failed) 'somewhere down south' they said...I pointed out perhaps they should have said (I might have walked away)...and my contract of sale was with them, not someone down south...they were trying to pass the buck and knew of the repair!
I guess the answer is to spend a little longer test driving them before deciding on what you'll give for them? But i can see that sometimes it is going to go wrong...
TBH I part exchanged a BMW 5 series estate for an BMW X5 about 6 years ago, needed to change as my back ache made it hard to get of of the estate, once looking around I manage to bump my estate car, about £5k's worth of damage, got it back from the body shop on the Friday and did the deal the following day for the X5 at the dealers showroom, it never even entered my head about mentioning the bump to the dealer, well It would not, would it? so got £28k for mine plus £15k frome me to do the deal as the X5 was £43k both pretty new at the time, only recently thought of this and realised it could not have been put on the accident database other wise the dealer would have offerd me a lot less, so punters can be deceptive, agree
A boy I work with went to view a car last month and the dealer told him about two faults and if he bought the car he would order the parts and when they arrive they would go and collect the car and leave him with a courtesy car. So the boy bought the car but the dealer still haven't gotten back to him and the mot is up in june and it won't pass the with the fault.
Not always the case I bought a Range Rover for 15k backed by warranty and AA approved garage and inspection and no advisory MOT 2 days after delivery noticed faults took to garage quoted circa £8k to fix variety of issues / garage not interested wouldn’t return calls / letters sent under consumer rights no reply this went on over a month then complained to AA etc they also did nothing / carried on the legal process garage wouldn’t communicate / my solicitor advised that with costs for court etc no guarantee of getting money back as likely to not own assets on forcourt /stock etc after bit more reserch the mot centre unit next door to dealer owned by brother of dealer which was reported for dodgy MOT given some issues should have been noted leaking shocks etc etc in the end cut my losses not worth the hassle traded the car and made dealer aware of faults
I was sold a car by a well known main dealer. I wasn’t given the opportunity to test drive as it was during covid and in any case I would have lost the deposit I’d paid to have the car moved down to my location. I had gone for that car because it had a significantly higher spec than the standard model and priced accordingly. Given that it had been driven from Morecambe to Manchester, there was ample opportunity to check that the A/C and cruise control work! Classic case of a dealer hiding behind T’s and C’s! No doubt someone passed it on to them in that condition but it’s beside the point, the 2 issues would have cost them no more than £100 to put right while they had to do other work to the car anyway
Covid or no Covid, I’d never buy a car that I can’t test.. and a deposit made by credit or debit card can be disputed if you are denied a test drive. I’m not saying you were wrong, you are clearly more trusting than I am.
AC and cruise control £100? What planet are you on? AC could easily be £500-600+ and cruise £300+ depending on the issue, perhaps 5-6x that if adaptive radar issue
@@Mikeb1001 Yes, and why do you think the AC needs regassed? Oh yes, because it's leaking, so there is a fault somewhere. E.g. leak at compressor or condenser. Is the cruise really just a switch, or is that what a diagnostic is saying? Etc. etc. I'm not implying that the garage shouldn't fix them, but you're absolutely crazy if you think you can classify such fixes as instantly simple and cheap, until you've done investigation of the causes
For balance, some Dealers are better judges of character and cars, so they will end up with far fewer lemons as a percentage of the part-exchange vehicles that they take in ...
As a long time subscriber, I wouldn't exactly call it rant, although I do think it lacked the usual balance from James. A few of the statements were positioned as facts i.e. black and white statements), when in reality there are grey areas in the real world when it comes to the CRA.
I love my car and make sure it gets anything it needs but unfortunately there are many dishonest people in the world who will lie. So these people ruin it for us genuine sellers.
@@ChopsGarage OK mate, thought they'd p exd it with you, your sort of obliged to take everything from them, so it's rough with the smooth, just hope good vastly outways the bad.
I bought a VW up in Jan ,the EML has appeared twice , the last one 3 days ago . It came up as Lambda sensor fault , they have cleared the codes , and the car drives fine . Do i need to asked them to replace the sensor ? I suppose it may not appear again ? Would that be covered under warranty ? Love your channel by the way..👍
This one is bain of my life! Yes the code will keep coming back as its reading an imbalance in the emissions. Does it need replacing? Well over rich mixture could damage your cat convertor and only a new sensor is going to fix this. And the sensor should be covered yes. That said my swift does this every 3 months or so , I stick a cleaner in it and just run it and live with it.
I agree with a lot that your saying but as a trader who relays on cheap part ex main dealer cars my opinion is that most are genuine cars and if there cheeked thoroughly before bought most issues are known don't get me wrong I've been done on a few cars but in this current market a spares and repairs banger with a few months mot on is £1000 all day unfortunately this is the market for cars and alot of customers don't mind little jobs or for instants the 5 gear popping out customers will live with stuff like that for the right price in my case honesty is the policy... and as for actions anything with a few months mot and under 100k miles is stupid money.... there's definitely money to be earned in the lower market cars anything I've listed under £1000 sells within a day
@@ChopsGarage as you said spares or repairs most cars a grand to 1500 quid have some sort of issues could be very little issues but like you say you can't test drive everything for weeks on end to find them so when ever I list something under 1500 it's normal spares or repairs the paperwork will say the same thing and the customer is buying it fully aware it's been sold as spares or repairs it's how I cover my own ass mate like I said above most people buying these sort of cars only except them to last 6 months to a year and then they'll part ex them and do the same thing over from my experience anyways....it's hard times atm and these sub 1500 pound cars sell stupid quick
@@ChopsGarage I allow them to test drive them on my private land and 99% of them have some recovered by us and a lower rate to there home address the 1% that don't sort there own transportation out that said I'm not in control of what they do once the car is home or outside my gates I cover my own behind either way and most customers understand this issue
i have similar problem on grande punto when i bay them. when you remove leather on gear stick,you can see plastick lever,that lever can rotate 180 degres,and that is service mod,when you change two cabels for gear seslections, mine was in that position,and cause problems to shift in 5 gear. when I rotate back on default position all problems disaper.
Would you be able to do a video about trade sales as I don't understand it.ive seen garages selling cars advertised as a trade sale to the public.do we have the same rights buying one of them as we would buying a normal car from a dealer?
I got burned £1900 from car dealer vwfox 57 plate needs brakes all round i asked him why handbrake wasn't on and in gear he said just to be safe on the hill now more money it's going to cost
Does it really need brakes all round or is that a , while we are there scenario? Cars rarely need alat once. Trouble is 2007 is now 17 years old , those cars should only ever be sold as is same as private sale with people knowing there will be a spend.
Very good video as usual, funny and all very true. It will always be so, unless miraculously, the rogue dealers change their ways and overnight become as honest as you, and equally miraculously, joe public magnanimously decides he will not try and get the most he can for his clapped out motor
So, a part exchanger should be on the hook for six months for un-declared faults. That would even out the position perfectly. As a person that trades in 15 year old ( or higher) cars for another it does not bother me. I usually get £200 trade in. Presumably the dealer scraps it.
That would be amazing, can you imagine! See I think private sales carry far to little protection as well. I think they should carry 30 day return rights. I would change the playing field overnight!
@@ChopsGarage Actually they can have issues if the balljoints are worn and/or the mounts are worn on the engine/gearbox. I wouldn't be too quick to think its the gearbox. Also take a look at the selector arm on top of the gearbox, has the nut come loose on it? I've seen 4 or 5 of these with selector issues. Although the brakes are a pain as the drums are quite tricky to work on with the pandas, the hub is in an awkward spot for the springs and adjuster and often cheap brake parts are fitted to them and calipers not greased...the usual stuff. Very rarely seen faulty gearboxes though..just thought it worth mentioning is all :) By far and away the biggest issue with pandas IMHO has always been the bl**dy power steering!
