Where do I stand?

nobby24

I see a car at a garage, express an interest and sign a used car order form and pay £100 deposit. The car is advertised as having a mileage of 12,500 and on the order form it also says 12,500. When I go back for another look the following day and test drive, I noticed the actual mileage is over 14,000. Am I in my rights to walk away and get my £100 refunded?

The_Banker_5

Tell them you want your £100 back or youre going to Trading Standards.

hartcjhart

so you see a car you like at 12,500 miles, BUT, now its done 1500 more than thought you suddenly dont like it

hartcjhart

The_Banker wrote: »

Tell them you want your £100 back or youre going to Trading Standards.

why trading standards,have they 'clocked' the car UP,or just made a mistake

perhaps you should take a lynch mob round and string them all up and torture them till someone confesses to making a mistake

Anihilator

I don't think 1500 miles is really a reason to pull out.

If it was 15,000 miles maybe.

nobby24

Perhaps I'm just looking for a negotiating lever.

:rolleyes:

bclark

Anihilator wrote: »

I don't think 1500 miles is really a reason to pull out.

If it was 15,000 miles maybe.

I agree, surely this is no reason to pull out but it may be a good reason for negotiating a little extra or two into the deal as compensation.

Premier_2

Do you want to pull out?

Are you saying someone has just added 1500 miles to the car in the couple of days since you agreed to buy it? :eek:
Or did you agree to buy it without even looking at it?

What did the salesperson say when you asked about the mileage difference?

harveybobbles

Or it could be that have bought the car from Motability, where on month 33 of the 36 contract the cars get offered to us dealers. If we choose to buy them we are given the mileage from month 33, so they often vary by a few thousand.

wuckfit

From my own experience (and inexperience at the time in dealing with [STRIKE]snakes[/STRIKE] car salesmen) we looked at a car that was advertised as having 2000 miles but actually had 6000 on it, the salesman was very quick to brush over it. it was a 6 month old car. I suspect that the speed he deflected us from it probably means that there's something in it in regards to it being a breach of trade descriptions, and you may well be within your rights to walk away. In practical terms, you might be able to squeeze a bit off the price.

There are a few ways to haggle with car salesmen. but you need to be absolutely firm and have nerves of steel. Also it's important to not fall in love with ONE car. there will be others just like the one you saw, available if not now then in a few weeks or so.

lets say you see a car advertised at 14.5k, and your trade in is worth top book price of 3.5k, leaving you 11k to change. if you're serious about buying the car, when you walk in, do so with a cheque for 10k pre-written with the payee line blank, when you negotiate, you say here's a cheque for 10k, the name's blank. do we have a deal. if they say no, take the cheque back and get up and walk away. it's likely that the salesman will follow you. but you have to do it at the right time of the month - close to the end of the month is best.

If a car salesman calls you to offer you a deal on a car. say the car is 19k to change, and he offers you it for 18k, you say "call me back when it's 16k" (or 17k if you've not got the brass neck).

wuckfit

actually just thinking about it, the last car I bought, I asked the mileage and she said she thought six thousand. well blow me when I got inside and put my key in the ignition, the dash lit up and the odometer said 6000 exactly...