AutoQuake 2nd hand car sale - any one brought from?

jase1

alcan wrote: »

The Autoquake site specifically targets 'ordinary people' who know little about cars and gives the misleading idea that they are buying a car in good condition which is cheaper than a dealer.

Nowhere do they mention the word 'risk' or the fact that you need to know about cars. In fact, they specifically say there is NO RISK and they claim to offer a money back guarantee, which in reality they do not.

This is highly misleading, and the fact is that if they were making these claims in adverts in the press or on TV, they would be prosecuted for breaking ASA rules. They only get away with it because they make these claims on the Internet. As I said previously, let's wait till after 31st March, when they will have to deal with scrutiny from the ASA.

I agree with you there. I have noticed that the one or two other similar sites (who typically deal with lower-mileage cars) seem to do things properly much more than AQ. They give out proper RAC checks with their cars, complete with videos from the RAC technician who signed them off.

I'd almost be inclined to take a car on-spec from companies like that because, provided they aren't telling out-and-out lies and these RAC checks are real, they are about as trustworthy an endorsement of a car I can think of.

This is probably going to have to be the road AQ goes down if they are to survive. The problem is, at that point the site will cease to be the bargain-bucket auction alternative it was when I dealt with them. Ah well!

The one thing I would say though is that people also think that buying from a local dealer is safe. They are no different in this regard -- colourful signs on the windows boasting about 3-billion point checks, all cars HPId, money-back guarantees, guaranteed £1500 part-ex etc etc. It's all snake oil. The only difference is you can see how rubbish some of their cars are before you even step on the forecourt.

alcan

I think the real crunch for Autoquake is not improving their marketing, which at present consists of posting pathetic fake 'reviews' on review sites.
(Guys - we can tell that they're all written by the same person! At least try not to make the same spelling mistakes every time. Duh! Is that you, Dermott? Duh!)

No, the challenge for Autoquake is just staying within the law.

So far they've evaded the ASA rules, but (as we know) that is all changing in March.

Still, the fact is that the Trades Descriptions Act and Sale of Goods Act are laws that apply to any retailer, whether a Bentley dealer in Knightsbridge or a discount Internet outfit based in a disused tank factory in Birmingham.

These laws say that

1. the product sold must be the product described, and that

2. the product must be free of defects at the point of sale.

Currently, there are many examples of Autoquake breaching these laws, and trying to use the ambiguous 'fair wear and tear' idea to evade the consequences.

To anyone thinking of buying from Autoquake, please remember:

If the car that's delivered is not exactly as described, you are legally entitled to a full refund, INCLUDING the 'admin fee.' This includes the phrase 'in good condition' which appears on the photos on their website. If they describe it as 'in good condition' it MUST BE in good condition.

If the car has hidden defects which they did not describe, you do not have to accept the car or try to repair it yourself and claim the money back. The law protects you, and says you are entitled to all of the purchase price back.

This is the law of the United Kingdom. It's not an optional extra. It's the law. People go to prison for breaking these laws.

On that subject, if they sell you a car which is not in roadworthy condition (ie if it would not pass an MOT regardless of its age) you should also notify the police nearest to the Autoquake depot which supplied it. The police are very focussed on ensuring that all road-going vehicles are roadworthy, and they will take a keen interest in any examples of this.

Now come on, Dermott, my boy - post another fake one! Give us a good laugh. Duh!

dnewpix

AVOID AUTOQUAKE unless you have time and money to waste. I tried to part-exchange my car for one of theirs costing over £10,000, and having spoken to them at length on the phone, I was assured that my car, a SEAT ALHAMBRA with fsh and 89,000mls, in tidy condition perfect drive was worth about £1500. They had me drive all the way to Southall, kept me waiting for two and a half hours and then wheeled some 'grease monkey' called Declan in to say that they would allow me £50 as a good will gesture. Even though it has only been serviced two weeks ago by the VW specialist that has serviced and repaired my cars for 25 years, he managed to find all these really potentially serious faults with it...What's that smell...? He said they added up everything that needed doing to my car and it made the value MINUS £400. Yes folks, I should really pay them £400 to take it off my hands, but they were offering £50 as a good will gesture! (I was even offered £1290.00 from those other cowboys at 'We buy yor jallopy for peanuts" dot com.) Apparently, Autoquake haven't been offering part exchange for long so probably haven't mastered the art of being polite yet. The truth was that the inside of my 10 year old car was in better condition than the 3 year old car I was going to buy!
I wouldn't mind so much but they said they offered fair prices for part exchange "Guaranteed". Go on, look on their website. Utter BS! I wasted a days work, had to pay somebody to collect my kiddie from school. The trouble is, I am a journalist, I've seen it all before and I just knew I wasn't going to be surprised. Any scrap dealer in the land would be delighted to get a car like mine, for way more than £50. You have been warned. AVOID.

alcan

Sadly, this is a common experience when dealing with Autoquake. Incompetence, arrogance and dishonesty are standard operating procedure. You can see this from the ludicrous number of fake 'reviews' they post on review sites.

They started taking part exchange again about 2 weeks ago, after a gap of 18 months - now we can see why: it's just another way to rip their customers off.

dnewpix is absolutely right, folks: only go to Autoquake if you have time and money to burn, and if you want to pick up a damaged car (with no warranty) for MORE than the price of a good dealer car with a warranty.

Somebody, please remind me. . .why does ANYONE buy a car from Autoquake?? I really cannot understand it.
Dermot, old buddy, can you remind us all??

skinnerneil

If autoquake are to be avoided - who can you recommend?

Is it better value to pay main dealer prices ?

jase1

alcan wrote: »

You can see this from the ludicrous number of fake 'reviews' they post on review sites.

[...] if you want to pick up a damaged car (with no warranty) for MORE than the price of a good dealer car with a warranty.

Oh for pity's sake -- this warranty thing is a falsehood. At least if you are going to criticise the company, base it on the truth. Autoquake provide a 3-month warranty by default, because they legally have to and they know it. If you could have shown me anywhere I could have bought a less than 3 year old Focus for £3500 at an anything like "good dealer" I'd have gone there instead. But you couldn't so I didn't.

I dare they they are dishonest, but most of the horror stories I've seen are par for the course in the second-hand market. They're a better alternative to a car auction, in that at least the cars aren't being systematically bodged by back-street dealers for a quick sale down Mannheim's (which is what all the cheap cars at auction basically are -- everyone knows to avoid the independent jalopies round the back of the lot).

Or am I a fake as well?

morg_monster

I don't really understand, alcan, how you have the cojones to come on here complaining about fake, untrustworthy reviews when you have popped up on MSE with now a grand total of 7 posts, ALL about autoquake. It seems like your opinions are as valid as the "fake" reviews you're moaning about!!

No way is autoquake perfect, not by a long shot, but I was no more or less impressed by their salesmen and the way they do things, than I was by the other used car places I went to. Apart from the franchised 2nd hand dealers, I feel the vast majority of used car dealers fall into the same slightly dodgy category. I felt that autoquake was more upfront about their cars than other places! I do agree with you re the 7 day money back guarantee though and it will be interesting to see what happens in April with that. I don't think it will lead to them crumbling though - I think there are plenty of people who do not consider taking the car back as they're happy with the bargain they have got. Sure there are unhappy customers but I think there are plenty who are happy with their purchase, just that they don't generally bother talking about it at length on the internet.

alcan

Obvious stooge.

jase1

In which case, alcan, you're an !!!. look at when I signed up -- before AQ even started I believe.

alcan

All part of the marketing plan scribbled on the back of Dermott's envelope.