Carcraft

david29dpo

A friend is thinking of buying a car from them. We went along yesterday and I was shocked by there tactics. No discounts, heavy salesmen etc. Anyone have any experience with them?

staffie1

No experience personally, but the don't appear to have very good press. Do a search on the forums for 'carcraft' and you'll see what I mean.

I think it's probably the most expensive way of buying a car. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole myself.

cyclonebri1

I only went once, they had probably a thousand cars. I don't think I found one, that I was interested in, that didn't have visual defects.
I'm sure they must buy the lower end quality cars from the auctions

Quinny_2

As is said,there are plenty of posts all over the net about Carcraft.

My best friend and his wife went to them a good few years ago,when they were in their infancy,in Sheffield,and got stuffed by them.

They got him to sign a document to say that he had accepted a p/x quote for his car against another,and it turned out to be a document to buy a car using theirs as p/x instead,but the way it was described was totally different,and there was no way out,because he had signed to buy it turned out.

Be warned.And especially in these difficult times,I would guess that their staff are under greater pressure to get a sale.

vikingaero

We call the Carcraft salesmen "The Sharks". They hover around and zoom in on you.

DKLS

I went once, and despite frequently asking the total price of a car, they would only tell me it cost £55 per week.
I didnt like the staff or their business model, so took my money elsewhere.

hewhoisnotintheknow

me and my mate used to go in there and have great fun widning the cheap suited numpties up

AMO

Do not go with CarCraft. They are crafty about selling cars as their name suggests!!!

We went and there were several things we really didn't like about them:
1) They tried to get us not to haggle with their cars and try to get us cheap insurance in their cars by putting the maximum No Claims into the Tescos website.
2) They tried to outmath us by offering us interest free on a £3000 car if we paid an extra £1000.
3) Their warranty sounds impressive as its over a longer period, but the value of it is worthless.
4) Their friends and family scheme is dodgy. They pay £500-£1000 commission to the employee that is able to get a friend or family to buy. Now if they have to factor in those levels of commissions, how much value are you getting out of your car???

AMO

glammakid1

AMO wrote: »

Do not go with CarCraft. They are crafty about selling cars as their name suggests!!!

We went and there were several things we really didn't like about them:
1) They tried to get us not to haggle with their cars and try to get us cheap insurance in their cars by putting the maximum No Claims into the Tescos website.
2) They tried to outmath us by offering us interest free on a £3000 car if we paid an extra £1000.
3) Their warranty sounds impressive as its over a longer period, but the value of it is worthless.
4) Their friends and family scheme is dodgy. They pay £500-£1000 commission to the employee that is able to get a friend or family to buy. Now if they have to factor in those levels of commissions, how much value are you getting out of your car???

AMO

I think I've already told people about the time I saw a red stain in the car....which later turned out to be blood!

I found out that the car had been in an accident!!!!

Stay away from them! Who knows what they'd try to sell you.

Amo,

They tried that tactic on me too! I went to the Leeds branch - but I guess their tactics are all the same!

david29dpo

Thanks all. Even after all my attempts to stop him, he has bought the car. They would not offer any discount for cash and theses even a £59 admin fee on top! They would not even tax it! Its almost as if they are doing you a favour selling the car to you! He picks it up Wednesday, not much time to fix the small chips on the paint-work, which they were not going to do at first. He never even drove it!

dacouch

Carcraft were on Watchdog a few months back, I cannot find the clip but found this radio 4 clip about carcraft.

Steer well clear is my advice

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/items/01/2005_18_wed.shtml