Used car dealers

[sickpup]

God they all seem to be scum.

I need a new car after a mini cab drove into the side of mine, nothing special, just an MPV for under £4k.

I'm running into things like cars that haven't had recalls done, illegal for a dealer to sell. Cars being sold with oil leaks that they aren't willing to sort. Crash damaged cars being sold as minters. Perished cracked tyres. Every generalisation of the car industry is coming out.

Its completely different to how we sold bikes when I worked in shops, we didn't hide damage, we always disclosed as it would be found, we wouldn't sell bikes with oil leaks, we'd just repair them.

[WD Forte]

Especially on that Facebook and I see a lot of ads on Gumtree which are
very very suspicious.
Nothing to do with foreigners of course, all these dodgy sellers are anglo saxons of yeoman stock, the jolly rotten scoundrels
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bikers smell of wee

[stinkwheel]

They're going to catch a cold with the new MOT rules where you have to upload photos when you do the test. Can't just phone them in any more.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[piazza]

It's worse than you think. I spent months looking for a car last year and almost every one was being sold by a foreigner.

One guy when told I didnt want what he had told me he'd call me with another in an hour. He did! having got fed up with the carry on I decided the auction route might be better.....nope, you need to be self employed with all the associated paperwork, quite a feat..the majority of people picking up cars were foreigners.

Fb being a waste of time (wtf is going on with sellers!?) I went back to Gumtree and paying more attention notice the people selling cars have been there typically less than a year and some had 274 car sales under their belt. And lets not get to the messages asking if Im selling my 14 year old account.

As an aside one car I went to see was in a small housing estate in the south of glasgow and upon driving into the estate there were no less than 14 cars clamped...car guy informs me that its his peoples cars.
I estimated bout 48,000 in cars, and a van.

I did laugh at a dealer in Edinburgh and one in Paisley wanting my licence details before even viewing and a 200 deposit to boot... ho hum

[Easy-X]

Doesn't sound like dealers have changed much. A good few years ago we were nosing through lots to find a small "first car" (actually the third by then!) for my daughter, e.g. nice little red Polo. I pop the bonnet and open the oil cap to discover chocolate milkshake

That's when I came to the conclusion these dealers are like the Nigerian scam emails, deliberately bad and aimed at the tiny crossover in the Venn diagram between "Stupid Punter" and "Minted Customer".

The best deals on anything are finding well off middle-class ppl on Facebook/eBay/AutoTrader/etc. who aren't bothered about the money so much - unfortunately a shrinking demographic. Best Golf I bought? Nice lady in Clapham. Worst Golf I bought? From a dealer, had hidden crash damage I didn't spot.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Polarbear]

I now go for a name dealer that sells second hand cars as well, trade ins? Maybe a bit more expensive but when they say the car goes in for a service before they hand it over it seems it does. Ive had new tyres fitted. My mate had a suspension issue that her didn't know about but the sorted it out and showed him what was wrong.

But you aint going to get a £4k MPV from them, more like 10k.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[A100man]

Makes you wonder where these roadside traders get their stock..

Last car i bought was for my Mum a couple of years ago - Honda Jazz on a lot just off Jct 10 of M1, The guy was Romanian I think but I got on fine with him, gave it a fair look over and took it for a trip up teh road.

Turned out to be great car, just gave it a service and that was it. This was off AutoTrader though, I don't have facebook which seems to be wher the rogues hide.
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750, SL1000

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600, Skorpion

[Rob Fzs]

[Feasty]

I've always said it's the person/company that sells me the vehicle, be it car or bike - not the vehicle itself. I can always find another one even if I have to wait a little while, or travel further across the country.
As long as the vehicle is close to what I'm after, what seals the deal is what the person is like, how they respond, the state of their house/premises etc.

If I'm spending less than £10k I'll go private, Fb or Autotrader and get in touch asking some random questions. Their replies will very quickly tell me if they can be trusted or not.
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Previous: Aprilia Habana Retro 50cc (beauty), Yamaha SR125 (fell apart), Honda XR125 (nippy little commuter), Honda SLR650 (Geewhizz), Yamaha Diversion 900S (Smoooooth) written off courtesy of a stupid escaped horse.
(7 year gap), BMW F650 (Relaxing ride). Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 (Big and bold). Yamaha FZS600 (got me in trouble too quick!).
Current: Yamaha TDM 900 (Comfy, light but big, power when needed).

[Islander]

I've bought all of my cars from a local car dealer, he's a good lad, honest, proper pricing (he's not greedy) and he'll tell you if there are any known issues with the marque before you commit. He'll find what you're looking for and also recommend alternatives to you based on his own experiences. As an added bonus, he's friends with the mechanic I use (also a top bloke).