@@andrewhoult but would it not be a case that all gear were effected as the cables control forward backward and left to right. The love a box mate btw, I have a direct line with a guy who rebuilds them, had about 6 or 7 in 2 years. But see I have heard of the steering but never had that.
@@ChopsGarage Only in the sense of say the cable being snapped in which case yep obviously you'll lose gears altogether. I meant a cable selection issue in the sense of 'adjustment' , 'play' or engine/gearbox mountings allowing for movement in relation to the selector mechanism and of course the actual selector arm on top of the gearbox, the nut can come loose and then you don't get the full range of movement. Its also possible for the selector arm to have been moved in the past and then tightened down I suppose but that would be rare. Lastly there's also the balljoint cups at the end where they go on the selector which can get worn, again not allowing the full range of movement and it pops back out of gear again. Its definitely the most likely issue as if its gearbox related otherwise then I'd assume bent selector arm/fork which would take some doing on those as they are not directly connected to the gear selector like in old cars for example. The fiats can need gearboxes but then ones I've heard of its usually layshaft bearings, you'll hear it whining as you go through the gears. Its a relatively quick check to go through mountings, balljoint cups and selector arm movement though before going for a gearbox. I'd definitely give it a look.
If the car was fine they wouldn't be getting a new one. I always thought if you didn't part exchange they would probably give you £200 off a £22.5k car anyway and save the hassle of dealing with your old car.
Indeed. After spending £££ on different fixes to get my wife's car running properly, I eventally admitted defeat on anyone being able to get to the bottom of. Given the fault was intermittent but VERY dangerous when it occured, I decided to scrap the vehciel rather than part-ex it whilst purchasing a replacement. Although it left me out a bit out of pocket, it did mean that the dealer wasn't stuck with a lemon that they might palm off onto some unsuspecting sucker and the vehicle (parts) will go on to live another life once the vehicle once stripped down.
Its a really weird one. It was sold, chap came to get it ,started smoking after starter stick for second. So said ok , sold him the Volvo instead and park Panda up. Ran codes nothing other than a Can Bus type code. Cleared it, started car , no smoke at all! So turned it off. Came back out started it (start stuck again first time but then started) , smoke again!! Smells like over fuelling.
@@ChopsGarage unless it's water in the pots locking up the engine, depends on smoke colour mate, looks like it's not great tho whatever, I'm in agreement with you about p exs there usually the worst, main dealer ones are better as they've probably got some money to maintain it, we tend to get the nightmare ones that have been bought on FB and are riddled with faults, tbh I'm reluctant to take em in, there's always another straight sale customer round the corner.
@@roystonvehicles9129 True! The smoke smells like fuel and is only happening after the starter motor sticks. If it fires right away it runs clean as a whistle. I am thinking the ecu is over fueling after the starter sticks somehow
@@ChopsGarage could be an injector sticking open, could be locking the engine up, tbh it's probably not viable, brakes, starter, clutch, gearbox, running problems, hope you didn't give much for it bud, I've known traders who'd go and get their car back if they'd been stiffed.
@@ChopsGarage faulty temp sender usually causes rich running mate, your probably chasing your tail on this one tbh, you can call the auction up and they'll give you a valuation, usually bottom cap, might do a bit more, but as your miles from your auction it's a problem, e Bay listing faults is another way, but I know you've had problems that way,
More derv discussions cold to warm well said. I love knock them down on diesel Px. I’d rather not have it than do. On an 0303 polo on 50k I had to play it super cool give extra 50. So wanted that stock. Ran around block gave them all money in world. Never take in strong S.I.value heavy old german or JLR similars diesels.
Here's a example for some thought. I have a 20 plate Focus and in the summer, the air coming through the vents on cold is around 7 degrees warmer than the outside temp and it's a right pain, as I'm not really a aircon kinda guy. If a Ford reset doesn't cure it, I might lose it, as another 2 years of it doesn't excite me, but is it a fault I should declare?
Hi James did you follow up on the fiat I sent you details of pal, the low mileage one I came across on Facebook at 38k miles, thought right up your street mate, another excellent tutorial on cars, cheers 👌
That’s why when you buy a part ex car you ask about a warranty! Never buy a car with out a warranty… as if the car is crap.. you take it back and they fix it or full refund!
erm...... 6 month consumer rights??..... Personally, your comment is not accurate and gives the impression there is an automatic 6 month warranty. I'm a motor trader myself. Actually, the customer has to prove that there was an existing fault prior to purchase. There is a considered average mileage of 590 miles a month informed by the DVLA. If the buyer has exceeded the DVLA's self imposed average mileage then fair wear and tear is something that is very applicable and fair game. For example, I had a customer who bought a 207 with the PSA prince engine in it. The customer covered 12000 miles in 6 months. The air con failed. This was absolutely fair wear and tear. I could have refused this. Out of good will I replaced the compressor, but then 2 months later, the thermostat failed. At 18000 miles. The customer paid for the thermostat and I fitted the part again out of good will, and was 8 months outside of purchase date. But again, I could have refused that customer on both counts. I had another customer who had a Fiat 500. In 3 months they had covered 6000 miles and new wishbones and drop links were completely decimated. I refused this repair as they had put 4230 miles in excess of the DVLA assumed average mileage marker for that vehicle. If you sell a car with all the faults declared then the CRA 2015 is not applicable. I personally don't have a single issue with any of my vehicles and have excellent 5 star feedback so I am speaking from a position of experience. B2B is standard practice for disposing of trade vehicles and if a buyer declares they are a business in good faith, no comeback either. Advert states, to be removed at buyers risk then the caveat emptor applies when described as sold as seen. Part exchanges are a nightmare, but so is any car bought from BCA UKCGR and most auctions. Some of the best cars i've had are from PX. You get to see the vehicle, drive it, get a feel for who the owner is and was. You can refuse the PX. It sounds like you paid too much for the Panda TBH, I always factor in the wishbones, drop links, rear shocks, and gearbox/clutch.
Nothing I stated was incorrect. You have stated an inaccuracy right away which is that the Customer has to prove it was a fault at point of sale within 6 months. That's not true it's the Dealer that has to prove it was not a fault at sale within the first 6 months not the customer. It's after 6 months the customer has to prove. The law sets out no mileage limitations that's up to you to argue in court what is fair wear n tear there is not guidance in the CRA. I'm not doubting what you have done and been able to reasonably reject but none of that is set in the law I have discussed here.
When you trade in lowish price cars, the part exes are usually always going to be sheds. If you ask them if there are any faults, look at the body language. Ask why there selling and always do a full test drive or offer scrap money if you can't, pending satisfactory test drive.
quick question for you,there are a lot of part time dealers who operate from home and many sell their cars as sold as seen.have i got the same rights as i would if i bought from a garage?
So, in this instance where a small car dealer has a problem car, can they or their family/employees just sell it privately and have no come backs? That’s the only way I can see out of it
They could, possibly but morally it would be wrong and they is a good chance that trading standards would still pursue a case if it were sold from a traders home even if the wife sold it for example
I have been in the motor trade for over 30 years and although I have never worked in a main dealer I have worked in garages servicing and repairing vehicles. Car dealers have a bad reputation for a reason. There are good dealers out there but I have seen first hand cars sold to people and the issues which they knew fine well about when selling the cars. There are still so many cowboys out there who chance their arm selling junk knowing that a large percentage of the people out there have never heard of the consumer rights act and what rights they have by law.
