Used car scandal
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It's obvious to those who are familiar with the sector but ex-hire cars are often explained away by salespeople as managers' cars, ex-demo cars, etc.
Look at Motorpoint's or Motordepot's site - despite selling a significant number of ex-rentals, do they actually disclose this information? At least Motorpoint will reply honestly when you ask a salesperson who the previous owners were.
Exactly - ask the questions, get the answers in writing if it bothers you that much.0 -
Let's separate "hire cars" - by which I presume you mean the short-term hire fleet that you'd rent at the airport, say - and "lease cars".
You want a new car. You get it on a finance package that means you simply hand it back at the end of the finance period... You leased it. That's a lease car. Does it make a big difference how the previous owner paid for it?0 -
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Over regulation and a compensation culture will kill the used car market. Very often ex fleet and hire vehicles are very well looked after and maintained. To describe selling a car with full service history and that’s had minor defects corrected as a scandal is utterly misleading.
A car is often the second biggest purchase you make. Would you buy a house after looking at it for 5 minutes and kicking the door frame? Buying a car should be approached with similar caution. Do a little research first.0 -
We are discussing ex lease/hire cars and the fact that the trade want to hide who the real former owner was.This is NOT the situation being discussed here. This is the discussion of ex hire cars on a forecourt at a year old.
It shouldnt be law - people should do simple due diligence when they buy a car. Check its history, see who owned it previously. Its as simple as asking to see the V5C.
NOT doing your own simple due diligence does give people the right to subsequently claim.
Thats the big problem these days - noone accepts responsibility for their own actions - theres always someone else to blame.
Our cars were all leased by Hitachi Capital. That in itself would not cause any alarm but dig a little deeper and you find that a meter reading comapny G4S utilities LTD used them and alarm bells should ring very very loud. ..
Of course the trade would want the history of a thrashed to the limit ex lease /hire car to be kept quiet .It hurts their wallets and lowers the price if the true history is uncovered.
we should nt have to do "due diligence of where these hammered cars have come from, it should be mandatory to provide a full background provenance of just where its spent its first 1 to 3 years of its life..Its NOT simple to dig deep to find out the true background. Big lease companies like Hitachi Capital sub lease to many smaller outlets.That would not appear on the log book.
It is a fallacy that these cars are "looked after and well maintained ". Thats rubbish.As a meter reader I rarely checked oil or water, maybe once a year just before it went in for an oil change. One year even the garage skipped the much needed oil change. It went in with filthy black oil after 15k miles and came out with the same filthy black and low oil. They know they are fleet cars and bodge the services
Personally I like ex Motobility cars . These are usually very low mileage and likely to have gentle usage
Our local dealer of these cars is open and honest of their heritage and tells the truth.Hence he has won awards for being the best car dealer in our area. That is CEJ3000 in Doncaster0 -
House_Martin wrote: »We are discussing ex lease/hire cars and the fact that the trade want to hide who the real former owner was.
Our cars were all leased by Hitachi Capital. That in itself would not cause any alarm but dig a little deeper and you find that a meter reading comapny G4S utilities LTD used them and alarm bells should ring very very loud. ..
Lease companies are almost always the registered keepers - no matter who leases the car.Of course the trade would want the history of a thrashed to the limit ex lease /hire car to be kept quiet .It hurts their wallets and lowers the price if the true history is uncovered.
we should nt have to do "due diligence of where these hammered cars have come from
Why do meter readers somehow inevitably and inherently "thrash" and "hammer" the cars?As a meter reader
Ah...I rarely checked oil or water, maybe once a year just before it went in for an oil change. One year even the garage skipped the much needed oil change. It went in with filthy black oil after 15k miles and came out with the same filthy black and low oil. They know they are fleet cars and bodge the services
Would you have treated your own car differently? If so, why do you think it acceptable to neglect and abuse your employer's asset? Maybe not all of your colleagues are quite like you...
So the V5C says "Mrs Miggins" was the previous keeper. What does that tell you about her driving style and maintenance regime? More or less than "XYZ finance"? Even though it may well have been the same Mrs Miggins who leased it?0 -
House_Martin wrote: »We are discussing ex lease/hire cars and the fact that the trade want to hide who the real former owner was.
