Part-ex-ing car. Radio needs code. ???

philatio

bigjl wrote: »

You say whatever makes you feel better.
But he may also have a customer lined up for your car, a regular ounter looking for a car like yours and the salesman may have explained that the car has a nice stereo to encourage a deal.

I suppose you might be right.
Although the chance that a main dealer for a 'prestige' german auto brand has a customer that is going to wait 12 weeks for an 8 year old tatty car is rather slender I think.

emmell

I think it depends on the car you're p/exing, if it's a retail car they may say something, if it's a straight to trade or auction car they probably won't be bothered.
ML.

motorguy

I would doubt the dealer will care.

Forget about it and enjoy the experience of buying your new car through a main dealer. You're paying for it.

Flyboy152

philatio wrote: »

I've just ordered a new car from a main dealer. Part of the deal is part-exchanging my current car.

At the moment I have an expensive, quite new stereo fitted. I plan to take this out and eBay it.. putting the standard factory fit stereo back in it's place.

However I've noticed the Radio Code section in the manual has been left blank and there's no security code marked anywhere.. so once I've fitted it, it won't work, it'll just say ENTER CODE.

My question is.. is it OK to leave it like this when I part-ex the car or will the dealer be miffed?
I've tried the thread on here to get the code but it's not available, so to get the code it would be £25 at the dealer or find somewhere that will decode for a bit cheaper. But as I'm just getting rid of the car, I don't really want to spend any money on it.

I think the dealer will be well peed off. Not only is he getting a stereo, of a lower value than he thought he was, he is getting one that needs to have at least twenty-five pounds spending on it. Wouldn't you be a miffed?

I'd advise you to expect to have some extra funds available to finish the deal.

Flyboy152

BM-AK wrote: »

If you are part exchanging the car then i'd leave it as it is.

You've already said you can't obtain it online and must go through the official channel (i.e. via the dealer/manufacterer) to obtain it.

Worst case scenario - when the dealer checks your car during the handover, they may notice that the radio needs a code. As you do not have it they may take off the value to obtain it from your Part Exchange price or may even let it go.

Either way to correct the problem you need buy the code from the dealer so by leaving it as it is you may get away with it.

From my past experiences, dealers do not look to this much detail when looking at cars they are taking in for PX. They mainly concentrate on condition and bodywork.

I think they'll notice, when they see the stereo is completely different to the one they appraised.

bigjl

flashg67 wrote: »

bigjl - I suppose you'll be telling us next that the nice car dealer has factored in the expensive stereo and has upped his part-ex offer to account for it too...... yeah right - more like he pulled the old !!!! about 'its the wrong colour/make/model/spec/mileage' etc and offered below bottom book. Perhaps he may now even have to reduce the £1000 he sticks on the price for giving it a wash & sticking back on sale? If I was buying a s/h car, the stereo wouldn't be a deal breaker, if it had at least the standard one in it, so why should it be for the dealer?

I'm sure there are some dodgy people who remove/swap items before trade in but IMO, the motor trade has itself to blame as there are many more traders willing to maximise their profit with litle or no care for customer services.

Sorry if I sound cynical, but I've been in the motor trade in various ways for 20+ years and all most dealers want (quite rightly you may say) is to maximise their profit/commission and it's the customer's job to reduce that where they can.

In short, unless the stereo was mentioned on the order form, take it out!

I think your opinion just shows that there are indeed people happy to screw others over.

But this is MSE not screw over car dealers dot com, justifying removing one of the few good points of an eight yr old car to get a couple of quid back on eBay by saying it happens all the time doesn't make it right or acceptable.

What would your opinion be if you went to look at a used car privately paid a deposit and came back to collect after arranging your Insurance and pay the balance you find that the leather seats have been replaced with cloth, the alloys are now steel wheels and the stereo has been replaced by a Matsui tape deck.

s_b

well said bigjl

LandyAndy

s_b wrote: »

ps why not take the ciggy lighter,locking wheel nut key,spare wheel as much petrol as you dare and all the handbooks as well like most people do ,then dump them 5 years later when they find them on the shelf in the back bedroom..........:)

That's a hell of a long time to leave petrol lying about.

philatio

LandyAndy wrote: »

That's a hell of a long time to leave petrol lying about.

Indeed.

I only wanted to know if the dealer would kick off about the radio needing a code, but this thread has given me so many other ideas.

When he was appraising the car he never even looked under the bonnet. I can whip the engine out for a few more pennys.

Flyboy152

philatio wrote: »

Indeed.

I only wanted to know if the dealer would kick off about the radio needing a code, but this thread has given me so many other ideas.

When he was appraising the car he never even looked under the bonnet. I can whip the engine out for a few more pennys.

In which case, you have been given your answer.