I know you go above and beyond making sure your cars are as good as they can be and sell them for a lower price than you could get but unfortunately from what I have seen over the years that is not the real world. Love your channel, always great content.
Unfortunately I have to agree. I know a few excellent car dealerships but know too many that go for maximum profit and don't really care about their customers. They offer pennies on quality trade-ins and ask top dollar for their cars on the forecourts. Most trade-ins older than a certain age go straight to auction or off loaded to other dealers anyway.
See I don't deny what you are saying but obviously deal with a network of used dealers and to the man/woman they are constantly going over and about fixing silly stuff. I think there is the idea that all dealers can tell a spring will break in 100 miles so when it does it was a known fault and that they are all the best mechanics know to mankind and can just listen to an engine and know a egr light will come up in 1000 miles. Which leads to the assumption the sold trouble.
What a moan…..who’s to say that your “main dealer” source was made aware by the customer, but they’ve not told you ?
@@danwedderburn5550 think you mean
You’re
@@gp7538 well said, I like chops, but he buys scrappers off of a main dealer a 13 year old car what does he expect
Works both ways chops, I know you are genuine and honest, but so many dodger dealers out there.
You've made many good points, although in this particular case the owner may not have known of the fifth gear issue if they had only used the car once a week around town to do the shopping, maybe an elderly person for example. That said, Chops Garage is a fine example of how dealers should present and trade cars, so hold your head up high.
Many thanks
I agree
just putting in a shitty used gearbox is such a bad idea. It's probably an easy fix for a gearbox mechanic to have a look at and fix. maybe just some sleeve from the selector mechanism thats worn out.
My late father in law, who started his engineering career in the motor trade, regarded all second hand cars that were traded in as someone else's trouble.
I bought a locally registered to me Laguna from a big EH stealership that had reportedly had full Renault service service history and it's cam belt done by the local dealers...When I contacted them they hadn't done the work at all..Evans Halshite offered to do the cambelt at a "special" price that was only £150 more expensive than the main dealer..Sadly it works both ways...some c**t at Evans had ticked a load of boxes to raise it's value...they haven't...and never,ever will see another penny of mine.
Evans Halshaw in Coventry tried to sell me a 14 plate Astra with no V5
I think you're spot on with this video James, although I will say like others have said there are a lot of sharks out there, people who literally don't care what they sell if there's a quid in it for them, and they will try anything to get away with it. You're one of the most honest dealers I've ever seen from all the videos I've watched, but there is definitely a murky underbelly in the car trade (as in most trades I guess) with people who really don't care how they make money.
There is a minority bud yes
Was a small garage so my own fault for not walking away
All good points made, I bought a Dacia Duster DCI recently from a local dealer, I was on the cusp of ordering a brand new one when the dealer had a 2015 one come in with all the bells and whistles and had a smidge over 10k miles, I thought great, I'd be able to get a virtually new one for half the price, my part exchange was a 2009 VW that had never skipped a beat and was religiously serviced albeit by myself DIY after 60k and although the part exchange offer was low there's always the rule of thumb to leave enough profit in it for the next guy and going back a few years I'd have been lucky to get scrap value on it.
Low and behold the day I picked up the new one I managed barely 40 miles before the injectors failed, a fault that only became apparent after sustained driving. The dealer was clearly embarrassed given the condition of the rest of the car but he got it recovered from where it had failed, replaced the injectors and then put 200 miles on it to be certain there were no other faults, I could tell he was clearly gutted as a massive chunk of the profit was eaten away from the bill to repair it.
Compare that to a main dealership, years ago I had a Mercedes and the folding mirrors failed, when I collected it one of the mirror glasses was cracked and the main dealership said unless I had concrete proof that the glass was intact when I dropped it off they weren't going to honour any repairs.
Sounds like the difference between a smaller dealership and a chain. Glad to hear they looked after you and good to see you recognise there is no way they could of known the fault. Its not how you fall down but how you get up as they say!
Actually the couple of times I part-exed with a main dealer I wasn't asked if it had any faults (it didn't) and they didn't ask for the service book (though I left it anyway). They just didn't care as they knew it was going to be offloaded to another dealer or to auction anyway.
Quite possibly
Same here. Absolutely no interest at all. The last one I offered all the receipts (Mazda don't do hard copies of the service book so I didn't have that), but the dealer said he was not allowed to take them due to GDPR issues. It was good though, front brakes stuck, so that needed attention. I must say I was quite surprised, but there you are. My son's seen it on the road recently, so it is still fine.
Very good video with great points. It’s the dealers who masquerade as private sellers that are the problem, and a huge number of cars advertised as private sale are traders. I always avoid any car advertised as private unless it’s registered to the seller and I can see it at the address on the V5, also I avoid any dealer with “trade” in the name of the business.. there are exceptions to this obviously, but it’s safer to just exclude any dealer with trade in the title. “XYZ trade sales” in my experience means shady dealer and crappy car with deceptive ads.. that’s been by own experience.
Very good advice
In the good old days, before I started in the motor trade, I went to view an Escort with a friend at a used car site. The dealer had two, both dark blue, one was F reg. and one was G reg. (68 and 69). The body on the older car was rough but, as an incentive, the dealer offered to swap the plates between the two but my friend declined. Instead he put down a deposit on a Triumph 1300 after the dealer promised to get the bodywork 'sorted' and car MOT'd within two weeks. A month later the car hadn't moved and when requested a refund the answer was 'not refundable'. It took the AA and a lot of threats from my friends family before his deposit was returned.
Nice video! I bought a Panda from a dealer in Lymington called Hills Prestige last year. The dealer won't let me test drive it, quoting "dealer insurance won't cover clients". The dealer listed it as "the best of its kind" and it was sold at a premium price. When I picked it up, I discovered the window regulator was faulty and the clutch slave cylinder was gone! He never mentioned that to me. As part of the negotiation, he agreed the car would be in "good repair order" upon handover, which obviously isn't the case! I reported the issues within 30 days (Consumer rights act 2015), put fuel in it and brought it back to the dealer. He fixed the window but left the clutch slave cylinder untouched. When I went to pick it up, he made it sound as if he did me a big favour and refused to pay me back for my travel expenses due to this rectification. Really dodgy dealer with that little professional attitude. It really is certain individuals like that, which gave the trade a bad name! 😟
Shame when you meet these types.
Very good advice, my dad always said to me when I was buying a 2nd hand car, the person b4 u has sold it for a reason, u now have to work out why!!!
Always watch your channel and love it...there aren't many dealers as honest as you. I've been buying cars new and used for over forty years and have been stiffed a few times and been ripped off more than once... take a look at the reviews for a large national company like The Trade Centre??
I have had some of their auctions cars , awful
I had a gear box change on a 42,000 ml Panda. But they put a 1.1 box in a 1.2. Goes like stink till you get to 60mph. :)
Saying it as it is - true fully told by James, owner of Chops garage. If only there were more dealers like James!! Respect. ✊👍👏🚙🚘🚗
Many thanks!
I had a phase-1 Citroen C4 that was rubbish. Fed up with multiple issues, so decided to give up on it. Took it in for part-ex against MG ZT and admitted it was rubbish, but still got a good deal. Perhaps fact it was still well in warranty was a factor - but I'd simply had enough of it. This was in 2007, still got the ZT.
James you are absolutely right, especially from a small dealer perspective where a handful of disaster px’s could kill profitability.