Our cars were all leased by Hitachi Capital. That in itself would not cause any alarm but dig a little deeper and you find that a meter reading comapny G4S utilities LTD used them and alarm bells should ring very very loud. ..
Of course the trade would want the history of a thrashed to the limit ex lease /hire car to be kept quiet .It hurts their wallets and lowers the price if the true history is uncovered.
we should nt have to do "due diligence of where these hammered cars have come from, it should be mandatory to provide a full background provenance of just where its spent its first 1 to 3 years of its life..Its NOT simple to dig deep to find out the true background. Big lease companies like Hitachi Capital sub lease to many smaller outlets.That would not appear on the log book.
It is a fallacy that these cars are "looked after and well maintained ". Thats rubbish.As a meter reader I rarely checked oil or water, maybe once a year just before it went in for an oil change. One year even the garage skipped the much needed oil change. It went in with filthy black oil after 15k miles and came out with the same filthy black and low oil. They know they are fleet cars and bodge the services
Personally I like ex Motobility cars . These are usually very low mileage and likely to have gentle usage
Our local dealer of these cars is open and honest of their heritage and tells the truth.Hence he has won awards for being the best car dealer in our area. That is CEJ3000 in Doncaster
Well fortunately the two ex hire cars i've bought in recent years have both been from major hire companies and both were Grade A condition and both were bought from the same VW main dealer.
I would imagine some ex lease cars - and possibly ex hire cars - are used and abused by their drivers (a sad reflection on them as individuals) however the vast majority live normal existences and can make very decent used buys - just like most ex motability cars have been reasonably well looked after and some have a rough life.
Where theres a risk a car has been a "working car" as opposed to merely a company car, then yes the risk of abuse by negligent drivers is likely to be higher.0 -
Quite a few years ago, I bought myself a used Mazda MX-5. It had 3 previous owners.
Out of curiosity, I sent a payment to the DVLA, and got back the details of all the previous owners. The first was a hire car company. The next two were the showroom that sold it to me, under two different company names.
No doubt some people would have been horrified by such an ownership history. In reality, it was a really reliable car that served me well for many years.
I certainly don't deserve any compensation for it.If it sticks, force it.
If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.0 -
Yes, I do treat my own car differently .Its not a work horse like my fleet car.Lease companies are almost always the registered keepers - no matter who leases the car.
Why do meter readers somehow inevitably and inherently "thrash" and "hammer" the cars?
Ah...
Would you have treated your own car differently? If so, why do you think it acceptable to neglect and abuse your employer's asset? Maybe not all of your colleagues are quite like you...
So the V5C says "Mrs Miggins" was the previous keeper. What does that tell you about her driving style and maintenance regime? More or less than "XYZ finance"? Even though it may well have been the same Mrs Miggins who leased it?
Yes I know some motobilty cars can be abused too, just less chance of getting a real thrashed one.. My Corsa I bought from CEJ3000 had 3k miles on the clock.Now has 42 k without one problem in the 7 years I ve had. I drive it nice and gently !
Its the nature of the job when you are under pressure from your boss to visit 800 house in a week more than once . We have deadlines to keep up and the company gets fined by the suppliers if they fail, hence its all pretty rapid work from 8 to 4.30 6 days a week. .
If I cruised around carefully and slowly all day ..I get sacked !
I considered myself a good employee by the way. The job is rough on cars by its very nature. Its probably one of the worst out there for testing how good a car is. .Motor manufacturers do not need to stress test their cars, just give them to a meter reading company for a while to see what breaks
We got through Vauxhall Corsa steering racks in 20k miles alone0 -
I sold 5000 cars in my car dealing career. 4500 of them were ex lease cars.
They were brilliant, and I would always pay a premium for them over privately owned cars.
Why?
serviced on time, every time, at a main dealer, with a print out of every part fitted and every penny spent. Unlike most privately owned cars where an owner would probably skimp.
disposed of by the leasing company purely because the 24/30/36/48 month lease was up....not because of any hidden defects.
Before 20 private owners start writing how they would never do such a thing....been there, seen both sides, ex lease cars are a better product.0
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