MSE News: Carcraft hit by OFT action over second hand car sales

flashg67

rev_henry wrote: »

About time too. Bunch of shysters. My opinion is almost entirely based on what the internet says though.

Same, but my opinion is based on actual experience with friends/colleagues and even Carcraft employess, albeit some years ago. Can't belive they've got any better though.

Is everyone aware where they get their stock from - they also own webuyanycar.com

[Deleted User]

I bought a car from a dealer.., never again. I was a lot more nieve then tho.., and it was a lesson well learned. We managed to get the price for the car knocked down by £300 providing we bought a years warranty (the salesman told us it would stop us having to worry about breakdowns).., the car supposedly had had an AA check. 11 months after we bought it, the rear caliper went .., £800 to repair (both of them). When we phoned the garage about the warranty we suddenly heard the words 'normal wear and tear) at the time of buying the warranty we didn't hear anything about repair exclusions.., (were only handed a leaflet after we'd paid for the car) and was told it would cost nearly £100 to get it inspected at that garage to decide if the problem was due to normal wear and tear or unexpected. Unfortunately, due to a change of circumstances, we didn't have the inspection fee money (and given what had happened, we felt it would be throwing money down the drain, the garage didn't exactly seem to be honest). We bought the car for £3,200 and sold it for £700 11 months later. I have not bought from a dealer/garage since and always have a car inspected by a trusted engineer before purchase. It was fairly disastrous at the time.

Having said that though, I have also been on the other side of the fence. What happened above was quite some time ago. My now OH is a car mechanic.., the sort who doesn't stop until he finds out what the problem is caused by. We developed a very good reputation for repairing cars garages couldn't. We had a Range Rover we'd used without problems for a year, but needed to sell it. It was thoroughly inspected and serviced. A gentleman bought it and took it off without even trying a test drive (I asked twice if he wanted to take it for a test drive). The car had been given a complete engine refurb after we purchased it. A month later the man phoned saying he'd taken the car to three garages, it had never been serviced, the tires were below legal limits (it had been MOT'd before we'd handed it over, no warning notices on anything whatsoever).., and the engine block had gone, it had had to be towed into yet another garage and had been dumping oil from day one. We knew that wasn't possible because the engine tends to get rather noisy before something like that happens, we'd have noticed it and there was no oil dumping the week before he took it at all. He was threatening all sorts of legal action, was very very angry and nasty. I told him that the car had been the most reliable car we'd ever had, it had been well maintained and serviced, passed the MOT with no notices etc went through his points (including the car was sold as seen), and said but you are welcome to take us to court. Please contact a solicitor. Never heard from him again. He just came up with so many things that were wrong with the car (like the tyres being illegal) and there was no way this could have been so. He didnt' return it to us for repair .., which is what should have happened if he had nothing to hide.., he took it to mysterious 'other' garages. You can get burned on both sides of the fence.

But I can't stress enough, if you are paying a reasonable sum of money for a car, always always get it inspected. A dealer/seller can say anything.

Jimmyc

Forgot to mention on my previous post

The car i actually purchased was my third choice as the first 2 they weren't allowed to sell as they didn't have the log book.

The car i purchased didn't have a tax disk which they only told me when they handed over the keys but they said "it should be ok to drive" as this was my first car i was unaware i was braking the law. Luckily i didn't get caught

Flyboy152

Jimmyc wrote: »

Forgot to mention on my previous post

The car i actually purchased was my third choice as the first 2 they weren't allowed to sell as they didn't have the log book.

The car i purchased didn't have a tax disk which they only told me when they handed over the keys but they said "it should be ok to drive" as this was my first car i was unaware i was braking the law. Luckily i didn't get caught

This is one point that the OFT has drawn them over the coals on.

marlot

Flyboy152 wrote: »

This is one point that the OFT has drawn them over the coals on.

...tickled them gently with a feather on!

olly300

marlot wrote: »

...tickled them gently with a feather on!

Well the local police forces know where to wait.

The cynic in me thinks they don't want to go and get tax discs, otherwise you will pull out of some of the extended warranties you have signed as you would get a chance to read the paperwork.

MichaelNW

This is a pathetic slap on the wrist by OFT, and Carcraft won't change their ways.

Carcraft are in the business of selling finance. Used cars are just the front.

For most people the most expensive possession is a house. Mortgage lending is highly regulated. The second most expensive possession is a car, but car finance is only lightly regulated, by consumer credit laws. Even these laws are of no practical use, because anyone who has to borrow from the likes of Carcraft can certainly not afford to go to court to enforce their rights.

But hey this is the UK, where poor and desperate people are fair game, right?

Flyboy152

MichaelNW wrote: »

This is a pathetic slap on the wrist by OFT, and Carcraft won't change their ways.

Carcraft are in the business of selling finance. Used cars are just the front.

For most people the most expensive possession is a house. Mortgage lending is highly regulated. The second most expensive possession is a car, but car finance is only lightly regulated, by consumer credit laws. Even these laws are of no practical use, because anyone who has to borrow from the likes of Carcraft can certainly not afford to go to court to enforce their rights.

But hey this is the UK, where poor and desperate people are fair game, right?

I think you'll find that the opposite is more the case.

phil1_2_1

Carcraft are just a load of con men My Son is in need of a car but he has a poor credit rating Carcraft said for him to get me to be a guarantee So reluctantly went a long when we got there they wanted me to buy the car for him . I told then to stuuf it and stormed out DONT Touch them with a barge Poll Dont Get sucked in by there web site they have no cars for less then £100 a month be fore you no it they will have you signing for a loan you can not afford It about time they were shunt down

John_Pierpoint

I don't want to sound judgemental, but has your son considered owning a motorbike instead?

There are such things a "lucky" cars but usually there is such thing as a "cheap" car.