One aspect which your channel confirms over and over again is the relatively low price you pay for mechanical repairs for essential work, rather than what us punters are often quoted for work that may, or may not, be essential. As a dealer you can use your knowledge and contacts to send a repaired and trust worthy car out the door and make money on the margin.
My dealings with both Hyundai and Vauxhall main dealers; they use the same annual safety check report ‘formula’ to scare the pants off the average person into thinking their cars are about to cost them a fortune. They are clearly using the annual service as an opportunity to trigger a sale or drive business into their workshop. The ‘safety report’ quotation for mechanical work is, to all intents and purposes, what would be required to bring the car back to as new condition. This and other “we’ve spotted x so you’ll need this work done soon” from garages angling for work unfortunately does much to trigger the part exchange of cars that in fact need relatively little work to be sold with an advisory free MOT. (Hopefully you get more of these).
Consequently, I would feel entirely guilt free ‘unloading’ a duff car on a main dealer as it is almost 100 percent certain they would just send it to auction, and they have done their best to psychologically pressure me on an annual basis to empty my wallet into their cash tills within a year or two of the manufacturers warranty expiring.
I have since learned my lesson and have used a trusted mechanic (my version of Moore’s!) for all of my car when they are out of warranty and would only buy from dealers who care or offer a very good warranty if they don’t. If you were anywhere near me you would get all of my business James, unfortunately trusted car dealers are three words that rarely appear in the same sentence around here.
No surprise cynical customers, who feel exploited by the motor trade, keep quiet about faults both real and trumped up by other people in the motor trade! Vicious circle.
There are dealers and there are dealers, same with customers.
My view is it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
And there are shades of grey e.g. main dealers vs. small dealers where the former has access to internal workshop facilities etc. (where they regularly charge silly amounts to customers i.e. ripping them off)
I totally understand your argument, BUT effectively you have bought that car in the same way the main dealer took it in. So, the main dealer has treated you in the same way the private punter treated them. Your fault is that you should have had the opportunity to give it a proper test drive, as you know it was probably a defective car - then you have the decision to either reject it of beat the dealer down. After all he probably had good margin on the car he sold to the private punter. I fully understand you need to have a relationship with main dealers and take the good with the bad, but that does not mean you have to be the person with the problem when the music stops !!!! Maybe you buy too high and sell too low, which I think is evident from your previous comments about your selling prices ? I really enjoy your videos and can see you are an honest car dealer and are trying to dispel the stories and help the general public. I would buy a car from you, if I needed one in this price range.
See this is the point most seem to be missing. The arguement is that its up to the dealer to catch the con rather than the punter be honest. I disagree with that premise. Lets say you had bought this car from a dealer without a CRA in position. You should simply eat it? It was up to you to catch the con? It might he lawful for punters to do it but does not make it morraly right
@@ChopsGarage I agree just because something is legal doesn’t make it morally right, there seems to be an attitude of us against them and that it’s ok to pass a defective vehicle on dishonestly as long as it’s to a dealer. I don’t treat a dealer any different to a private buyer when I sell a vehicle as a private seller. The Dishonest dealers help people justify the way they treat all dealers.
We would all like a retail ready car for 1.5k below retail money. Buying anything needs checking out, it's just you don't have the chance to, when buying from a main dealer. I'm not a hater, I love the channel James. Your a rare breed. I've been turned over by dealers before,and lost a few pennies. I only buy new now because of it.
But thats the point. Its on 1500 as a rule as its expected they will be hundreds in repair.
The riskiest cars are those worth £3000. Because if you sell it privately, buyer is protected. So lots of these PX's end up with undeclared traders, selling them in small ads, at £2995.
As for the Fiat shown I purchased one 2009 MY, in 2013 One owner, high mileage (at time, 72,000) we still own it done 90,000 now. Both my Son's had it as first car. It has been brilliant. Cost me £2400 cash. BTW you can put a 1.1 Active Eco Panda in fifth at less than 30 MPH it will poodle along, around town. The one shown must have had a 'Clarkson' type owner.
? You are not protected if you buy it privately, there is zero protection. Only retail sales have protection by law.
The fifth gear pop-out problem is usually low gearbox oil level. Had that a while back with my old Escort. It actually leaked all the oil slowly away
I have never heard of that , might be worth a look
@@ChopsGarage i thought it was something worse aswell, i had to hold it in 5th gear for about 400kms 😅 but then afterwards the added oil completely fixed it, never had any issues again with it
@@ThePeca1988 Well cheap to try!
@@ChopsGarage Did you try it?
I went to look at a car at a dealers and I noticed the front brake discs looked like they needed changing so I searched the mot history and they failed on them being dangerous but the same day it was passed and the brakes haven't been changed but there's no mention of the brakes.
I had that . reported to vosa ...All the forecourt got inspected again buy vosa road inspectors...
Many dealers have a 'tame' MOT testing station that they go to for a small 'consideration'. I remember asking dealers if I could see the ticket but they said it would be done tomorrow if you want to buy it!
I once looked at a car on the forecourt of a major brand dealership. It had bald tyres, a puddle of "fluid" under the engine and another by the rear wheel under the car. When he started the car the exhaust was blowing.
We declined the "test drive" which was him driving the car with us in it and walked away. We then went 20 years without a car.
Most dealers do not mot until sale and due to volume they do most garages will squeeze it in following day. Does not mean dodgy to be fair
Most dealer policies won't allow unaccompanied test drives
Great content as usual. I don't want to add to anymore woes, but the car has two different size door mirrors. I think the offside is the updated version whilst the nearside is the old style.
Yes Is spotted that, quite commont had few times
I disagree, Ive part ex'd a couple of cars before & the dealer seems to take a second long look at from 10 meters away to make sure its not a wreck & then just offers you the going rate. Yeah, you cant do a cold start check cause the customer drove to your garage but you can go over the car the same way the public can when they go to buy a car off someones driveway. Why wouldnt you go through all the gears? You can put it in 5th at 30/40mph, just checking the function of the gearbox.
There has to be a reason why im my experience the dealer doesnt give a crap what state your PX is in. Ive never tried to dump a broken car on a dealer but ive had a dealer try to sell me a car with 4 delaminated tyres that he had stuck the flaps of rubber down & slapped tyre dressing all over them to hide the problem. I had a 200 mile drive home, he knew it & was prepared to scam me & put me at risk of having a crash over a few hundred pounds profit...& this dealer supposedly had a good reputation in the car scene.
But what you have to consider is that you are the exception not the rule and that the dealer you dealt with on the bad car is also. I'm not working from experience you can count on one hand remember but on literally hundreds and hundreds of deals.
@@ChopsGarage Im pretty sure that car had decent wheels on it & they swapped them out for ones with corroded valves & delaminated tyres. When I go to see a car I assume they are hiding something & check the car as best I can. If I have the chance to check anything I want to & even have the chance to have a pro check the car over too before I pay if I wanted, its on me if I miss something. By not checking the car fully as a dealer you are missing out on the chance to negotiate down on their part ex?! A lot of these cars people have part ex'd in youtube videos are filthy & disgusting inside & look like trash, I dont see how you can afford not to go over the cars properly before doing the deal.
I love a good James rant, and as usual you speak the truth in your polite way. I've always looked at part-ex as the easiest way to 'sell' a vehicle, however it's also for the least money. The dealer doesn't necessarily want a part-ex, beause (as you've explained before) their profit is then tied up and at risk until that PX is sold and turns out to be decent. Every second-hand car is a car that someone doesn't want any more, sometimes for undeclared reasons. It's all about risk management isn't it, and part of being a business owner is minimising your exposure to risk. I wouldn't want to be a car dealer for anything; it's a tough job, and then you have to deal with the public! Hats off to you mate for keeping it real.
