Car Giant

Flyboy152

Vormulac wrote: »

They have taken the car back and repaired it each time (I bought a warranty which I know they used when the cooling system died). The last two times it went back I ask for a refund on the basis that it wasn't fit for purpose - the first of those two times they refused but dropped it off at my house with a full tank of fuel as a goodwill gesture - but then when it died again a month later and I asked yet again for a refund I was told: "I have reviewed your file and seen that the vehicle has returned to our workshop on numerous occasions for different repairs and all have been resolved accordingly. Therefore with the above in mind I regret to inform you that I am not in a position to assist you in relation to the return of the vehicle for a refund or exchange" This was a couple of days ago and I have yet to reply as I don't want to be seen to be accepting this situation.

In which case you need to write to them, formally rejecting the goods, as per section forty-eight (sub-section (3) ) of the Sales of Goods Act, which states:



 

(1)This section applies if—



(a)the buyer deals as consumer or, in Scotland, there is a consumer contract in which the buyer is a consumer, and



(b)the goods do not conform to the contract of sale at the time of delivery.



(2)If this section applies, the buyer has the right—



(a)under and in accordance with section 48B below, to require the seller to repair or replace the goods, or



(b)under and in accordance with section 48C below—



(i)to require the seller to reduce the purchase price of the goods to the buyer by an appropriate amount, or



(ii)to rescind the contract with regard to the goods in question.



(3)For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above goods which do not conform to the contract of sale at any time within the period of six months starting with the date on which the goods were delivered to the buyer must be taken not to have so conformed at that date.



(4)Subsection (3) above does not apply if—



(a)it is established that the goods did so conform at that date;



(b)its application is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the nature of the lack of conformity

Reminding them that it is their responsibility to conform to contract and seeing as they haven't, they should refund you everything you have paid them. You must head the letter "Letter Before Action" and state that if they do not refund you the money, within fourteen days, you will open a case at the small claims court.

ramberts1

My experience at Cargiant was awful. I went to buy an automatic car and having sat in a few of the cars for sale, I realised that that I had dropped my new blackberry in one of the cars. A long saga unfolded where some of the car salesman text my phone and received a response. It turned out that the thief was actually a Cargiant employee and his colleagues were pretending to help me whilst they knew who had my phone. Needless to say, the matter was reported to the police. I will never return to Cargiant again. A simply dreadful and traumatic experience.

SLITHER99

I found this thread very enjoyable.

Just to preface, I am an ex car giant employee. I've worked for a few car manufacturers too but am not a salesman, or admin type. I work in IT and it just so happens I coincided with these roles every so often. I worked at CG as part of their prep teams during for a period post redundancy from a previous job.

General day to day was to take cars in off the transporter, check them over for any major faults, sort the paperwork out and generally manage the process between floor and showroom.

IMO, of the car companies I've worked for, CG is one of the few places I would actually buy products from. It's a straightforward deal you're getting and you know the price before you get there.

No, CG will not negotiate on price. Mainly, before they even get off the transporter we know what the sticker price is as set by head office. Reductions are made in extreme circumstances before they get on the floor, but there better be good reasons.

As cars come off, one thing CG never want is a customer returning a car. So, part of that is everything needs to be checked for satisfactory operation. Obviously, if something comes off with oil all over the engine block or the aircon compressor burned out, it will either get sorted before it goes on the floor or, if we can't turn a profit with a repair, it'll go back on the transporter. Not to say that every minor niggle is rectified, but the big stuff is certainly sorted.

What you are getting is an ex lease car. When a lease company or hire provider needs to dispose of a vehicle, CG is a common avenue to go to. They all have service records and CG doesn't seem to be shy about including it all. However, a lot of the cars can be base spec models. So you may have to search for, say, an Elegance trim level amongst the Classic trims.

The sales reps are a bit slimy. They're there to make their money at the end of the day, but I always thought of them as failed Estate Agents. The admin fee generally serves to pay for the amount of time a salesman is off the floor concluding a sale. They will try and sell you everything known to man, especially if you're going on finance. The quickest sales I have seen are people coming in to pay cash. They generally know the car they want and are ready to walk.

Test drives also take up salesmans time. If they think you're a tyre kicker, your test drive will be short. But then, most car salesmen do this. You're taking him away from a real sale at the end of the day. And CG get a LOT of tyre kickers. From people who have no hope in hell of qualifying for finance, to lads with their mates who wants to try out a BMW convertible he's thinking of buying... In his dreams?

In my 7 month tenure, I can't say I saw anything shady or misrepresentative. We were under pressure to get cars processed as quick as possible, but even more pressure to ensure anything going to floor stood no chance of being returned with major faults. That said, these are used cars and every so often, a bad un does slip the net. Much like any other car sales place.

I have no realtionship with CG any more, haven't done for several years. But I wouldn't be worried about getting my next car there.