As long as the engine and gearbox are good I am very easy to please - cheaper cars are something you expect stuff to happen with.
A lot of car dealers, not all, in my experience will offer you bottom dollar part ex whether you bring something decent in or what turns out a pile of crap. So over the years the race to the bottom has manifested itself, and many people just bring in stuff that needs work they can't be arsed with. Market forces in action I guess.
Well the dealers offer even less than we buy any car. And for what they offer in most cases I'd rather scrap it. To me they would offer £1k for a £3k car and even then they would try and knock it down even further.
But this was my point, when you start most cars look decent and the buyer honest, but after a few burns you assume the worse on ALL so bid low on all
3k in what market? Retail? If a car is £3k retail it will need to be £1500 trade just to make £500 after all costs.
It's quite a while since I bought a car from a dealer, but I remember it turned out to have a dud temperature gauge. It emerged that the dealer hadn't done a PDI and wasn't interested in fixing it. Fortunately I had purchased a warranty. Once I told the warranty company that the dealer didn't do PDIs and was simply gambling with their money and lying about doing the inspections, they suddenly came all over co-operative!
Completely agree with you James. We just took in a Volvo C30 as part ex. Customer wanted top dollar as there was nothing to fault. Two issues we spotted whilst on a test drive and the alarm issue they didn’t tell us about but made sure they didn’t lock the car whilst doing the deal, now we can’t put it up for sale until the issue is sorted 🤦🏻♂️
Cheeky eh
Hi James,I agree with you that some people probably px something because of a problem that they know about but then some might not know about an issue but I personally think that dealers have a bad reputation is because that unfortunately lots of them are not like you and are honest about everything and will spend money even after the car is sold and paid for,I know it was years a long time ago but when I was younger every car dealer was dodgy and I personally took a car back as there was a problem with the steering rack with I had an independent garage tell me there was a problem buy the dealer said there was nothing wrong with it and they were not going to take the car back or give me my money back so I went into the showroom and started telling everyone in there don't buy from these as they are dodgy and obviously got kicked out so I rang trading standards and she told me if I take to court I will win but doesn't mean the garage will give me the money back so I'd have had to pay for court and still not got any money back so I know what it's like to not trust car dealers but its a real shame as genuine dealers like yourself get labeled with the dodgy ones,as long as you keep doing what you do you'll be fine🙂👍
If all cars were good, we wouldn't need dealers. Dealers exist to assume risk.
When the public sell a used car to a car dealer, that is effectively a trade sale. The car dealer does not pay retail for the car, they pay the trade price.
With a trade deal, there's no come back, there's no test drive, no warranty, no nothing. You buy it as is for trade price, clean it up, sort out any problems and then sell it for retail price, hopefully making a decent profit, fingers crossed.
Let's reframe this: How about you consider how you feel as a trader when a customer comes up and wants to buy a car at trade price as a pseudo-trader, then expects a test drive etc.?
I don't doubt there are scummy people who pull a fast one on car dealers, but that's how the car trade works: Dealers buy cars cheap and assume risk. Customers pay retail and get customer protection. (Context: I've just watched your video "This guy was trouble from the start!" which tells the story as I reframed it.)
Brilliantly explained James for all the numpties out there!!!! Now get back to preping cars and ripping people off🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I've gone to main dealers and what they offered was so bad and I suspected this dealer was hawking my car around dealers whilst I was on a test drive and was probably trying to make money off it too .If your car is half decent and doesn't have finance sell it privately if dealers want it they can come to you.
The only way round it is to offer a price that you know you can get out of it, ie trade or auction, any higher is over allowance from the profit, hopefully you allowed 350/400 quid mate.
As a tech in other area (electronics) would say big issue is lack of honesty, general public also have issue of just not knowing in many instances what the ins and outs are, main dealers don't help as they often don't behave in a professional manner. My experence is small repairers/dealers are usually good and if you have good experience stick with them, running a car costs money, no way around that but some people always want to stick others with the bill which is dishonest which is were we came in. Things wear out and or break especially if not looked after or poorly treated.
Any car ever made will start to wear its component parts from the first time it's used, the degree of wear at any specific mileage will depend on its quality, maintenance and the way it is driven. All component parts wear of a car wear at different rates so it's only logical to assume that there is only so much life left in these components before they need to be changed. With this in mind it's only logical that car dealers will only offer a lower trade in price on the deal or a above average on the new car so that the difference covers his risk and gives him a profit as he is doing it for a living and not to please a third party.
But then, i am sure they'll be plenty of cars that are part-ex in, and their really good and need little to no money on repairs, etc.
Its just that the owners want a simple transaction.
It's all a game,everyone assumes everyone else is not telling the full story, so adjusts their pricing when buying.love used cars.
True
Looked at a car a few weeks back, had an enegine code so asked for it to be sorted (otherwise car grerat) was told that if wanted to, buy it and sort though warranty! I moved on oddly enough.
We I guess at least they were upfront before cash exchanged
My first car was a Skoda Fabia, generally considered to be a well made car, which was bought from a car dealer and when I got it the reverse lights didn't work, screen washer didn't work, the front suspension had knocks, it constantly wanted to steer left and the handbrake was so worn out you could easily drive with it almost fully engaged. So already there's at least 3 MOT failures already. When it came to MOT time a few months later it cost me nearly £500 to get it through. It was 12 years old and only had 1 previous owner and around 64000 miles which is probably why they thought they could sell it for such a laughable price, and of course my dad is the sort of person who thinks cars with anymore than 2 owners is a bad car for some reason.
Knowing what I know about cars now I wouldn't have paid any more than a third of what the dealer sold it to us for. That was the last time I bought a car from a dealer.
I never traded or sold a car that I knew had a fault, always have the car serviced before I sell it.
Very good of you shame not everyone does
I had little zusuki would jump out of 5th it was just low on gearbox oil. Topped it up added bottle stp gearbox treatment did anther 3 years and 40k till my sister drove it into flood and trashed it
Do you find the reports accompanying auction cars can be relied upon to reveal most faults? I don't imagine an auction would test sufficiently to reveal a fault such as jumping out of fifth gear.
No not at all, assume the worse
They only test them stood or in first gear, they lie anyway, reports useless.
Many thanks for replies.
@@Dick-Dastardly ok
fantastic info and I totally agree that folks should be honest
part ex is a way for dealers to get cheap car and flip it.
it's a gamble. you'll get cars that are perfect and can be flipped without any work. Or you can have cars that have worked needing everywhere you look.
If you haven't assessed the car properly then that's on you. It seems the way dealers operate is charge lowball - you'll win some and you'll lose some. Just make an offer to faciilate the sale of the part ex to keep cars moving.
How much did you pay for that fiat? maybe sub £1000. So can scrap it or sell it as spares repairs for £400. At the same time, how many cars did you buy for £3500 and sell it on for £4500 within 30 days and never had a comeback and didn't need anything other than new oil and filters?
Lol!! Sorry this comment at the end there made it very clear you have no idea at all on the costs of buying and selling cars!
I have 100% respect for you well done for honestly saying about this on your channel!! If you had a car i wanted like an mx5 mk3 i would buy a car from you
I appreciate that!
Unfortunately not all dealers are as honest as yourself. I bought a car last year and immediately returned it under the CRA as it had a major problem that kept sending it into reduced power mode. The dealer denied there was a problem, called me a liar and refused a refund. Took legal action but the solicitor didn't really want to know and took months to reply. I ended up losing thousands on that car as I needed to get a replacement that worked. So yes, spouting the CRA is all well and good if the dealer plays ball but if they don't, you're stuffed. It's so hard to find an honest dealer who wants to make an honest profit and doesn't want to rip you off one way or another. This is why your channel is so popular. I wish you were local to me :)
But James your case was cast iron , they only got away with it because you did not move forward. I can't see if they ended up in court how you would have lost.
That's exactly my experience of the CRA, Your rights don't stand for anything unless the dealer plays ball or if the dealer does NOT play ball, you're willing AND able to deal with litigation from a stress standpoint but also being able to wait the amount of time required to get it resolved.
@@ChopsGarage This is true in theory, but in practical terms unscrupulous dealers know if they wait long enough, most buyers will sadly have to give up due to lack of funds, the need of a working car and to be quite honest stress. It was a hugely stressful episode for me over a period of 6 months.
@@jamesroberts4836 Im not sure why lack of funds should affect the claim its not an expensive process
Back in the day when 5 speeds weren't common I had the same, the five on the knob was filled in so it was a four speed!
Now, that's amusing ! Mind you, if it was sold without a fifth gear, is it arguable that there is therefore not actually a 'fault' ... ??.
@@Jester-Riddle well yes, good point.
Some people used to fit 5 speed knobs on 4 speed cars to get a better price!
If you sold it as 4 speed then its as described
@@ChopsGarage probably did mate, it was all back in the day, probably £295 taxed and tested.
Very interesting, I have a 15 reg Panda that's just easily passed another MOT, as far as I can tell there's not a single thing wrong with it. I'd happily let a dealer test it all they want if in part-ex. I would genuinely be uncomfortable trying to hide a fault,as this video explains it's ultimately self defeating and can rebound on you. Plus I just hate dishonesty, I think I definitely would buy a used car from this man!
Don't do part exchange, tell your customers they can get a better price selling it privately or offer them a derisory amount .You might lose one or two customers but you'll save yourself time and money .
Personally I do as a rule
Hand on heart I've never traded a car in with a problem like to think I look after my cars, alot of the time when I trade a car in its spurr of the moment, I'll be looking on Autotrader then all of a sudden I've got rid. I've never taken a car back when it's had a problem as even a 4 years old 320d 57 plate I'd had the car maybe 6 - 8 weeks when it started over heating I got it fixed then traded it in within a month. I genuinely don't think you would sell a car with a problem. Infact my Mrs is using my car at the moment if by chance you have something on the channel I won't hesitate to buy a motor of you and we live in Leeds over 200 miles away.
There are people where no one needs to tell them whats right or wrong, their conscience does it for them. And unfortunately its the rest that means good people like yourself get less for your good car.
I have been in the car trade for 40 years. Everybody lies about their car. Everybody.
Yep
Problem is, your a diamond in the rough. Most car dealers are crooks, the horror stories are vast about fly by night , set up 2 weeks ago car dealers trying to make a quick quid from the general public. Your one of those dealers, swimming against the tide, your not any of those things, your probably too honest in most of your videos. I also say, you can’t always predict if a car is going to fail, and what sets you aside is, your willingness to put things right. Most dodgy dealers don’t care about their reputation, but you do. If I was going tell one of my grown up children to buy a run about, I would certainly send them your way. Keep up the good honest work, it’s refreshing.
James, I accept what you say, and you are probably the most honest car dealer I've ever come across and would rightly expect the same in return...I get it....However dealers DO sell cars with faults. A main dealer sold me a car with dodgy gearbox, but did they tell me it had been previously repaired...Nah not a chance (It ended up having a new gearbox fitted and 7 weeks of hassle and the intervention of Trading standards).
Daughters boyfriend bought a car recently (no P/x)...within two days the car was in a local garage for £800 worth of repairs!! (fortunately they were reimbursed)....Just saying!
Ah but in both case it the cost of the fault was carried by the dealer. To level the playing field should be be able to do the same on a part ex?
@@ChopsGarage Yes, but for it to work 'both ways' then the dealers should mention faults too...but chose not to.
When I buy a used car to some extent expect faults, I bought a grand vitara recently the main dealer never mentioned the worn out front brakes!
Am glad I had it delivered rather than drove the car home!!
@@Garffey You are assuming of course they were know faults. Items that show themselves immediately, fair enough, but is a dealer to know if its 2 days later after daily use, unlikely
@@ChopsGarage They told me the gearbox had been repaired at the cost of £2000 (when it failed) 'somewhere down south' they said...I pointed out perhaps they should have said (I might have walked away)...and my contract of sale was with them, not someone down south...they were trying to pass the buck and knew of the repair!
I guess the answer is to spend a little longer test driving them before deciding on what you'll give for them? But i can see that sometimes it is going to go wrong...
What’s life without risk…high risk carries higher rewards
TBH I part exchanged a BMW 5 series estate for an BMW X5 about 6 years ago, needed to change as my back ache made it hard to get of of the estate, once looking around I manage to bump my estate car, about £5k's worth of damage, got it back from the body shop on the Friday and did the deal the following day for the X5 at the dealers showroom, it never even entered my head about mentioning the bump to the dealer, well It would not, would it? so got £28k for mine plus £15k frome me to do the deal as the X5 was £43k both pretty new at the time, only recently thought of this and realised it could not have been put on the accident database other wise the dealer would have offerd me a lot less, so punters can be deceptive, agree
love ya channel mate very educating. Love ya honesty. Thanks bud
A boy I work with went to view a car last month and the dealer told him about two faults and if he bought the car he would order the parts and when they arrive they would go and collect the car and leave him with a courtesy car. So the boy bought the car but the dealer still haven't gotten back to him and the mot is up in june and it won't pass the with the fault.
Not always the case I bought a Range Rover for 15k backed by warranty and AA approved garage and inspection and no advisory MOT 2 days after delivery noticed faults took to garage quoted circa £8k to fix variety of issues / garage not interested wouldn’t return calls / letters sent under consumer rights no reply this went on over a month then complained to AA etc they also did nothing / carried on the legal process garage wouldn’t communicate / my solicitor advised that with costs for court etc no guarantee of getting money back as likely to not own assets on forcourt /stock etc after bit more reserch the mot centre unit next door to dealer owned by brother of dealer which was reported for dodgy MOT given some issues should have been noted leaking shocks etc etc in the end cut my losses not worth the hassle traded the car and made dealer aware of faults
ive got a fiat panda good car
Yes they are as a rule
I was sold a car by a well known main dealer. I wasn’t given the opportunity to test drive as it was during covid and in any case I would have lost the deposit I’d paid to have the car moved down to my location. I had gone for that car because it had a significantly higher spec than the standard model and priced accordingly. Given that it had been driven from Morecambe to Manchester, there was ample opportunity to check that the A/C and cruise control work! Classic case of a dealer hiding behind T’s and C’s! No doubt someone passed it on to them in that condition but it’s beside the point, the 2 issues would have cost them no more than £100 to put right while they had to do other work to the car anyway
Covid or no Covid, I’d never buy a car that I can’t test.. and a deposit made by credit or debit card can be disputed if you are denied a test drive. I’m not saying you were wrong, you are clearly more trusting than I am.