SLITHER99

Vormulac wrote: »

Hi folks, I recently had to trade in my pride and joy for a more frugal vehicle and bought a Ford Mondeo diesel. In the five months I've owned it it's been back in their garage four times and I've been without it for weeks. It's a total lemon; it fails, they repair it, something else fails - repeat. I consider this vehicle to be unfit for purpose and have told them so, I cannot trust this vehicle to get my family and I safely from A to B but they are adamant that they will not issue me a refund. Trading standards apparently don't do anything any more, they direct you to a website called 'Consumer Advice' or something which will send you a stock response to your query - very useful... not. So I think I'm stuck with this useless piece of carp until I can flog it on at a massive loss and buy something else - does anyone know anyone who has taken these con-artists on and won? At the moment I'm still without the car and it's causing massive problems, but of course the moment I arrangefor the car's return I will basically have accepted it back. I do not accept that this vehicle is fit for purpose but being without a car is Hell, especially with the kids on holiday.

Funnily enough, I'm an ex Mondeo driver. I bought mine from Evans Halshaw and can only tell of similar experience. The suspension failed two months in and the super fancy warranty refused to cover it. I had a catalogue if issues, including a £1200 bill at its first MOT.

The Mk3 Mondeo was a shockingly bad car. Go on the Mondeo forums and check out all the known faults. Mine was at my local garages once every six weeks for this that and the other. I'm definitely sworn off Ford for life!

bluesnake

I bought a car from them about 18 years ago and still driving it today. So I can not complain.

To be honest you just have to be careful with everyone. You know that the small cheap mass produced fords and vauxhalls have probably come back from service engineers and reps who may abuse them, and it amazing how far company cars can go without oil and how well they handle speed bumps.

SLITHER99

bluesnake wrote: »

I bought a car from them about 18 years ago and still driving it today. So I can not complain.

To be honest you just have to be careful with everyone. You know that the small cheap mass produced fords and vauxhalls have probably come back from service engineers and reps who may abuse them, and it amazing how far company cars can go without oil and how well they handle speed bumps.

Abstaining from CG is no guarantee the car has been well looked after. AT the end of the day, modern cars can put up with speed bumps and low oil. As long as they're not rattling to death and the wheels go round, it's a safe bet IMO.

Sometimes you get unlucky when buying a car - even new! My Mom sucessfully managed to return a Vauxhall Astra she bought brand new after it just developed fault after fault. After three months and a lot of badgering, Vx decided the car was uneconomical to fix and agreed to resupply, citing the car as a misbuild. First time I'd ever seen it happen (and last), but sometimes lemons happen.

The replacement Astra is still going strong, 15 years later.

Flyboy152

Your loyalty to your former employer is admirable, to say the least. However, the vast body of evidence seems to differ from your experiences.

The treatment customers get, even before they buy a car, is appalling and the admin fee, to pay for sales men for not being available to sell, is utter nonsense. How can it be a customer's responsibility to pay extra, simply for being a customer. It's as illogical as it is absurd.

SLITHER99

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Your loyalty to your former employer is admirable, to say the least. However, the vast body of evidence seems to differ from your experiences.

The treatment customers get, even before they buy a car, is appalling and the admin fee, to pay for sales men for not being available to sell, is utter nonsense. How can it be a customer's responsibility to pay extra, simply for being a customer. It's as illogical as it is absurd.

I wouldn't call it loyalty. I never had any love for their sales teams. They struck me as slimy and a bit of a creep. I had no contact with customers themselves. But then, the last time I was in a Peugeot dealership talking my other half out of a stupid 107, I really wanted to lamp the sales guy one. Not one, but three comments about my OH's breasts!

All I can say is, given my tenure in prep, I think I'd trust a car more from CG than most dealerships!

jaydeeuk1

SLITHER99 wrote: »

I wouldn't call it loyalty. I never had any love for their sales teams. They struck me as slimy and a bit of a creep. I had no contact with customers themselves. But then, the last time I was in a Peugeot dealership talking my other half out of a stupid 107, I really wanted to lamp the sales guy one. Not one, but three comments about my OH's breasts!

All I can say is, given my tenure in prep, I think I'd trust a car more from CG than most dealerships!

As long as you weren't the wife, I don't see what the problem is?

vikingaero

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Your loyalty to your former employer is admirable, to say the least. However, the vast body of evidence seems to differ from your experiences.

The treatment customers get, even before they buy a car, is appalling and the admin fee, to pay for sales men for not being available to sell, is utter nonsense. How can it be a customer's responsibility to pay extra, simply for being a customer. It's as illogical as it is absurd.

I like Car Giant in the trips I have made there. The cars are refreshingly honest. Bumps and scrapes are rarely tidied up so you get a real picture of how the car had been treated in its short life. Compare that to any secondhand dealer where all bumps and scrapes are sprayed by local SMART outfits and flake off a few years later.

The cars at CG can be cheap. And I don't see a problem with the admin fee. It's not hidden and it's transparent and displayed on every car and on a billion signs. The problem is the customers who expect glass palace service and standards for portacabin prices.