AC and cruise control £100? What planet are you on? AC could easily be £500-600+ and cruise £300+ depending on the issue, perhaps 5-6x that if adaptive radar issue
@@kaptinkeiff AC needs regassing, cruise is a faulty switch that costs £10
@@Mikeb1001 Yes, and why do you think the AC needs regassed? Oh yes, because it's leaking, so there is a fault somewhere. E.g. leak at compressor or condenser. Is the cruise really just a switch, or is that what a diagnostic is saying? Etc. etc. I'm not implying that the garage shouldn't fix them, but you're absolutely crazy if you think you can classify such fixes as instantly simple and cheap, until you've done investigation of the causes
For balance, some Dealers are better judges of character and cars, so they will end up with far fewer lemons as a percentage of the part-exchange vehicles that they take in ...
Yes they just distrust everyone lol
@@ChopsGarage 😂
Boy oh boy you have opened a can of worms there.Good luck with your future endeavors.👍
I know it’s a long time away is bonfire night , but everything at the bottom of your yard would make a great fire 😂
Outrageous
Hahaha 😄
thankyou James,a lot of very very interesting points that im sure will resonate with those who are guilty of said deliberate points,,👍👍
What a bugger about the gearbox . My pandas box and clutch are fine :)
A bit of a rant on this one, shame 😕
Blimey you call that a rant? Dont go out on a Friday night mate lol
As a long time subscriber, I wouldn't exactly call it rant, although I do think it lacked the usual balance from James. A few of the statements were positioned as facts i.e. black and white statements), when in reality there are grey areas in the real world when it comes to the CRA.
This Fiat also has the wrong nearside mirror..has it been in an shunt.. for example..
I love my car and make sure it gets anything it needs but unfortunately there are many dishonest people in the world who will lie. So these people ruin it for us genuine sellers.
Knowing you bud I bet you were loving the customers, really nice people, right up to the moment when they stiffed you,
Never met them, main dealer part ex
@@ChopsGarage OK mate, thought they'd p exd it with you, your sort of obliged to take everything from them, so it's rough with the smooth, just hope good vastly outways the bad.
@@ChopsGarage downgrade the salesman to sparkling wine from champagne at Christmas to show your displeasure mate.
Are U sure it's not just a worn gear-linkage ? Could be cheaper than you think.
They just control left and right , forward and backward so presumably would affect all gear
I bought a VW up in Jan ,the EML has appeared twice , the last one 3 days ago .
It came up as Lambda sensor fault , they have cleared the codes , and the car drives fine .
Do i need to asked them to replace the sensor ?
I suppose it may not appear again ?
Would that be covered under warranty ?
Love your channel by the way..👍
This one is bain of my life! Yes the code will keep coming back as its reading an imbalance in the emissions. Does it need replacing? Well over rich mixture could damage your cat convertor and only a new sensor is going to fix this. And the sensor should be covered yes. That said my swift does this every 3 months or so , I stick a cleaner in it and just run it and live with it.
@@ChopsGarage Thanks for your advice , appreciated..👍
I would have that panda for spares for my 59 plate panda also in white 🤣
don't buy p/ex's from traders, maybe look in the ad's at private sales that way you have more time to do test drive and find any faults
Tough market, smaller and hard to buy from. People don't answer messages , muck you about. At least dealer and auction is quick and simple
I was just doing a video on one today lol 😂, hope you are doing well mate? Keep the good content coming.
Im good mate, is it a duff then your part ex
I agree with a lot that your saying but as a trader who relays on cheap part ex main dealer cars my opinion is that most are genuine cars and if there cheeked thoroughly before bought most issues are known don't get me wrong I've been done on a few cars but in this current market a spares and repairs banger with a few months mot on is £1000 all day unfortunately this is the market for cars and alot of customers don't mind little jobs or for instants the 5 gear popping out customers will live with stuff like that for the right price in my case honesty is the policy... and as for actions anything with a few months mot and under 100k miles is stupid money.... there's definitely money to be earned in the lower market cars anything I've listed under £1000 sells within a day
My concern with sub £1k is the consumer rights act.How can you cover a £995 banger for 6 months with the what £400 margin?
@@ChopsGarage as you said spares or repairs most cars a grand to 1500 quid have some sort of issues could be very little issues but like you say you can't test drive everything for weeks on end to find them so when ever I list something under 1500 it's normal spares or repairs the paperwork will say the same thing and the customer is buying it fully aware it's been sold as spares or repairs it's how I cover my own ass mate like I said above most people buying these sort of cars only except them to last 6 months to a year and then they'll part ex them and do the same thing over from my experience anyways....it's hard times atm and these sub 1500 pound cars sell stupid quick
@@vauxtec9400 but do tou let them test drive them on the road and drive them away?
@@ChopsGarage I allow them to test drive them on my private land and 99% of them have some recovered by us and a lower rate to there home address the 1% that don't sort there own transportation out that said I'm not in control of what they do once the car is home or outside my gates I cover my own behind either way and most customers understand this issue
@@vauxtec9400 no thats cool doing it safe way
You might want to keep an eye on the water level on that steam engine 😂
given the poor trade in values offered for older cars I tend to sell at auction where the buyer can see what they are getting.
i have similar problem on grande punto when i bay them. when you remove leather on gear stick,you can see plastick lever,that lever can rotate 180 degres,and that is service mod,when you change two cabels for gear seslections,
mine was in that position,and cause problems to shift in 5 gear. when I rotate back on default position all problems disaper.
Interesting, Ill check that out
Would you be able to do a video about trade sales as I don't understand it.ive seen garages selling cars advertised as a trade sale to the public.do we have the same rights buying one of them as we would buying a normal car from a dealer?
See my latedt video bud , covers exactly this
@Chops Garage hu.yes about two minutes after I wrote this I seen it lol.cheers
I got burned £1900 from car dealer vwfox 57 plate needs brakes all round i asked him why handbrake wasn't on and in gear he said just to be safe on the hill now more money it's going to cost
Does it really need brakes all round or is that a , while we are there scenario? Cars rarely need alat once. Trouble is 2007 is now 17 years old , those cars should only ever be sold as is same as private sale with people knowing there will be a spend.
Very good video as usual, funny and all very true. It will always be so, unless miraculously, the rogue dealers change their ways and overnight become as honest as you, and equally miraculously, joe public magnanimously decides he will not try and get the most he can for his clapped out motor
So, a part exchanger should be on the hook for six months for un-declared faults. That would even out the position perfectly. As a person that trades in 15 year old ( or higher) cars for another it does not bother me. I usually get £200 trade in. Presumably the dealer scraps it.
That would be amazing, can you imagine! See I think private sales carry far to little protection as well. I think they should carry 30 day return rights. I would change the playing field overnight!
Ummm re the panda popping out of 5th gear, are you sure thats not just the linkage cable rather than an issue with the gearbox?
There are 2cables.one forward one side to side so they would not effect 1 gear
@@ChopsGarage Actually they can have issues if the balljoints are worn and/or the mounts are worn on the engine/gearbox. I wouldn't be too quick to think its the gearbox. Also take a look at the selector arm on top of the gearbox, has the nut come loose on it? I've seen 4 or 5 of these with selector issues. Although the brakes are a pain as the drums are quite tricky to work on with the pandas, the hub is in an awkward spot for the springs and adjuster and often cheap brake parts are fitted to them and calipers not greased...the usual stuff. Very rarely seen faulty gearboxes though..just thought it worth mentioning is all :)
By far and away the biggest issue with pandas IMHO has always been the bl**dy power steering!
@@andrewhoult but would it not be a case that all gear were effected as the cables control forward backward and left to right. The love a box mate btw, I have a direct line with a guy who rebuilds them, had about 6 or 7 in 2 years. But see I have heard of the steering but never had that.
@@ChopsGarage Only in the sense of say the cable being snapped in which case yep obviously you'll lose gears altogether. I meant a cable selection issue in the sense of 'adjustment' , 'play' or engine/gearbox mountings allowing for movement in relation to the selector mechanism and of course the actual selector arm on top of the gearbox, the nut can come loose and then you don't get the full range of movement. Its also possible for the selector arm to have been moved in the past and then tightened down I suppose but that would be rare. Lastly there's also the balljoint cups at the end where they go on the selector which can get worn, again not allowing the full range of movement and it pops back out of gear again. Its definitely the most likely issue as if its gearbox related otherwise then I'd assume bent selector arm/fork which would take some doing on those as they are not directly connected to the gear selector like in old cars for example. The fiats can need gearboxes but then ones I've heard of its usually layshaft bearings, you'll hear it whining as you go through the gears. Its a relatively quick check to go through mountings, balljoint cups and selector arm movement though before going for a gearbox. I'd definitely give it a look.
If the car was fine they wouldn't be getting a new one. I always thought if you didn't part exchange they would probably give you £200 off a £22.5k car anyway and save the hassle of dealing with your old car.
Not sure what you mean £200 of 22k
@Chops Garage sorry missed an F I've added in now.
I must be strange but I could never px anything that I knew there was issues with it! I even fully clean my cars before they go back to the dealer
Its a case of personal morals bud
Indeed. After spending £££ on different fixes to get my wife's car running properly, I eventally admitted defeat on anyone being able to get to the bottom of.
Given the fault was intermittent but VERY dangerous when it occured, I decided to scrap the vehciel rather than part-ex it whilst purchasing a replacement.
Although it left me out a bit out of pocket, it did mean that the dealer wasn't stuck with a lemon that they might palm off onto some unsuspecting sucker and the vehicle (parts) will go on to live another life once the vehicle once stripped down.
Like the ironic ending mate, clever.
Its a really weird one. It was sold, chap came to get it ,started smoking after starter stick for second. So said ok , sold him the Volvo instead and park Panda up. Ran codes nothing other than a Can Bus type code. Cleared it, started car , no smoke at all! So turned it off. Came back out started it (start stuck again first time but then started) , smoke again!! Smells like over fuelling.
@@ChopsGarage unless it's water in the pots locking up the engine, depends on smoke colour mate, looks like it's not great tho whatever, I'm in agreement with you about p exs there usually the worst, main dealer ones are better as they've probably got some money to maintain it, we tend to get the nightmare ones that have been bought on FB and are riddled with faults, tbh I'm reluctant to take em in, there's always another straight sale customer round the corner.
@@roystonvehicles9129 True! The smoke smells like fuel and is only happening after the starter motor sticks. If it fires right away it runs clean as a whistle. I am thinking the ecu is over fueling after the starter sticks somehow
@@ChopsGarage could be an injector sticking open, could be locking the engine up, tbh it's probably not viable, brakes, starter, clutch, gearbox, running problems, hope you didn't give much for it bud, I've known traders who'd go and get their car back if they'd been stiffed.
@@ChopsGarage faulty temp sender usually causes rich running mate, your probably chasing your tail on this one tbh, you can call the auction up and they'll give you a valuation, usually bottom cap, might do a bit more, but as your miles from your auction it's a problem, e Bay listing faults is another way, but I know you've had problems that way,
More derv discussions cold to warm well said. I love knock them down on diesel Px. I’d rather not have it than do. On an 0303 polo on 50k I had to play it super cool give extra 50. So wanted that stock. Ran around block gave them all money in world. Never take in strong S.I.value heavy old german or JLR similars diesels.
Agreed
Here's a example for some thought. I have a 20 plate Focus and in the summer, the air coming through the vents on cold is around 7 degrees warmer than the outside temp and it's a right pain, as I'm not really a aircon kinda guy. If a Ford reset doesn't cure it, I might lose it, as another 2 years of it doesn't excite me, but is it a fault I should declare?
Legally you are not required. Its entirely a moral decision tbh.
Hi James did you follow up on the fiat I sent you details of pal, the low mileage one I came across on Facebook at 38k miles, thought right up your street mate, another excellent tutorial on cars, cheers 👌
That one was fair distance away wasnt it?
That’s why when you buy a part ex car you ask about a warranty! Never buy a car with out a warranty… as if the car is crap.. you take it back and they fix it or full refund!
Well remember no warranty is needed though as you have your consumer right
erm...... 6 month consumer rights??..... Personally, your comment is not accurate and gives the impression there is an automatic 6 month warranty. I'm a motor trader myself. Actually, the customer has to prove that there was an existing fault prior to purchase. There is a considered average mileage of 590 miles a month informed by the DVLA. If the buyer has exceeded the DVLA's self imposed average mileage then fair wear and tear is something that is very applicable and fair game. For example, I had a customer who bought a 207 with the PSA prince engine in it. The customer covered 12000 miles in 6 months. The air con failed. This was absolutely fair wear and tear. I could have refused this. Out of good will I replaced the compressor, but then 2 months later, the thermostat failed. At 18000 miles. The customer paid for the thermostat and I fitted the part again out of good will, and was 8 months outside of purchase date. But again, I could have refused that customer on both counts. I had another customer who had a Fiat 500. In 3 months they had covered 6000 miles and new wishbones and drop links were completely decimated. I refused this repair as they had put 4230 miles in excess of the DVLA assumed average mileage marker for that vehicle. If you sell a car with all the faults declared then the CRA 2015 is not applicable. I personally don't have a single issue with any of my vehicles and have excellent 5 star feedback so I am speaking from a position of experience. B2B is standard practice for disposing of trade vehicles and if a buyer declares they are a business in good faith, no comeback either. Advert states, to be removed at buyers risk then the caveat emptor applies when described as sold as seen. Part exchanges are a nightmare, but so is any car bought from BCA UKCGR and most auctions. Some of the best cars i've had are from PX. You get to see the vehicle, drive it, get a feel for who the owner is and was. You can refuse the PX. It sounds like you paid too much for the Panda TBH, I always factor in the wishbones, drop links, rear shocks, and gearbox/clutch.
Nothing I stated was incorrect. You have stated an inaccuracy right away which is that the Customer has to prove it was a fault at point of sale within 6 months. That's not true it's the Dealer that has to prove it was not a fault at sale within the first 6 months not the customer. It's after 6 months the customer has to prove. The law sets out no mileage limitations that's up to you to argue in court what is fair wear n tear there is not guidance in the CRA. I'm not doubting what you have done and been able to reasonably reject but none of that is set in the law I have discussed here.
Old saying, mate. You get what you pay for, but I do understand what you're saying 👍
When you trade in lowish price cars, the part exes are usually always going to be sheds.
If you ask them if there are any faults, look at the body language. Ask why there selling and always do a full test drive or offer scrap money if you can't, pending satisfactory test drive.
Exactly
quick question for you,there are a lot of part time dealers who operate from home and many sell their cars as sold as seen.have i got the same rights as i would if i bought from a garage?
Yes. If the majority of their income comes from cars they are a dealer. Sold ss seem is meaningless in retail sales
check the rear axle for rust, those pandas do rot out the axles
Cut my teeth on Panda and 500 bud
So, in this instance where a small car dealer has a problem car, can they or their family/employees just sell it privately and have no come backs? That’s the only way I can see out of it
They could, possibly but morally it would be wrong and they is a good chance that trading standards would still pursue a case if it were sold from a traders home even if the wife sold it for example